medium

There are moments when I like to travel and read something interesting. I’m not really into the novels and fantasies. I am more of a guy who is more interested in a personal opinion or even a simple personal story about a random topic. So this is why I’m a big consumer of content on Medium. What is Medium? Medium was founded in 2012 by Twitter's co-founder Evan Williams and became quickly one of the world’s top websites. Why? Because of the great content you can find there, the beautiful User Interface and because it gave people the opportunity to contribute to it. And today Medium has more than 30 million monthly users that create and consume content on this platform. So why should marketers be interested in Medium? I won’t go into the “why marketers should use Medium” topic because I believe that there are plenty of other bloggers, marketing specialists and publications who talk a lot about this. But I want to take a different approach on why marketers should read something that is not related to marketing but also that helps them do their job. You see, marketers live in this critical moment when they should think fast, act faster and react even faster. It’s all about how you react to a situation, what you know about a certain topic or how you take advantage of it. But how could you do your job, create something interesting for your audience and also stand out of the crowded internet if you don’t know some interesting facts or some behind the scene ideas? Marketers should also read something else, that isn't marketing related. I believe that every marketer should have his own hobby. Maybe you love basketball, so why not see what’s Stephen Curry’s child story or maybe you love cooking, so why not read about what a traveler experienced in an international kitchen while he was visiting a specific area of the city? Marketing is not only about marketing. Marketing is about everything that surrounds us. And this is why I created a round-up with several medium profiles that you should start following today and make sure that you will read them weekly. Here you can find publications that are talking about customer communication, design inspiration, journalism, self-improvement, innovation in education and others. Intercom: What is the relationship between you and your customers? How do you communicate with them? What struggles are they experiencing? Intercom is one of the best Medium publications when it comes to reliable and great content on customer success, design for startups, medium companies and even professionals. It’s not about marketing or about the 5 steps to success in social media. It’s about you and your customers behavior. Recommended articles: The Orange Juice Test Designing smart notifications Muzli: I know that you are a marketer and maybe you are not interested in design inspiration but sometimes I found the best ideas for a marketing promotion in some web design tips and tricks inspiration article. Or maybe you love design and you want to perfect your skills in web design. Muzli has more than 65k followers to whom it's sharing a weekly inspiration series and UI interactions of the week. Recommended articles: 30 inspiring examples of smart home app Inspiring swipe gestures The Mission With more than 100k followers, Stephanie Postels and Chad Grills built a successful Medium publication for the ones seeking self-improvement tips and are interested in life’s mysteries. And lets be honest, my digital friends, there are moments when we just want to lay down, with a glass of red wine and read something for ourselves, something that we want to motivate us for the next day or help us finish a hard working week, right? This is why The Mission Medium publication is something you would find interesting! Recommended articles: The Science of Making Bold Decisions and Avoiding Regrets in Life To Be a Better Leader, Learn This FBI Hostage Negotiation Tactic Startups, Wanderlust, and Life Hacking We're big fans of companies and people who do a great job for the online industry. This is why we choose to use Unsplash’s photos in our banner design app, so you can create better banner ads and social media posts for your business and why not, for yourself. The guys from the Crew team created #SWLH Medium publication with stories about Tech, Design, Entrepreneurship and Marketing. And if you don’t know why they are using the #SWLH letters, let me tell you that it stands for Startups. Wanderlust and Life Hacking Recommended articles: The Secret Power of Ungated Content I’m the Manager, not the Receptionist Bright Who said that we need to stop educating ourselves? Well, I believe that marketing is an on-going educational role that we need to get deeper into every day. And this is what the Bright publication is all about. An editorial Medium profile focused on innovations in education. It was funded by The New Venture Fund and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Education should be a core topic for all designers, marketers or even a small business owners. Recommended articles: You Tell Me: When Kids + Screens Happiness I’m Teaching Like My Hair’s On Fire Personal Growth There are times and moments when we are looking for first-hand stories that can help us or even guide us in our chaotic life. Some of us just go on a holiday, some of us just listen to good music or go to a concert and then there are the few people who love reading. And for this, the Personal Growth publication on Medium does great job. This publication has different stories from people who work in the startup and tech world. You can read about pursuing your creative calling, the science of belief or about perfect people (if there is such a thing) Recommended articles: The Secret Algorithm Behind Learning Paul Jarvis I’m a big fan of Paul Jarvis. Not because he is a great writer or because he does something different with his content courses but because I see transparency in his in his Sunday Dispatches, an important ingredient many of us forget to add to our strategies. Paul is not a regular blogger that writes about 10 tips to get more Twitter followers or 20 strategies to grow your newsletter subscribers. His newsletter is the right thing to read in order to start your Monday morning. But if you don’t want to start your day opening your e-mail, you could easily follow him through Medium. Recommended articles: The business of creativity (part 1) The business of creativity (part 2) Product Hunt I really don’t know how to describe this Medium publication, that because the title says everything: it’s about your daily online hunting on products. So, if you are a marketer for a startup, or even a growth hacker interested in what is new in the startup industry, you should check Product Hunt. They use many listicles type posts but I believe that in those article you will find something interesting. And let’s be honest, there are days in which you won’t find anything, but that doesn’t mean that the internet is crappy, right? Recommended articles: How the Founders of Openvid Nailed Their Product Hunt Launch 8 Apps That Will Make You (Less) Productive Bogdana If you are a strategist or you work in the online industry you should read Bogdana. Even if she’s not writing every day, when she publishes her ideas and thoughts about the things she is interested in, she'll blow your mind! What I love her writing is that she is honest in every piece of her articles. And I believe that we need this kind of marketers, digital strategists or content specialists. We need to be more honest and transparent with our communities. For example, this article in which she is talking about why Medium is not the answer for her online struggles. Recommended articles: How I deal with “context collapse” How to fix sexism in the advertising industry Conclusion I recommended only 9 medium publication because I understand that you don’t have enough time to follow all of them, to stay updated with Twitter, post your daily Instagram picture and also respond to a customer on Facebook. I know that your time is limited so if you will choose only one or 2 of them in this article is enough to give you a boost of fresh information! And if you want to get in touch with me on Medium, here is my profile where you can read the articles I publish over there too. Now back to you, let me know in the comments section below what Medium publications you read and why.

medium

Medium Publications For Marketers but Not About Marketing