I gained most of my followers by responding to a LOT of other stories (700+ since joining in September 2020). I'm not that consistent in my writing since this is one of several hobbies.
Writing used to be SO much simpler! You just wrote and you didn't have to worry about images and getting sued for using the wrong one.

Reading legalese gives me a major headache. Also, I'm vision-impaired so images are in the basement of my priority, in the room next to self-promotion. Branding is for cattle!

Since my first anniversary on Medium, I've been featuring some writers who follow me by quoting from one of their stories and tagging them. Here's my latest example: https://medium.com/kit-carmelites-gotta-minute/kits-2022-featured-followers-january-to-march-88a32eaaf57d

My motivation to join Medium was to get access to the articles. I didn't even know you COULD earn on this platform. My first month got me one penny. Eighteen months later, my average gets me an coffee and muffin. If I wanted to earn more, I'd have to write more--but that would not be sufficient reason for me to increase my output.