General thoughts about success on Steemit [advice for new users]
What does it take to get successful?
1. If you are here for the money, you are doing it wrong
You will never succeed on steemit with purely selfish intentions.
Why is that?
We are all here to make money and it doesn't matter how we do it. Some write long thought-out articles, others post memes without end. They both have an equal potential for a high payout. In the early days a whale vote was worth many hundreds of dollars. Single picture posts were regularly on the trending page with ridiculous payouts. But Steemit has evolved over the year . We, the users, have changed Steemit. We have expressed our concerns and ideas for a better platform and today a single image post with no context has a very slim chance to get to the trending page. While the high payout potential remains, the majority of users no longer upvote lazy content. We have developed values here. Values that have stood the test of time in the real world: integrity, consistency, morality.
Sure, we all got lured here for the REWARDS, but there are no free meals anymore. If you want a piece of the pie you have to contribute your time to the platform. Socialize, communicate, teach, learn. If you are willing to put so much effort into it, are you still here only for the money or is there something else?
What I like most about Steemit is how cruel it can be. You might not earn anything for the first month or two. I believe in that time most users will "drop the act" and simply post what they like - act natural. And that's the real you people actually would like to hear more from.
If there's one thing I could change about Steemit it would be to reject all payouts and upvotes for the first month. Too often do some random users get a hefty motivation boost with their first post or "get on the payroll" of some whale before they have matured on the platform.
Blogging should come naturally and the rewards are an added bonus you may receive for your efforts.
2. Life is unfair. Get used to it.
You'll never get the same rewards for the same amount of work as others. Don't even bother wasting time thinking about it. It all comes down to luck.
Many have pointed out that being a woman can mean success or not. While it's true at times I can't really agree with that. While I've seen many female life-style bloggers here go from 0 to 100 really quick I've also seen many cryptogeeks do the same. I don't know how the demographics of Steemit looks right now, but I guess it's still mostly male dominated. So there's no wonder pretty girls and geeky stuff get upvoted a lot.
Over time that trend has decreased significantly, but it's still there.
And it's normal, because life is not fair.
3. Steal from the best
Open up the trending page and create posts similar to those.
You'll find that those posts are often times:
*don't steal
4. Communication breakdown, it's always the same
Commenting THOUGHTFULLY can go along way.
While the recent influx of users has spiked the amount of followers every more established member has, the follower amount doesn't mean anything if those followers won't upvote nor engage with any of your posts.
If you want to gather a meaningful following you need to connect with people: comment and reply. Start conversations as much as possible, but don't push it. No one want's beggars and "ass-lickers". If you just read an interesting article, but can't contribute in any meaningful way, a simple "Thank you! I find X topic very interesting" is enough.
Don't beg for upvotes and followers, you'll likely push everyone away by adding that to your comments.
If you consistently comment thoughtfully and show interest in someones posts, they'll check out your account sooner or later.
5. Contribute to the STEEM network
If you have the technical know-how, reach out to developers and start helping out. There's still lots to do.
Needless to say, most posts by developers are well received.
Hope you like it!
Feel free to share your thoughts :)
Upvote, resteem and follow only if you like!
I don't do follow for follow, vote for vote.
Have a lovely day!
Your article itself is already a demonstration about how to succeed on Steemit, which means writing clearly, with the aid of pictures, good structure and styling, and try to contribute to the community by giving tips and advice for some new or existing users.
thanks!
It's funny how these points seem like a logical approach yet I see the opposite all the time. I'm so super curious how Steemit will develop once there will be a video upload option or a dedicated images function. Anyway getting lost here, nice post!
dedicated image option? you can already upload images into your post.
Well say @sulev. Points taken, I particularly like your point "Life is unfair. Get use to it". This is something we all need to admit this is how the world operate, one can keep asking why he was treated unfairly by life or one can just act to it, do something to change his own life. For most of us minnows in Steemit, it is important that we work hard to get ourselves to Dolphin and Whales.
HF19 make the Steemit a level ground for all, great! HF19 cannot change the game, NP, we just live with it and deal with it our way.
Thanks for writing this. I do agree that life is unfair, whether on Steemit or elsewhere. When I first joined, I did feel that it's easier for the pretty girls to do well (judging my introduceyourself posts). Then again, I do hope success would come if you continue to network and contribute original quality content. Just like starting a blog on a self-hosted WordPress, it takes time to build traffic and income.
I totally agree with your point about demonitizing new accounts for the first month, or at least the first two weeks, on steemit. Take the time to learn about the platform before you demand a reward. After a month the new user should then be prompted to write their introduceyourself post. They will more likely have a good understanding of what to say and a better chance of a deservedly large payout to begin their tenure on steemit.
yep
Thanks, same sentiments here. I'm new and I can say genuinely connecting to people make a huge difference. I'm now past 200 followers but I don't consider it a milestone just yet. I'm thankful yes but i could still filter it to those who really are interested in my posts down to as low as 5. So yes thanks for posting. I think you voted on my post either thru steemvoter or manually and I thank you for that!
guess it was steemvoter
Thanks for the comment! Just keep doing what you love and you'll succeed in the long run.
I will! Thanks for the encouragements.
This was exactly what I needed to read today. I am in the middle of my second week on Steemit and I am still trying to figure it all out. I have had a couple of posts do very well (by my standards) and many that have not.
I will continue to write about what interests me and continue to be my real self. And then we will see what happens. I am still excited over this platform and will continue to contribute.
Totally agree!!
very nice guide to the new user as well as me!!
As long as you can post something related to your strength!
you will start to gather your royal followers and this is important!
Thank for posting ! @sulev
"Life is unfair. Get used to it." . this is all we need to know , and Steem on! :))
:)
Steem on!
This is actually one of the better advices new users should look into, as there are plenty of rep 25 users giving advice "how to make bets use of steem!!" with very few good advice.
Personally, I too think there is no point being here only for the money. There are no miracles which make everyone rich easily.
I haven't even checked those rep 25 posts :D
It's amusing, actually :)
Someone who joins and one of his/her first posts is about how to make easily lots of money on STEEM.
I sure hope there aren't many people reading those advice.
I might check out a few of these posts then just for fun:D
It's sad that you have to point this out in point 1.
It's true of course, but how far along the wrong path have we came as a society that half of this post is about the importance of not sailing under false pretences!
"the importance of not sailing under false pretenses!"
Nicely said.