Joshua Mason's Newsletter

My writing embarrassed me so much that I didn't tell my wife about it for two months.

I figured there was a strong possibility of failing, and I didn't want her to see how bad I was at it. Without evidence, my brain had convinced me I sucked at writing.

That was December 2023 and it turns out I didn’t fail. Fast-forward four months, and my March earnings on Medium blew my mind.

I had two stories Boosted and another one nominated for the Boost. The one that was nominated but wasn't Boosted went viral. It received 32,000 views, whereas many of my stories only get 1,000.

But here's the most notable thing.

My follower count went crazy, shooting from 650 to over 2,600. I couldn't figure out where all the engagement was coming from. It had to be more than a few good stories.

Then I saw it.

Medium used to have what they called "Top Writer." It's tied to the tags you use when you publish your stories.

They no longer give the title but provide a perk that still exists. They just don't talk about it.

When you go to a specific topic, it has its own page. That page tells you how many people follow it. Then, Medium suggests to the viewer who to follow in that category.

If you write on the same topics often and gather enough views, it'll suggest that everyone follow you.

That's what happened. Medium lists me as the number one person to follow in three large categories. They have me at number eight in another.

Here's the lesson: Be strategic with your tags. Pick a few that you will use almost all the time. Aim to make the algorithm work for you and suggest your profile as the profile to follow.

Especially as a small account.

It's amazingly powerful. I haven't published a single story in April, yet I've made almost $1,000 in the first three days of this month. It also helped me to go from 1,500 views on my stories in February to 45,000 in March.

If you want any specific help with tag suggestions, shoot me an email.

Talk soon,