Hey,

I'm not part of the Medium Partner Program because sadly my country is not supported through Stripe and despite there being methods to bypass this, I haven't really been able to do it.

But that's not the point, I'm saying that I have about 400 followers and no, I haven't yet published 100 stories on Medium. In my experience, I gained most of my followers by getting articles published in widely read publications. And gained maximum followers after some of my most read posts. So, I think, an easier way of gaining followers would be to get your articles published in some good publications. And ensure you write stuff that connects with people.