3 Things I Wish I Knew About Medium Sooner

When I first started writing on Medium, I thought it was just another blogging platform. I quickly realized that it’s much more than that: it’s a community, a discovery engine, and a potential income source. However, like many new writers, I made mistakes and missed out on key features that could have accelerated my growth. Looking back, there are three things I wish I had known about Medium sooner.

1. The Power of Curation

Medium’s curation system can make or break a post’s success. If an article is curated (now referred to as being distributed), Medium promotes it to a wider audience beyond your followers. However, curation isn’t automatic. Editors look for well-structured, high-quality content that follows Medium’s guidelines.

Had I known this earlier, I would have focused more on:

• Writing clear and engaging introductions
• Formatting articles properly (short paragraphs, subheadings, and bullet points)
• Avoiding clickbait headlines and ensuring my content provided real value

Once I optimized my content for curation, my reach grew exponentially.

2. The Importance of Publications

At first, I published articles on my profile, hoping people would find them. That was a mistake. Medium’s algorithm favors articles published in established publications because they have built-in audiences.