All of us who visit Medium.com secretly want to be featured, gain claps and spread our message to the world.

Many of you email me and ask me how I managed to get featured in major publications both on Medium and off Medium (like CNBC).

There’s no point holding onto the strategies. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and then no one gets to benefit from what I’ve learned. I want you all to share your message so I can selfishly read it to and be inspired.

Enough preamble, sarcasm and pointless self-promotion. Let’s get to the advice.

Here’s how I consistently get featured in Medium’s Top Stories:

Be you – don’t be afraid to make a dick of yourself.

There’s nothing better than reading a bloggers work who clearly doesn’t care what people think about them. It’s refreshing to see people be vulnerable and be okay with making a dick of themselves.

Drop the mask and take the Micky out of your life.

Make us feel something.
Make us laugh.
Make us remember you.

Most of all, share some wisdom that can be valuable to all of us.

Leverage top publications.

Let’s keep this really simple: On Medium, you can either write under your own name or write for a publication. Always try and write for a publication.

Publications have their own followers whereas you probably have zero. By publishing through a Medium Publication, you leverage their audience – plain and simple.

Okay, next problem. There are hundreds of publications. Which one do I choose Yoda Tim?

1. Go to Google
2. Type Medium Top Publications
3. Start from the top of the list and work your way down

Okay, I could have given you the link but I want you to do some work.

Strategy One

So, you found the top publication. Congratulations you’ve mastered Google! Email the publication and ask to be added as a writer. Send them an exclusive article that is your best work. If your content is good, then they might add you as a writer.

Strategy Two

Start with a lesser known publication who doesn’t have every man, woman and dog emailing them to be a writer, write some stuff, gain some traction, then try a top publication again.

Follow this process, rinse, and then repeat.

Real stories.

Medium readers are junkies for stories. Share stories that are interesting that have happened to you or someone you know.

“People will clap the sh*t out of your articles on Medium if you share interesting stories that we can all learn from”

Use a story and share some lessons. This format works well.

If you have no good stories (I highly doubt it) turn a recent book you have read into an article. Share the lessons from the book in your own words, with your own opinions.

Show the real you.

There’s Tim Denning who has a cookie cutter profile picture taken by a $400 an hour photographer, with a perfectly dry-cleaned suit and an amazing bio. He’s never missed a meditation session, goes to the gym, eats healthy food and is impeccable with his time.

Then there’s the real Tim Denning who suffered from anxiety, had a near miss with cancer, has a fear of public speaking, procrastinates a lot, doesn’t know what he’s doing most of the time, and can be a half whit sometimes. Version two of the above is the one you want to aim for.

“Medium readers don’t fall for fake Instagram models with perfect bio’s”

They want the truth. Give it to them.

Being nice to people who contact me.

Once you get a few readers on Medium that clap you until you’re deaf and send you messages, you’ll have to respond to them. The first tip is put your email address in your bio. Make it easy for people to engage with you.

When you get messages from readers, respond to them – not every single one otherwise you’ll never actually write any articles. But engage with as many as you can. A three-sentence reply is often enough.

You’ll get messages from fans asking for your opinion or advice. Give it to them. Be human. Be nice. Be humble. If you get asked the same questions a lot (I know I do), then write articles like this and send them a link to it when they ask you a question you’ve answered before.

Take a few fans under your wing. Send them messages which help them and give away all your secrets. These fans will become raving fans and that will make your content spread tenfold.

Collaborating with other bloggers.

Having other Medium bloggers help you is another little hack.

For example, my buddy Anthony Moore who also writes for Medium, shares my stuff and quotes me, and I do the same – I’m doing it right now 🙂

Other bloggers can teach you what they do and then you can pick and choose the bits that work for you. Blogging is a community. Don’t be all about you and your articles. Share other people’s work and collaborate.

Writing consistently (minimum three times a week).

I’m about to sound like Gary Vaynerchuk. You have to do the work. Meaning: you must publish articles to be consistently featured in the top stories section of Medium. That line makes sense if you think about it.

“If people see you once a month they’ll forget you because the Internet will distract them with notifications, porn, sugar-rich food, fake models and a feeling they are not enough”

The only way to rise above this is to be consistent. You need to be aiming for three articles a week if you want traction on Medium. Ideally, every day if you can.

There’s always a break out blogger or two who write one article that goes viral and then you never hear from them again – this is not the norm though.

Reading other people’s blog posts.

Guess what? If you follow the previous step and write heaps then you may have days where you run out of ideas. That’s why it’s good to read other people’s content.

You’ll be inspired by other headlines and stories, and then you can change up what you’ve read and give your side of the story.

After all, there’s no one person who is right 100% about the topic of fear as an example. We all have a viewpoint that’s slightly different or sometimes radically different. Share yours.

Keeping my stories and advice simple (easy to follow language)

The best compliment I consistently get is this: “Tim, your advice is really simple and English is not even my first language.”

The whole world doesn’t bow down to western culture or understand English for that matter. Keep this in mind when you are writing.

Keep your advice simple.

Keep your English simple and try not to use too many big words. None of us can be arsed having to use the dictionary every few words just so you can feel smart when you are writing. It’s not about you.

Gaining feedback from publication owners.

Just because you submit an article on Medium to a publication – or for that matter any publication – it does not mean they will accept it and publish it thus resulting in access to their valuable audience.

I write regularly for the Personal Growth Publication and I noticed a few articles were getting rejected. I emailed the publication and asked them the following:

1. Hey, is there anything I can do to increase the quality of my content?
2. Are there any types of articles I should avoid submitting?
3. Generally, what are the main reasons my articles are missing the mark?

As long as you ask nicely and be polite, the publication will tell you. Once you know more about how they think and what they are looking for, you can be more targeted with what you submit and therefore increase the rate you’re published.

Happy publication, happy audience, happy blogger – that’s how it goes on Medium.

Use these tips, and you too can get featured on Medium’s top stories.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net