Comin atcha with a shocking hot take in this post: People appreciate bonus monetary compensation for a job well done.
If I’ve done my job as a writer (I probably haven’t, I’m mediocre at best), then the two takeaways of part 2 of The Feeling When are:
1. The Dad’s goals were entertainment and community
2. The Dad was successful because of the kick ass team of creatives
Yesterday I told my wife I needed to decide what to write about next for the substack and she said, “What is the direction? Are you still writing about The Dad?” So I’m thinking those takeaways must not be too clear. LOL. But yes, we’re still telling the story of The Dad. It’s roughly chronological, and at this point we’re in the first few months of The Dad’s existence, in late 2017 early 2018.
And this post brings together those two takeaways in a big way. Our primary goal was to entertain; we measured that through engagement. And our content was created by a whole team of the best dang content creators in the biz.
The summer when I was leading Scary Mommy’s Instagram, I implemented a weekly bonus structure. Each week I tallied up the previous week’s top performing posts by engagement. The top 2 posts got an extra bonus. $75 for first place and $50 for second. If the same person got both, they got both!
Not a significant deal financially, but was a cool motivator. And reminder of the goal of entertainment (engagement). Also, who doesn’t love gamification? Dabbling in a lil bit (a lot) of that these days with Channel 3.
So we implemented this bonus structure right away for The Dad.
Here’s the announcement to all contributors:
BONUS
Bonus topic: BONUSES.
Starting with content that runs Monday 4/2, we will have WEEKLY BONUSES for top performing memes and tweets. The best meme (based on Instagram likes) and tweet (based on likes+retweets) will each get $75. The second best performers will each get $50. Every week.
Ally and I are not eligible since we pick what runs. We will send an email every Wednesday or Thursday with the previous week's stats. I am reallllllly excited about this.
[This GIF is from an original The Dad studio video. To be discussed soon!]
I freakin love these gamified metrics-based incentives (bonuses). Whatever you’re working on, whatever your position, what’s a good bonus structure for what you do? Do you have single number that measures success for your vision? Could you implement a metrics-based incentive or suggest one to leadership?
Performance based bonuses, when implemented correctly, can become a pure form of a meritocracy. (Though I feel they should not be the majority of the compensation.)
So every week, I’d compile an email to all of our contributors announcing the bonus winners.
Heard y’all like memes? Here were the first ever bonus winners, on 4/12/2018:
I also loved these emails because it reminded me each week to thank the contributors and show appreciation.
These weekly emails continued weekly for the entire 5 years I led The Dad. They grew and evolved. Ally Probst and I sent them, then Morgan Music, and then Jordan Stratton. Those lovely and talented folks did a much better job with them than I did and they emails became full on newsletters, including goings on across the brand and hilarious and/or inspiring comments and responses from the community. They became my favorite email of the week.
I’m tempted to apply to be a The Dad contributor again just so I can get one again.
And now, in the spirit of bonuses, I want to show you the top bonus getters from the first few months off The Dad, based on those weekly emails.
David Hughes
Rob Whisman
Jordan Stratton
Jon Wilmot
Bottlerocket
Todd Dracula
Morgan Music
Kim Canner
Simon Holland
Adult Mom
Mark Cognato
Brandan Moretton
Lovely and talented, every last one of em!
Gonna end this post the same way I ended every weekly bonus email: