Can You Really Make Money On Steemit? 5000+ Posts Later My Answer Is: "Yes, But..."
I get this question a lot, you know. Especially last year, when I made the switch, many friends were asking me: "I see you're no longer on Facebook, man. And on Twitter you just keep sharing these posts from this Steemit site. Is it really worth it?".
My initial approach was to start describing them the entire ecosystem: blockchain, witnesses, rewards pool, STEEM, SBD, Steem Power. The full monty. By the time I was at STEEM they were either asleep or checking their phones, politely.
So I'm not going this route anymore. Instead, I simply answer: "Yes, but..."
And if they keep asking me after the "but", I start to tell them the following bullet points one after another:
- when I joined Steemit, I decided to test it with a 30 days challenge, meaning posting each and every day, for 30 days in a row. So if you're not there yet, in terms of discipline and writing skills, then you'd probably be better of doing something else
- during the first 30 days challenge I had many days in which I didn't get anything. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Day after day. So if you're not prepared to invest a certain amount of time, don't bother
- after the first 30 days I realized I knew pretty much nothing about the ins and outs of the platform: from where the money comes, what are witnesses, what is a hardfork and so on and so forth. I read the white paper at least 3 times. So, if you're not open to learn a significant amount of stuff, then you probably should be doing something else
- at some point, the environment got so toxic here (long story, don't ask) that I decided I'll stop, until the air becomes breathable again. Fortunately, things got better and my hiatus only lasted a month and a half. So, if you're not prepared to lose everything you build (time spent, reputation, etc), if things are not consistent with your own values (which may happen again, who knows, I'm not controlling this thing, I'm just a part of it) then you shouldn't even think to join
- it took me about 6 months to figure out the exact amount of time I should invest and how should I split it: how much for technical support (I am, as many of you know, a witness in this ecosystem), how much writing, how much interacting with other members on chat, how much for commenting. 6 months. That's a lot of time. So if you're not prepared to make a lot of mistakes for at least 6 months and learn from them, then you shouldn't even bother
- last, but not least, during last year, I wrote more than 5000 posts (articles + comments). 5,000. Not 500, not 50. 5,000.
- I also built from the ground up a new tool, helping people to understand better when they are going to be paid (steem.supply)
Some of them are listening, some of them not, and a few are joining.
Lately, I've been hearing this kind of talk a lot:
"Hey, bro, I see now this SBD trading at $8, it's freaking insane. You're probably making a ton of money, right? Can you teach me how to do it? Do you think I can do it too?"
My usual answer is:
"Yes, but..."
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):
I like it. What it takes, nicely laid out, and nicely summarized.
"Yes, but..."
Brillant.
I would also add that Steemit is also perfect for the more casual contributor and passive investor. There's no better investment that you can have fun with and reward your favorite authors at the same time!
This is an absolutely brilliant post (and your comment complements it well). However it only made $16.76 which doesn't do it justice. I feel this post is so insightful it should have been rewarded with hundreds of dollars rather than a meagre $16.
Which brings me to formulate several thoughts:
Can something be done about that ?
I agree with you 100%, but I, too, unfortunately, don't know how that could be implemented. Steemit definitely needs to innovate when it comes to organization. Anything is possible though, with enough people behind it. I've seen this mentioned before by others, so it's not like we're alone in our thinking. Here's a good post from a few months ago that might help you get pointed in the right direction. https://steemit.com/roadmap2018/@steemitblog/steemit-roadmap-2018-community-input-requested
Exactly👍
The way it ended was so inspiring Yes, but... nice article, it shows people that you are human too, which is an important thing for them (us). In your article it was pretty sad when reading then you'd probably be better of doing something else. It made me wonder if I am in the right place here, or if I am doing the right thing. What gives me hope is that I stopped expecting money from Steem! Instead I am just spending a part of my free time here, enjoying the interactions with others and trying to find constructive and positive people to follow. I understand that here not many are making money, and I know that there will be so few chances to be one of them. Congrats for reaching this point, and keep on going!
And when you take into account that the interactions here are infinitely better than on Twitter or reddit, to name two examples I'm familiar with, I'd say not at bad choice at all!
Now we've just got to catch up with Stack Exchange. ;)
Oh, I've been on StackExchange for a while (with the same username if anyone curious) and that place is great too but I think it serves another purpose so I don't think that Steem is really competing with it :)
My dream is that we make StackExchange level someday.
Nice article I quit Facebook after joining steemit as well but I do have problems writing every day but I do read every day and try and comment and upvote what I like and I have still been able to make a little money
And then there are those of us who just like reading and viewing the content and like to write but don't want to be obsessive about it and could care less about the "money". Only reason I look at my wallet is to redeem so that my upvotes will maybe give more payment for the great content people have published. It saddens me when my upvotes give zero dollars.
That sounds very similar to my reasons for looking at my wallet. I hope that by curating content this will help make the trending, new and hot lists be filled with good content and not garbage filler.
I kinda fall into this camp, with one caveat, I like the community. There were rough patches, and some absolutely toxic conversations, but still better than the other social media sites that are out there. If you look for good content, you can find it here. whether investing, camping, travel, farming, there are lots of good people on here posting great information in their respective fields.
yup that's so true. I remember those days when you wanted to leave. I was devastated. I was so happy when you came back ;-)
And yes, like all good things it takes time and effort. And if you put in the time and effort you might see some reward.
Nothing is promised and nothing is guaranteed.
So far, I've made a bit of money on here. Not much, but enough to say I've made a bit of money. (I have about $NZ1500 in various alt coins all bought with SBD earned from posting on Steemit.)
I have had a ton of fun however.
You can say what you like about Steemit, but you can't say it's boring ;-)
My thoughts exactly. It's lively place :)
Salut Dragos!
Ar fi interesant daca ai timp si placere sa scrii un articol pentru comunitatea din Romania, despre cum putem sa transferam SBD sau Steem in fiat fie ca vorbim despre usd sau ron.....
Iti doresc un week-end placut!
Pai e deja foarte simplu: din Steemit -> exchange -> Bitcoin debit card (Bitwala, Spectrocoin, Revolut) sau coinflux.com (serviciu facut de niste romani)
Super! Multumesc frumos pentru replay... o sa ma uit sa vad despre ce este vorba!
It took me a while to make anything much here. I think it may be easier to make something now, but it still takes work to build a loyal following.
People who think like that, aren't going to make it here. They don't see a blogging platform. What they see is easy money. Which isn't like Steemit at all.
In the beginning of your account, channel, blog, or how you want to call it. You would be lucky if 10 people read your post. It time to build your account, interact with other users, creating relationships and getting your first few followers.
People who want in because 'of the money', don't want to do all of that.
The building of this community by one person at a time is rocking the world in ways none could have foreseen but could only dream about.
And you are a part of it!
uh, seems like that,,, last week didn't darn well hurt ! hello !! (-: