Be a Friend of ILLUMINATION
Find Your Voice, Curate Inspiring Stories, and Build Your Audience with Support from a Thriving Community Leveraging the Power of a New Complementary and Supplementary Initiative
Non-subscribers can read this story on Medium or my website
Dear Subscribers,
When the Covid pandemic started, I built ILLUMINATION in March 2020 to bring like-minded (inclusive, open-minded, and collaborative) writers and readers to one place and illuminate society.
The concept worked well, and this unique publication, with its 14 other siblings, grew rapidly, inspiring me to find novel ways to make a ripple effect. I called the ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications.Ā
As a friend of Medium since its inception and as the owner and chief editor of ILLUMINATION publications on Medium and Substack, I give back to the community to make this wonderful platform more vibrant and sustainable.
I created multiple publications, integrated them, and helped interested readers become writers using our publication, Readers Hope, as an entry point to online writing with encouragement and community support.
Despite no monetary gain, Medium publications thrive because of their contributing writers, volunteer editors, and supportive readers.
As an owner of multiple publications and consulting editor of many other publications to thrive, I believe every member of the Medium community has the potential to shine even brighter by following a simple method I will introduce in this story.
My publications never compete with others; I see all Medium publications as collaborators and support most of them as a reader, writer, and even consulting editor for some of them.
Today, I have a proposal for you if you want to refine your reading, writing, newsletter development, audience-building, and networking skills, regardless of any publications you contribute.
Inspired by Friends of Medium, I want to introduce Friends of ILLUMINATION to supplement it and make this platform even more vibrant and sustainable. This is my initial proposal, and with your feedback, I will refine it and make it a valuable program for the community.
Purpose of Friends of ILLUMINATION
Although the spirit is the same with friends of Medium, the only difference is that being a Friend of ILLUMINATION is FREE; there is no commercial aspect to it, and it is optional to our contributors.
You donāt have to pay a membership fee or commit to any publication activities apart from the six growth tools I provide, which are optional at your convenience as they suit your goals and needs.
Being part of this program does not affect your writer status. This means that even if you donāt want to be part of this program, you can still submit your drafts to meet our submission guidelines. Every ethical and authentic writer on Medium, Substack, or any platform is welcome to join.
Being a Friend of Medium and ILLUMINATION does not compete but complement each other, bringing additional benefits.
My additional goal is to inspire friends of ILLUMINATION to become friends of Medium and vice versa so they can benefit from the power of both supportive programs for writers and readers.
The primary purpose of this initiative is to enable and enhance personal and professional growth through meaningful engagement.
It leverages the power of the ILLUMINATION community, established on diversity, inclusion, equality, collaboration, synergy principles, and values to create serendipity and fusion.
I have been successfully implementing these values and principles, which are also my personal/professional values, for five years on this platform.
It is now an opportune time to scale it by initiating a program and running it methodically with supportive volunteers. This initiative is not about numbers or quick gains. It is about building a solid foundation for your writing journey while supporting others along the way.
I drafted a six-step roadmap to becoming a true friend of ILLUMINATION. If these steps align with your values, goals, and growth strategies, you can apply and participate in this new initiative, tier 1 of the Substack Mastery boost program pilot.
Step 1: Share Your UniqueĀ Light
Write one weekly story in your niche that genuinely helps a broad audience. For example, consider what you can share to lower stress, address a painful situation, or improve readers' quality of life. The length of your story does not matter as much as its presentation, such as content quality, usefulness, style, and tone. Take the time to make it insightful, engaging, memorable, impactful, and illuminating.
Step 2: Turn Inspiration IntoĀ Curation
Read 3 to 5 stories from your favorite writers and curate a newsletter highlighting these pieces. Summarize their key points and explain how they can benefit a broad audience. Show readers how these stories can bring value to their lives through practical advice, emotional resonance, or creative inspiration. Submit this curated newsletter to the Curated Newsletters publication, adding your unique touch.
Step 3: Celebrate Your FavoriteĀ Writers
Choose one writer you admire each month and feature them in a unique article. You may include their public bio, explain why they inspire you and highlight their top 5 stories. With their permission, you may include their photos and public contact details, such as social media links, websites, books, or any other helpful resources to empower them. By spotlighting others, you build a stronger network while enriching the ILLUMINATION and broader Medium and Substack writers communities.
Step 4: Build Extended Bridges With Backlinks
Write a blog post on your own website or as a guest contributor on another site like our community blog site. Summarize your activities from the previous steps and include relevant links to the stories, newsletters, and authors you featured. This not only creates valuable backlinks to relevant resources but also expands the reach of your work and the work of others in the ILLUMINATION, Medium, and Substack networks.
Step 5: Repurpose and Amplify onĀ Substack
If you havenāt done so, join Substack and create your own Substack publication where you can share your weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly reading and writing activities. I wrote a book about it titled Substack Mastery, and you can read or listen to the chapters here. You can re-purpose this content on the Curated Newsletters publications. By obtaining their consent, you can tag the writers you have featured to expand their reach. Additionally, you can introduce your newsletter in the Substack Mastery publication on Medium to connect with a broader audience and gain valuable feedback on your Substack publication.
Step 6: Engage and Support Others in the Slack Workspace
This step is about giving back, improving your social skills, and helping new writers find their path. Share what you have learned to guide others in improving their writing, solving challenges, and growing their audience.
