Leadership
Medium Made the Best Business Decision so Far
Rewarding creators based on engagement is a sustainable solution. Writers have a goal on a measurable metric.
Undoubtedly creators love rewards and crave recognition. No one can deny this fact. There may be a few exceptions out of the norm, but it is the case for a large majority.
I am inspired to write this post after receiving many gratitude messages from contributing writers of my publications.
This post aims not to praise or criticize Medium but to highlight the importance of recognition for writers. In addition, I want to share my informed perspectives and make some recommendations to improve this platform further jointly. As writers, we are key stakeholders and can make a substantial difference in evolving this platform.
Some skeptics call this rewarding system as MLM (Multi-Level Marketing), but in my opinion, it is not. Medium has a unique business model based on revenue generated by subscribers.
Writers earn income from the revenue based on a specific metric which is the reading times of subscribers. Compared to all other performance metrics, reading time is the best one as it cannot be manipulated or has fewer risks than other metrics such as followers and claps.
There are thousands of subscription services. I am subscribed to 100+ publications in different disciplines providing curated content in my interest areas. Almost all reputable newspapers, trade magazines, business blogs, education services, podcasts, videos, and even academic journals are offered via subscription services. Calling subscription services MLM does not make sense because such service is part of the global content economy.
There is another proof showing the importance of recognition for writers. It is relatively a new platform. Many creators initially criticized News Break even some questioned their legality. However, since News Break awarded creators with monetary value, many top writers have started contributing to this new platform. My point in this example is to highlight the importance of rewards for writers.
The same concept manifests in Vocal Media. They reward top contributors. For example, Vocal pays a certain amount based on milestones, e.g., they pay bonuses for the first 50 and 100 stories submitted to their platform.
News Break and Vocal create further engagement by offering competitions. I haven’t had a chance to participate in competitions yet. However, I obtained excellent feedback from the happy winners. Maybe Medium can open such competitions to create further vitality.
Various platforms use different bonus schemes. For example, both News Break and Vocal give bonuses to writers who refer other writers. This could be a viable option for Medium too.
Imagine each writer on Medium brings around ten new subscribers to Medium. It can create a substantial subscriber base for the platform. It can be a win-win for Medium and the writers.
News Break also provides an opportunity for reader referrals. So, for example, if their app is downloaded via a link, they offer a certain amount of commission to referrers. So it is a kind of affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is beneficial for both service providers and affiliates. Therefore, millions of businesses use this marketing strategy. Consequently, it can be great for Medium to introduce such a service to increase the number of readers.
We all can contribute to the growth of this environment. Our contributions can bring both tangible and intangible benefits. I focus on intangible ones as they work better for me.
I am relatively new in Medium. Fewer than two years. However, during this period, I made substantial contributions by telling my own stories and supporting the stories of other writers. I gained some followers which doesn’t mean much to me but always nurtured my regular readers.
Apart from engaging meaningfully with other writers, I also help them amplify their messages via my publications, social media, and extended platforms created with my personal investment. I also provide publishing guidance and quality improvement checklists. Sharing knowledge is the way to engage with others and to learn more.
As a consequence of my meaningful engagements, my six publications create an average of five million minutes of reading time monthly. This over 83,000 hours of reading time equates to almost $100,000 in income per month for writers.
Imagine top 2,000 writers contribute to generating such income on Medium using various ways. We can collectively generate $200 million in income per month on this platform. This is not a trivial figure to any account executive.
Looking at the big picture, if we all ask how we can make our readers happier and find answers to improve our services, we can collectively make substantial impact on the growth and sustainability of this platform. Rewards then naturally come.
My point is a partnership with a platform can be great for all stakeholders. Writers are key stakeholders. Supporting these 2,000 top writers is undoubtedly a strategic move from Medium. Probably it is the best investment Medium has made so far. I hope Medium turns this strategy to a more structured offering so that writers can take advantage of this recognition to make this platform bigger and better.
At a personal level, gratitude is critical to personal satisfaction. Without appreciation, we cannot attract opportunities. Our success correlates with our gratefulness. I am grateful that Medium supports our top writers. I am also grateful that our top writers create vitality by producing and sharing engaging stories enjoyed by readers.
It can be ideal if Medium extends the bonus to more writers so that rather than a competition it turns to a collaborative effort. This is a good start and I believe with our honest feedback Medium can improve their services even better.
Congratulations to those who got bonuses for this month.
I understand some writers making effort did not get a chance yet. I have strong empathy for these writers and feel sorry for them. However, I firmly believe that those who invest time with concerted effort can increase reading times (measurable) and be rewarded in upcoming months.
I plan to create new initiatives to increase the reading times of our writers. Please reach out to me for guidance. I can be contacted in our Slack workspace. If you don’t have Slack access, please request via this weblink. It is free and used by over 8,000 writers for collaboration.
Thank you for reading my perspectives.
I’d like to obtain your feedback on how we can leverage this progress on Medium and how we can make this platform better jointly.
Guidance to new writers
To help our writers to become top writers, I shared my experience in the following ten articles. I hope you find them valuable, as many writers provided inspiring feedback on the lessons they learned from these stories.
These ten articles can increase the chance of becoming a top writer on Medium. They helped many writers and I hope they can help you too.
Please enjoy.
1 — How To Become A Top Writer In Three Months
2 — How To Triple Your Writing Income Methodically
3 — How to repurpose your content
4 — 100 Day Challenge For New Writers
5 — 1,000 Short Posts in 100 Days
6 — Share your concerns and aspirations in a story
7 — This Is My Simple Formula To Creating Viral Stories
8 — A Compelling Passive Income Stream For Freelance Writers
9 — How To Make Six-Figure Income On Medium
10 —How To Create A 30,000 Words E-book In A Month
Other articles related to this topic on my publications today
Let me share recent six stories submitted to my publications related to this topic today. There are several more in the queues.
Hurrah! The New Bonus Wave Is Here — by Kristina God
How Medium Helped Me To Get Into The $100 Club — by Sahil Patel
Medium Bonuses Running Late in July — by Rui Alves
Medium Partner Program Will Change in August by Christian Soschner
I’ve Earned a $50 Monthly Bonus Again from Medium — by D. Sow
Thank You, Medium for Another $500 Bonus — by Kristina Segarra
Don’t Feel Bad — You Still Are One of the Top 2,000 Medium Writers Xin Xin
The Only Reason I Got the June Bonus Was This Article, and It Was First Rejected By Every Publication by Doran Lamb
About The Author
I am a technologist, published author, editor, blogger, digital marketing strategist, and content developer with four decades of industry experience.
I write articles for Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal Media. On Medium, I established ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curated, ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR, ILLUMINATION Book Chapter, Technology Hits, and SYNERGY publications supporting 10,000+ writers on Medium.