Earning the Bonus, a How-To Guide. Focus on the 3 R’s — Real, Relational, Reciprocity

Will attention to the 3 R’s lead to a 4th R? Read on to find out.

Be “real.” Be “relational.” Practice “reciprocity.” That’s it, in the proverbial nutshell.

Full disclosure, both recent bonuses came my way.

My three primary drivers for writing are: joy, community and reader response. If money flows my way as a secondary outcome, I’m happy with that too. Nice, but far more “recognition” than “reward.”

Real

Or more to the point, be real, as in authentic and true to self.

I know there’s a skew toward workplace-oriented, how-to-be-successful or self-help type articles with a WIIFM*-type format here.

If that’s what you write, that’s great. I have no heartburn about it. And, I’m not trying to be condescending. Quite the contrary, if that’s your jam, jam on. Clearly there’s a need and a market for such stories. You don’t need me to tell you that.

But …

If you do something different than that … DO THAT!

There are readers for every writer. Do what you do. Do it to the best of your ability. Keep doing it, always striving to improve. Bring your authentic self to the effort.

In short, be real with whatever it is you do here that brings you joy or enhances your vision of success and — as you see it — provides value to others.

When readers find you (and you can certainly help them do so) they will stick with you. They’ll respond to your authentic voice, your unique perspective, your originality, your creativity, your “real”ness.

Be Relational

It’s Medium’s new model. We’re all still trying to figure out exactly what is meant by the term but here are some insights, sans a definition.

Kristina God’s recent story covers the concept beautifully and is both practical and well thought out.

Certainly claps, attracting new followers/fans, reads and views all figure into “relational.” All are part of the big whole of “engagement” that is at the core of being relational.

In addition to those elements, my personal take on “relational” has centered on drawing other writers into projects that promote group participation and translate to increased readership. I also make a steady effort to devise new “schemes” that benefit others, by highlighting new voices, encouraging experimentation or fostering relationships that would otherwise not exist.

Here are two examples.

Practice Reciprocity

The reciprocity recipe is simple.

As Terry Mansfield notes, in his excellent article on the subject, reciprocity is a natural human tendency. The phrase “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” comes to mind, although the concept is far more eloquently expressed in the article linked below.

As of this writing, Terry’s article has received nearly 18,000 claps and has garnered almost 200 comments. I can only imagine the “view” and “read” tallies.

Reciprocity is easy.

At its most basic level it involves: truly reading the article (think “scroll & linger”), clapping robustly (if you were grading essays, less than a 60%, or 30 claps, would be a failing grade), responding/commenting meaningfully.

If you want to go above and beyond, consider: posting the article to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, inviting the author to contribute to a pub you own or edit for, replying via private message, alerting the author to other writing opportunities, making other suggestions and many more. Let your imagination be your guide here

To reiterate:

Be real. Be relational. Practice reciprocity.

Hopefully this article successfully demonstrates the three principles it discusses.

“Relational” and “reciprocity” don’t seem like a stretch. It certainly felt “real” as I wrote and edited. In the end though, that determination is up to you.

A test of that … if the three R’s lead to a fourth — “remuneration” (AKA the next bonus) — then perhaps it’s as real as it needs to be.

*WIIFM — What’s In It For Me

Thank you for reading.