To start, join the #Social Conversations channel in ILLUMINATION Slack Workspace and initiate engaging and relatable discussions. You can also contribute to ongoing conversations by sharing your thoughts, insights, and experiences.
Additionally, visit the #Help channel to offer support based on your expertise and availability, responding to relevant inquiries where you can make a difference.
This collaborative effort can strengthen the community, help you build meaningful connections, and further develop your communication skills.
Why Being a Friend of ILLUMINATION Matters and How toĀ Join
ILLUMINATION is a vibrant community with a substantial reader base (156K) and a writer base (33K), and it has an established infrastructure supported by 170 dedicated volunteers. I plan to expand this network to 500 volunteers by 2025. I will soon share a separate invitation outlining this exciting growth plan.
The six-step approach we have developed offers a unique opportunity to enhance your skills, build meaningful connections, amplify your voice and the voices of others, and create a ripple effect of value.
By the end of 2025, if you become a friend of ILLUMINATION, you will see tangible growth in your writing and reading abilities, a more robust network, and a higher-quality audience tailored to your creative and professional goals.
I believe in writers and readers growing together with inclusion, diversity, equality, and support for contributors from all backgrounds. Thoughtful storytelling, genuine engagement, and meaningful collaboration enable us to thrive in unique and impactful ways, making this platform vibrant and sustainable.
Who This Program Is NotĀ For
While I designed this program to offer valuable opportunities for creativity, collaboration, support, and growth for a broad audience, it may not be the best fit for everyone. Here are some scenarios where this initiative might not align with individual preferences or priorities:
1āāāIf You Prefer to Work Alone
This program emphasizes community engagement and collaborative growth. If you prefer a solitary approach to writing and networking, the programās interactive aspects might not suit your goals or needs.
2āāāIf You Are Not Ready to Share Your Expertise
A key part of this program involves creating content that enlightens and inspires others. If you are not currently in a position to share insights or write for a broad audience, it might not feel like the right time to participate. You may try in the future when you are ready.
3āāāIf You Are Uncomfortable Highlighting Others
The program encourages participants to spotlight fellow writers or readers and curate their work to build a supportive community. If you prefer focusing solely on your own content, this approach may not align with your goals.
3āāāIf Networking Is Not a Priority
Growing your network through thoughtful interactions and mutual support is central to the program. If connecting with others in a writing and reading community isnāt a priority for you, the networking-focused elements might feel less relevant.
4āāāIf You Are Not Interested in Long-Term Growth
The program is designed for writers who want to improve their skills, audience reach, and professional presence over time. If you are seeking short-term results or arenāt interested in incremental growth, this may not be the ideal fit.
5āāāIf You Prefer Not to Diversify Your Approach
This program encourages participants to explore various formats like curated content on Medium, blog posts, guest posts, Substack newsletters, and collaborative writing activities on other platforms. If you are more comfortable sticking to one specific platform or style, you might not find the steps of this program appealing.
Conclusions and Key Takeaways
However, if you are ready to be a friend of ILLUMINATION and illuminate the path forward together, please leave a comment wherever you read this story.
I will ensure your inclusion in the publicly available Friends of ILLUMINATION database, which will link to your Medium, Substack, social media accounts, and any legitimate website address you wish to share.
One of my goals is to give backlinks to your content in my free online resources. Therefore, a key component of this initiative is complementary guest blogging on my website, for which I will soon create another blogging site called ILLUMINATION-Curated in honor of my previous beloved publication as part of the Substack Mastery boost program pilot.
This service is open to all registered ILLUMINATION writers who are keen to participate in the ILLUMINATION Substack Boost Pilot, which began rolling out in November 2024, as I briefly introduced in the monthly newsletter.
We plan to conclude this pilot by December 2025. If it becomes successful, we will transition to full-scale production, offering enhanced services and communication methods as a supplementary boost program for interested freelance writers and content entrepreneurs on Substack, Converkit, Beehive, and other mailing/newsletter platforms.
I created a draft application form on my website. I will improve it when I get a breathing space soon.
I invite you to grow, inspire, and illuminate society.š”
We have a new support account called Friends of ILLUMINATION Support, which editors and moderators of Slack workspace will monitor. You can follow this account to stay informed about our activities.
Friends of ILLUMINATION Support - Medium
Read writing from Friends of ILLUMINATION Support on Medium. Curating and amplifying stories by Friends ofā¦medium.com
ILLUMINATION, Curated Newsletters, SYNERGY (Newsletter Booster), Technology Hits, ILLUMINATION Book Chapters, and Readers Hope.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
I am here to help my readers, so reach out when you need support. You may take a quick taste of some of my inspiring stories in this collection. If you wish, you may subscribe to my Health and Wellness newsletter to benefit from my decades of health, science, and technology experience.
If you are a new writer on this platform, you can join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 33K writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. You can contact me via my website. I also have another profile to write and curate tech stories.
I also authored a recent book titled Substack Mastery to guide freelance writers to write insightful content and build their audiences.
You are welcome to join the ILLUMINATION Community on Medium and Substack and our education tool, Substack Mastery, curated by ILLUMINATION-Curators.
You can join my newsletters, where I offer experience-based content on health, content strategy, and technology topics to inform and inspire my readers.
Health and Wellness by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
You never stop surprising us! I have been a friend of ILLUMINATION publications since day one but this new methodical approach might take my engagement to a new level. Thank you for this creative and inspiring concept.
What a wonderful opportunity, Dr Yildiz! Please count me in!