The Only Reason I Got the $500 Bonus

It’s got nothing to do with writing consistently, quality writing, or getting curated

This has nothing to do with this article, but everything I do, I do it for my cats. You’re my inspiration, my muse, my one true love. Photo by Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash

There are many unanswered questions we have in life, just off the top of my head:

What does my cat really think about me?
If I eat myself would I become twice as big or completely disappear?
What was really going on between Winnie the Pooh and Piglet?

Ok, some of these I pinched from the now-defunct Yahoo Answers…rest in peace, my friend. But they are all perfectly valid questions that are nevertheless impossible to be definitively answered.

Not unlike the current question on the lips of many Medium contributors.

Because of course, the latest episode in the never-ending drama of Life on Planet Medium is all about the mystery $500 bonus that surprised 1,000 contributors in their monthly pay packet. This has, of course, prompted many questions to echo around the corridors of Medium. Questions such as:

Why did some writers get the $500?
Why did Medium do this? (Conspiracy theory alert)
How can I get this bonus next time?

Like everyone on Medium, over the last couple of days, I’ve observed many articles discussing this topic, broadly falling under these categories:

Surprise, delight, falling in love with Medium again
Playing detective: why some writers received the bonus and others didn't
Hoping if they put more effort in, they will be lucky the next time around
Mild annoyance that they didn’t get it, dressed up as humor

The truth is no one really knows why some writers were lucky and some weren’t. All writers who received the bonus got the same email, stating that it’s about reads, claps, and follows.

Apparently, you have to show this to prove you got the bonus. So here it is. screenshot courtesy of author.

Of course, Medium bigwigs know, that just the right amount of ambiguity will spark endless discussion on social media, and articles like this one, which can only be good for promotion and encouraging writers to sign up and contribute to this platform.

This is very clever marketing from Medium. Give money to the most successful writers and, they will take to multiple platforms delighted about the payout and more people will sign up. Perhaps they are hoping that future sign-ups as a result of this marketing will equal the payout they gave? This is entirely possible as Medium purposefully did not say whether they would ever do this kind of payout again, which gives everyone just the right amount of hope that they will. Maybe the bonus will happen again next month, maybe alternate months, and when that doesn’t happen speculation will begin that maybe the payout will be quarterly, or perhaps every 6 months.

The ambiguity surrounding the bonus will keep people guessing and hoping for the whole year.

That gives Medium a whole 12 months to recuperate the $500,000 they spent on this. We don't know what their projected signups are per month or per year, however, if this marketing results in an extra 8,333 signups this month, over and above forecast and they stay for the year, that would cover the bonus.

It’s a gamble, but I reckon Ev Williams is a risk taker. Plus even if it doesn’t pay off he’s also done a commendable act in paying out money to writers who are making his platform popular. He looks generous, benevolent, a little bit like Scrooge when he turns good at the end of a Christmas Carol. At a time where there exists much criticism, and rightly so, of the richer getting richer, he is reaching into his pocket and sharing his wealth with his workers.

Therefore the bonus scheme is excellent publicity for Medium and for Ev. It’s an all-around winner. I bet when this came through at Medium HQ there was excitement mixed with trepidation. They are eagerly watching the sign-up figures to see if they can get more people on board. Will it pay off?

I for one hope it does. Medium is a fantastic concept. And it works. It supports new writers, burgeoning writers, established writers, and writers who want to stay anonymous. It doesn’t care whether you have a degree in creative writing or no college education. Everyone has a shot at getting their voice out there.

Of course, I hope that this is so successful that they do it again. Receiving a $500 bonus was like getting a very early Christmas gift, at a time when many of us probably really need it the most. But what it really did was show that Medium bosses do care about your writing, about you engaging in the platform, and writing content that everyone wants to read. That for me was the real gift. That pat on the back from the boss that everyone no matter how old, bitter and cynical, really does secretly love.

Of course like everyone I want to replicate the bonus, so I had a good long look at my work for April and this is what I found.

In April I published 10 articles. These are what we will look at because the bonus only related to articles that I actually published that month.

These are the 10 articles;

Apart from one anomaly, writing about my experience of working in a dictatorship business like Amazon, the articles fall into two categories:

Writing on Medium, 3 articles
Addiction and Sobriety, 6 articles

I’ve been writing on Medium since February 2021, and I’ve found that these are my most successful areas. There’s nothing worse than writing something that no one ever reads, so I have tried to find areas that I enjoy writing about that also are popular for readers.

Can you guess which category my most popular articles fall into?

Well if you guessed Writing on Medium you would be right, as those 3 articles, received considerably more internal views than any other.

Writing on Medium: 1,883 internal views
Addiction and Sobriety: 1,045 internal views

I’m really not saying that you should start writing articles about writing on Medium. I think there are already way too many of these, I say as I write an article about writing on Medium…But, I promised you the truth and these were my most popular. And of course, it could be because of the topic.

However, besides the shared topic here is what I believe sets them apart:

The ideas for these articles were inspired by my reading of others' work on Medium, or were a direct or indirect response to other’s articles.
I wrote my truth.
I was controversial.

I believe the last reason is the main reason that they were so popular. I said things that others perhaps were thinking but hadn’t said. I was bolshy and I upset some people enough to get at least two articles written in response to my opinion that comments deserve a response.

Of course, none of these articles were curated because they were about writing on Medium, so the traction they gained was purely from reader interest. They were all published in Feedium, which I think is a popular publication where writers honestly discuss aspects of writing on Medium.

So here’s my takeaway to those of you who are keen to be next in line for a bonus from Medium.

Be controversial. Write something that you are reluctant to publish for fear of upsetting people, then hit the green button anyway. Challenge people. Write your truth.

Write something that gets people to comment and to clap. Be brave. Be interesting. Be clever. There is nothing that gets people to click more than a title that provokes negative emotions; shock, horror, or disbelief.

I wish you all the best in writing this month. I look forward to reading more controversial and thought-provoking pieces from everyone. And as ever hit me up in the comments with your thoughts.

Doran Lamb is a freelance writer on addiction and mental health. She writes to challenge the stigma that exists as a result of mental health and through her writing wants the world to know that individual difference makes the world dynamic, sexy and beautiful. She is proudly an addict in recovery, a mother, and an opinionated woman, who has learned not to give a f**k what anyone thinks.