7 Result-Driven Writing Tips To Skyrocket Your Growth On Medium
A step-by-step ultimate guide
Are you struggling to grow on Medium?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone — we all have been there. I personally had a massive struggle growing on Medium. No one taught me how to get the results I wanted.
Every day I would read all the nonsense, endless stories about “Medium growth” but since they weren’t “Result-driven” I barely got any results.
That’s when I created these 7 “Result-driven” writing tips for myself. These writing tips/rules have personally worked for me and will work for you as long as you follow them. I guarantee!
Let’s jump straight into it!
1. You — You — You — Yes, You.
This is singlehandedly the best word you can use in your writing.
But you have to be careful about when to “Add” it and when to “Remove” it.
Here’s the deal: when it’s the reader’s fault — remove the “You.”
When praising, showing benefit, or solving a problem — add the “You.”
Confused? Let me give you an example:
❌: You’re fat because you eat too much.
✅: If we eat too much we become fat.
Why you should do this?
When you directly tell the reader that it’s their fault — they won’t listen and you devalue yourself. Thus, as a writer, it’s your job to tell the reader that it’s not their fault. Persuasion 101.
Adding “You”:
❌: Hard truth: people can make a living writing online. Seriously!
✅: Hard truth: You can make a living writing online. Seriously!
Why you should do this?
When it’s about benefit or praising — your reader doesn’t want to join the crowd. They want to take all the credit. So to do it, use “You” to make them feel personal and to make your writing powerful.
2. Paint A Picture
Don’t be a guru, be a guide.
People don’t remember:
- Data
- Stats
- Analytics
They remember:
- Stories
- Examples
- Metaphors
So when you teach something, it’s far better to tell a story than showing data. Another reason for doing it? Data can be wrong, but stories never.
Example:
❌: People often underestimate the importance of replying to their comments. They think it’s useless. Wrong. Replying to comments is so powerful. It helps you build trust with your readers.
✅: I made my first $20 on Medium by replying to a comment. A lady dropped a comment asking if I could consult her about Medium Growth. We replied back and forth and I closed the offer. Comments are powerful. It not only helps you build trust with your readers but you also make money.
Do you see?
You might not remember the first example because it’s just a guide. But the second one — the story? You will 100% remember it. “Oh… so this is the guy who made his first $20 on Medium by replying to a comment.”
You got this!
3. Don’t Bait, Attract
You can clickbait one time. You can clickbait one more time. You can clickbait another one more time. Hold on! Now you can’t clickbait.
The moment the reader knows that you clickbait — you’ve lost their attention.
What is clickbait?
When you fail to deliver on the promise you make — that’s clickbait. If your headline is promising something and your story can’t deliver on the promise — that’s clickbait.
Take this story for an example.
The headline is:
7 Result-Driven Writing Tips To Skyrocket Your Growth On Medium
Now what if the story covers:
1. Wake up early in the morning
2. Take a cold shower
3. Make your breakfast
4. Clean your laptop
5. Take a nap
6. Call your friend
7. Take 8 hours of sleep
Imagine I would have covered these 7 points in this story. That would be a clickbait.
If the headline says 7 Result-Driven Writing Tips To Skyrocket Your Growth On Medium. It should be relatable to the tips that can actually bring the results and not just some random tips.
You can’t put anything inside the story and expect the reader to send you an email telling how valuable your story is. Simply, it’s not going to happen.
So make sure the words you use, the power words use you, the headline you write, and the story you write — all should deliver on the promise.
So many writers try to clickbait just because they think it’s an easy way to grab the readers’ attention, but what they don’t realize is that it’s a long-term pain when you clickbait.
4. The Rule Of One
If you write for everyone, you end up writing for no one.
That’s why your goal as a writer is to “Become known for the niche you own.” How do you do it? By writing in one niche. Writing to one audience.
Let me ask you:
Ever wondered why headlines like “10 tips to change your life” or “ 7 ways to increase your productivity” never feel personal to you?
It’s because these headlines are created for everyone. There is no precise audience for these headlines. The content is for everyone.
So when you read this type of content they don’t match your circumstances and the way you work in your life. And this is where the specificity wins.
So who should you write for?
Write to yourself. Because you’re your first audience. Let me explain: You, of course, might have a lot of problems in many areas of your life and you want to educate yourself in those areas, right?
So let me elaborate…
You may want to learn about finance, you may want to learn about relationships, you may want to learn about entrepreneurship, or you may want to learn to make money doing day trading, etc.
Great. Now here’s what you have to do:
Learn the thing and share everything that you learn along the way — and the people who are interested in the same topic will find you and become your audience.
I did the same thing.
When I started writing online, I had no idea how to improve my writing or how to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to write great headlines, how to write killer hooks, or how to make people read my work.
So what did I do?
I started teaching myself and talking about “Writing” not because I wanted to build an audience, but because I had a problem that I needed to solve and I just shared everything I learned along the way.
As a result, it not only helped me improve my writing skills but also built an audience that I monetized and made money.
Isn’t it beautiful? So write to yourself.
5. WIIFM
What’s the first question you asked when you read the headline of this story? “What’s Is In It For Me?”
Am I right?
You see the headline and your subconscious mind immediately forces you to think about what you’ll get if you read the story.
This is what happens when a reader sees your headline or reads your story.
So remember, you’re not the main character of your story — the reader. It’s not about you — it’s about them. They don’t care how long it took you to write the story or how many words your story has.
