Thread by @curtiseinsmann

My first ever Medium story got 22.5k views in its first 3 weeks.

What I did right ✅ and wrong ❌.

THREAD. 🧵 👇🏽

✅ I had a story to tell.

I did something cool in real life. This is important.

I had a unique journey at Amazon. I overcame my technical incompetency to achieve success.

I wanted to help people overcome similar challenges.

✅ I told the whole story.

People read stories to apply experience to their life.

I was vulnerable. I used quantitative metrics (“80+ comments”). I showed my feelings (“face turned red”).

I provided the mindset I used to overcome struggles. Specific and actionable.

✅ I wrote the story well.

I established credibility within the first paragraph. I sprinkled credibility throughout.

I didn’t hire an editor. This damages authenticity. I used hemingwayapp [dot] com to ensure a 6th grade reading level.

Spent ~20 hours writing/editing/revising

❌ The story is too long.

Only 7k out of 22.5k people viewing the story actually read it. A 32% read ratio.

Too low. Could be better if the story was shorter. 7 minutes, not 10.

❌ The call to action is weak.

“Follow me on Twitter” isn’t until the end.

Gaining Twitter followers was not the primary goal, but I only gained 200. A horrible < 1% follower conversion rate.

I got 1k LinkedIn connection requests I didn’t want. 😅

✅ I used a strong headline.

“Amazon shouldn’t have hired me. Here’s how I became an SDE2.”

First sentence is controversial. It grabs your attention. It starts with “Amazon” - a well known brand.

Second sentence tells people they’ll be able to learn from my experience.

✅ I used captivating images.

The headline image is making the “Shh” symbol. As if I’m revealing a deep, dark secret. Goes well with the headline. Sparks curiosity.

Halfway, I used an image of myself. Shows humanity, after demonstrating humility and vulnerability in words.

✅ I leveraged existing networks for distribution.

I had < 500 connections/followers on every social. Views breakdown:

LinkedIn - 11k views
FB/IG - 850 views
Other - 6k views

Surprisingly there were 4.6k views from email/IM. I hadn’t emailed it to anybody.

❌ My distribution was not niche enough.

I am a n00b to niche platforms like HackerNews, Reddit and Hashnode. Posting there would increase exposure and read ratio.

Side note: I need to learn how to effectively deal with trolls on these sites. 😅

✅ I didn’t use the Medium paywall.

I wasn’t sure about this decision. It turned out to be a good one (I’m not monetizing).

I didn’t get curated. But this allowed more people access to the story.

✅ I had an incredible learning experience.

I’m incredibly happy I shared my story.

Hundreds of people messaged me across different platforms about how much I had inspired them.

Can’t wait to write again!

From Amazon impostor to leader, my story: medium.com/@curtiseinsman…