2021 was my first year on Medium. In the spring of that year, Medium did something I wish they had never stopped.
They did stop a few months later.
The one thing I wish medium brought back from the dead to keep writers happy and engaged is:
Surprises
Between April and July, Medium handed out 4 rounds of monthly bonus payments to the best writers on the platform. Each month, a check of $50, $100, or $500 was handed out.
The first of those bonus rounds was a complete surprise. Every included top writer received an email. I bet we all thought it was spam. It wasn’t. It was a dream.
The bonuses looked like this:
- Top 1,000 writers: $500 bonus
- 1,001–1,500 writers: $100 bonus
- 1,501–2,000 writers: $50 bonus
I was fortunate enough to get the bonus 4 months in a row. And the $500 exceeded my monthly Medium partner program earnings by a lot. I was earning between $100 and $250 per month back then. $500 on top was a dream.
Bring back the bonus payments, Medium.
