The only link in my Medium stories is a pitch for my substack newsletter on writing and it specifically targets writers. It has generated 850 subs so it was well worth it. But another reason to not junk up your footer with links is it buries your brief bio blurb. I always check these things because a decent follower count does count as validation for the writer. And it offers an opportunity for readers to follow, which more important than a few more reads.
Jun 9, 2023·edited Jun 9, 2023Liked by Linda Caroll
I hope a lot of people see this! It's keeping a lot of people from getting Boosted. At The Riff, I took it further and limited CTAs as part of our editorial standards. Tbh, I was sick of articles being 40% new, and 60% classified ads.
Not only that, it's redundant; Medium does this for you now. Under every story, there are links to one's most recent work and a button for readers to "see all" of it.
Yup, it sure is. And you're right -- Medium already does it. Figured if I let people know it's working against them, maybe fewer boost nominators will have to pass stuff by. :)
That doesn't matter -- editors in the program are allowed to nominate posts that are not in a publication to make sure everyone has an equal chance to be boosted.
Oh, Linda, this is priceless. I get totally turned off by all the junk at the bottom of an article. I go out of my way not to look at it and cut my reading time short. Not for the reason you mentioned here. I removed everything from the bottom of mine only because of I how I feel about it on other people's pages. In addition, I don't like begging for money or for people to sign up. If people what to follow me, it's up to them. I'm rambling. Heck, this touched a nerve with me.
There's an old saying that for every person who speaks out, there's far more thinking the same thing and staying silent. I think a lot of people feel the same way. I used to do that crap for a while. But I did exactly the same as you. One day it dawned on me how icky it looks on other people's stories so I stopped doing it on mine, too.
I really appreciated this article! I had just been wondering if all the links I was told to put at the bottom of my articles weren't too much! Would it be a good idea to go back into the 60+ other articles I now have (I'm a newbie) and take off all but one?
Boost nominations can only go back to around 5-6 months, so anything before that won't really matter. Honestly, if it was me, I'd just clean up the ones you think are your best work. :)
Points totally appreciated. I usually post a photo and subscribe to me message. Nada mas. But SOME publications force you to add other stories. I appreciate that they're trying to 'market' their writers but it can feel false. The only time it doesn't, in the poetry world, is when I have written a poem in response to a prompt.
Yes Linda, here you are making sense again, and profoundly........
Over Promotion can easily self destroy. I m sure you understand the "KISS" concept.
The nationality of ones target audience also plays a role - eg:- Brits are likely to groan and switch off when bombarded by American sales hype. Less beats More.
I know some friends who not only include tons of links, but even create beautiful graphics for those links...It looks very nice, but would definitely get them passed over for boosting. :( (They write fiction, though, which isn't boosted much yet. Hope that changes in the future.)
Thank you for this: my eyes glaze over when I see a link-a-palooza at the bottom of an article, or even within it — even though some of my fave writers on Medium do this.
The only link in my Medium stories is a pitch for my substack newsletter on writing and it specifically targets writers. It has generated 850 subs so it was well worth it. But another reason to not junk up your footer with links is it buries your brief bio blurb. I always check these things because a decent follower count does count as validation for the writer. And it offers an opportunity for readers to follow, which more important than a few more reads.
That's a really good point, Martin. It does bury the bio. Thanks for adding that! :)
I hope a lot of people see this! It's keeping a lot of people from getting Boosted. At The Riff, I took it further and limited CTAs as part of our editorial standards. Tbh, I was sick of articles being 40% new, and 60% classified ads.
Not only that, it's redundant; Medium does this for you now. Under every story, there are links to one's most recent work and a button for readers to "see all" of it.
Yup, it sure is. And you're right -- Medium already does it. Figured if I let people know it's working against them, maybe fewer boost nominators will have to pass stuff by. :)
I mostly self-publish, so I doubt I'll ever get "boosted" unless I can figure out how to write for a publication that does that.
I have not been approached for boosting nominations from my publication, so obviously they think it doesn't exist...
Am I really doing the links thing wrong? I'll try to keep it more clean and simple in future...
That doesn't matter -- editors in the program are allowed to nominate posts that are not in a publication to make sure everyone has an equal chance to be boosted.
Oh, Linda, this is priceless. I get totally turned off by all the junk at the bottom of an article. I go out of my way not to look at it and cut my reading time short. Not for the reason you mentioned here. I removed everything from the bottom of mine only because of I how I feel about it on other people's pages. In addition, I don't like begging for money or for people to sign up. If people what to follow me, it's up to them. I'm rambling. Heck, this touched a nerve with me.
There's an old saying that for every person who speaks out, there's far more thinking the same thing and staying silent. I think a lot of people feel the same way. I used to do that crap for a while. But I did exactly the same as you. One day it dawned on me how icky it looks on other people's stories so I stopped doing it on mine, too.
I really appreciated this article! I had just been wondering if all the links I was told to put at the bottom of my articles weren't too much! Would it be a good idea to go back into the 60+ other articles I now have (I'm a newbie) and take off all but one?
Boost nominations can only go back to around 5-6 months, so anything before that won't really matter. Honestly, if it was me, I'd just clean up the ones you think are your best work. :)
Thank you! I've only been posting since late January, so that fits, I guess. Thanks for your quick reply!
I also wanted to ask you if you ever do 1-1 coaching - either one-offs, or series - ?
You are so welcome! :)
do you ever do 1-1 coaching - either one-offs, or series - ?
I also wanted to ask you if you ever do 1-1 coaching - either one-offs, or series - ?
Swell!
"Pick the one action you most want them to take" great point 👉
Points totally appreciated. I usually post a photo and subscribe to me message. Nada mas. But SOME publications force you to add other stories. I appreciate that they're trying to 'market' their writers but it can feel false. The only time it doesn't, in the poetry world, is when I have written a poem in response to a prompt.
Good stuff, Linda! As always, thanks for the guidance. You really are just the best, girl! ❤️
Yes Linda, here you are making sense again, and profoundly........
Over Promotion can easily self destroy. I m sure you understand the "KISS" concept.
The nationality of ones target audience also plays a role - eg:- Brits are likely to groan and switch off when bombarded by American sales hype. Less beats More.
Peace, Maurice
I know some friends who not only include tons of links, but even create beautiful graphics for those links...It looks very nice, but would definitely get them passed over for boosting. :( (They write fiction, though, which isn't boosted much yet. Hope that changes in the future.)
Thank you for this: my eyes glaze over when I see a link-a-palooza at the bottom of an article, or even within it — even though some of my fave writers on Medium do this.