All they care about is: What is in it for them (WIIFM).
So whenever you write stories or headlines — think through the reader’s perspective and ask these questions:
- Would I click on this headline if I see it?
- What problem is this headline solving?
- What benefits is this headline offering?
Ask these questions and if you don’t get the answer right — rewrite the headline until you get the right answer.
6. Make It Effortless
If it’s hard for the reader to read your stories, you’ve lost their attention.
Let me explain.
If your writing is full of big words, big paragraphs, no listicles, no bullet points, no aesthetics — you’re making a huge mistake.
Good writing flows like a river — effortlessly.
So if you want your stories to get views and read by thousands of people, make it effortless to read. How do you do it?
1. Short Paragraph
Long paragraphs bore the reader. It’s just the way of reading online — and you can’t deny it. So be used to it and write short paragraphs.
Not just because you want the reader to read your story till the end but because to make the reading experience way more pleasurable.
Imagine reading this:
So overwhelming and daunting, isn’t it?
Now read this:
Huge difference, right?
The writing is the same but just because of the short paragraphs, it becomes way more easier to read it.
This is why you should write short paragraphs.
2. Simple Words
Do you use jargon and unfamiliar words when you talk to your friends or family? Of course, you don’t.
The same is true for your writing. Never use the words you don’t use in your daily life. If you never say “Affirmative” in your conversation, there is no point saying it in your writing — you’re better off just saying “Yes.”
Your writing should be conversational, and you do it by using simple words.
Remember. When people are reading something they don’t have time to think about things for Minutes. They want to know the point instantly.
If your writing confuses them — they’re gone!
Now read this:
Pretty hard to read and understand everything!
Now read this:
It’s the same content but I just changed the wording. And guess what? It’s more pleasant, it’s so easy to read and understand. Isn’t it?
3. List
Listicle headlines work so well, so does the “List writing.”
Instead of saying here are the 5 things you should do to make your writing sing: #1 Write short paragraphs, #2 Use simple words #3 Use lists #4 Use main points #5 Make it engaging. Say:
- #1: write short paragraphs
- #2: Use simple words
- #3: Use lists
- #4: Use main points
- #5: Make it engaging
Tell me which one is more eye-pleasing and memorable. Of course the second one, right?
If you’re saying a list of things — say in the list format.
4. Main Points
Imagine reading this story without all the main points. Wouldn’t it have overwhelmed and confused you? You got this.
The main points are the indication: “Ok, we are done here and now we are heading to the next point, are you ready my beautiful reader?”
This is why you add the main points in your writing.
One more reason for doing this is to make your writing skimmable for the readers. Meaning, the reader can read and understand your story without actually reading it if you have the main points in your story.
All you need is the main points.
5. Engaging
There are so many ways to make your writing engaging.
But by far the best way I know is asking questions. Ask a lot of questions and then ask follow-up questions throughout your story. This helps the reader keep reading your story because the story becomes engaging.
Questions like:
- Isn’t it?
- Right?
- Alright?
- Are you ready?
- Does that make sense?
…Can make a drastic difference in your writing. Don’t believe me? Let me give you an example.
Read this:
With just adding questions:
Tell me which one is better. The second one, right?
7. Editing Superpower
Editing is the essence of writing.
This means, the better you edit your stories, the more chances of growing on Medium will be.
Do you know when my writing really started to improve? When I started doing these 3 things:
- Time Interval
- Reading Out Loud
- Changing The device
Let’s elaborate on each of them one by one.
1. Time Interval
One of the worst editing mistakes you can make is writing and editing simultaneously.
You write, then you edit a little bit. Again you write, and you edit a little bit. Do you see what’s happening? You’re killing your writing flow.
Understand. Writing and editing both are completely different tasks that you should do at different times.
If you write and edit at the same time, you not only kill the flow of your writing but also it takes you 2x time to write the same content.
So how do you do it?
First, finish the writing. Write from start to end. Leave it for at least 3–24 hours. In the meantime: Walk around. Eat. Sleep. Go outside. Play game/sport. Do something else.
Come back and start editing your writing. This is the right way to do it. There must be a time gap between writing and editing.
The longer the gap, the better. Trust me.
2. Reading Out Loud
Can’t find errors? Can’t find mistakes? Can’t find grammar mistakes? Can’t find the rhythm? Can’t find the flow of your writing? I got you.
Have you tried reading out loud your writing?
Your eyes aren’t capable of seeing everything and making corrections to it. You need more tools. And how do you do it? By reading out loud. When you read your writing out loud you involve your ears and mouth.
Mouth: This tool helps you find the rhythm and flow of your writing as it speaks the words, sentences, and paragraphs of your writing.
Ear: This tool helps you find the mistakes and errors in your writing as it listens to the words when you speak them.
Tell me how powerful is this?
3. Changing The device
Want to drastically improve your writing quality?
Change the device when editing your stories. Yup. That’s the secret.
Let’s face it: When we consistently stare at the same thing it becomes stable and we really can’t find something new or errors that we look up for when editing.
Meaning, they become hidden.
It’s just the way our minds and brains work. So to find those hidden craps, you need to change your device when editing. If you write on your laptop, open the story on your phone to edit it, and vice versa.
This helps you:
- Understand the structure
- Understand the formatting
- Find new errors and mistakes
Apply them and you’ll be shocked by the results you get.
Find this story helpful? Want more? If you’re interested in growing and making money on Medium in 2024, consider reading the below story:
