Charting my Course on Steemit | a challenge by @dreamsteem
I’ve been on steemit for just over 10 weeks and it’s been an amazing opportunity to learn, network, and expand my definition of what it means to be a freelance “artist”!
I came to steemit because I wanted to know how the platform might empower creatives like myself to build support for work that they’re already doing. 6 months ago I didn’t know anything about cryptocurrency or blockchain technology -- but I’m learning quickly.
So far it’s been a remarkable journey and I’m excited to see where this goes. A few days ago, I was nominated to lay out my goals and plans for steemit by @ameliabartlett as part of @dreamsteem’s #chartyourcourse challenge! Thank you both so much for giving me the opportunity to participate in this!
This challenge came at a great time as I’ve been spending the last few weeks putting a great deal of energy into considering how I want to use steemit, and what I want to contribute here in the long-term. Your simple, concise challenge gave me a chance to organize my thoughts and bring my goals into focus!
Here are some of the things that have been on my mind the last few weeks:
- I love steemit, but it’s important for me to find a pace that works. Consistency is key, but daily publishing is not absolutely necessary. I need to let go of the guilt and pressure I feel to put out content every 24 hours. It’s okay to take a break, and it means the work I do create is stronger! Self-care is important, and finding balance is crucial!
- Ultimately I am really enjoying writing a personal blog that focuses on art, social justice, nature, and creative enterprises that interest me. I have never been paid for creative writing before and it is awesome -- I want to keep going with it. Check out my intro post, my ongoing series about teaching theatre in prison, or my explanation of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to get a sense of my style.
- I also want to use steemit as a place to promote my creative work and the work of other artists. I just launched the “steemit branch” of my real-life artist collective The New Alchemists. We are a steemit platform for interdisciplinary artists to develop their work, network, and build their business/brand. Find out more in our intro post, design a logo for our curation work, or apply to be a curator with us and get a 50/50 payout split for your contributions!
And now, the #ChartYourCourse Challenge Rules
- What is your Steemit goal? (In one sentence, make it as specific and as measurable as possible)
- Prioritize these three aspects of Steemit for you: Posting, Curating, Commenting
- Name up to 5 groups/communities that help you to achieve your goal.
- Name at least one measurable future goal for: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.
- And because everything should end on a sweet note... name your favorite dessert!
- Challenge 3-5 people to chart their course!
- Use the #chartyourcourse tag
And at last, my response to the #ChartYourCourse Challenge prompts!
What is your Steemit goal?
My steemit goal is to build a vibrant community of interdisciplinary artists dedicated to making quality work and developing new models of business and community engagement via blockchain technology.
Prioritize these three aspects of Steemit for you: Posting, Curating, Commenting
This is a hard question, because I believe that all 3 of these aspects are interconnected. The greatest success is achieved by balancing all 3, but I appreciate the clarity of deciding where my priorities lie! Here goes:
- POSTING: Posting is my first priority because I think that the best managers and organizers of artists are also artists/creators themselves! When you are actively engaged in the creation process you have a strong appreciation for what other artists are experiencing and overcoming (plus, you keep your imagination and artistry honed). My bare minimum expectation for myself on the platform is to post several times a week!
- CURATING: Curating is my second priority (but also a big one!). I strongly believe that building an artist community is dependent on consistent curation of quality content makers and artists. What is more, I have always noticed my own work grow exponentially when I lift up others: the rising tide lifts all ships. My footer says “I am here to help artists thrive” and I truly mean that.
- COMMENTING: Commenting is another important aspect of steemit and one of the things that really helps to build an authentic, long-term relationship. For me, a presence on Discord within the communities there, is often more valuable than simply commenting on posts--but in general chatting with people back and forth is crucial to building up real relationships!
Name up to 5 groups/communities that help you to achieve your goal.
There are so many groups, communities, and individuals on steemit who have been amazing throughout my time here. In no particular order, here are 6 who immediately pop to mind!
- The Alliance - @thealliance
- Curie - @curie
- SteemSugars - @steemsugars
- TeamGirlPowa - @teamgirlpowa
- The New Alchemists - @thenewalchemists
- Qurator - @qurator
Name at least one measurable future goal for: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.
Please note that my goals are very tied to my new artist initiative @TheNewAlchemists! This is where I will run my primary “business” on steemit as I get more and more comfortable managing/empowering an artist community!
- 1 month -- 750 followers, have the @TheNewAlchemists ArtSearch Curation Initiative up and running, with at least 4 awesome regular curators!
- 3 months - 1000 followers, see @TheNewAlchemists publishing 2-3 weekly curation posts with a roster of 6-10 ongoing curators, @TheNewAlchemists will produce our first live theatre event on the blockchain, and @TheNewAlchemists will launch an ongoing art contest: Steem Idol.
- 6 months -- 1500 followers, begin to make enough income via steemit to constitute a sizable portion of my earnings/savings (my goal is approx. $1,000 monthly)
- 12 months -- 3000 followers, see my steemit income increase (my goal is approx. $1,500 monthly from blogging activities within a year), see @TheNewAlchemists supporting at least 250 interdisciplinary artists via vibrant curation, ongoing contests, live performance events on the blockchain, and opportunities that get SBD into the hands of creators around the world.
And because everything should end on a sweet note... name your favorite dessert!
My favorite dessert is a deep-dish huckleberry pie. There is nothing sweeter than spending the day in the mountains tracking down huckleberries (they’re so small, and often hard to find, so it’s a real treat when it happens)! When I am lucky enough to get my hands on these berries the first thing I do is make them into a deepdish served with french vanilla ice-cream. Nothing better in the world.
Challenge 3-5 people to chart their course!
I love this part -- because it’s so awesome to see how other people are planning their time on steemit and charting their goals. Here are some folks I’d love to challenge to jump in and map things out:
And that is all for now. What are your goals? Even if you haven’t been nominated personally, I highly recommend taking a moment to answer these terrific questions posed by @Dreamsteem -- they’re so helpful for planning out your purpose on steemit!
Hikes of the Pacific Northwest | Photo Album
From Full Time to Freelance and How I Got Here
I just went to prison for 5 months. Again. | 07
Exploring the Big Four Ice Caves | Photo Album
Passing My 500 Followers Milestone and How I Got Here!
ART MIX-UP CONTEST | 04
The Art of Self Care | 5 Essential Tips
The Hero with a Thousand Faces: a monomyth
An Afternoon Jaunt to Wellington Ghost Town | Photo Album
It's good to set goals and plan. Otherwise we just do whatever comes naturally at the moment and that's not always expedient. There should always be an element of spontaneity, but planning is important too. @ironshield
(My favorite desert is eclair cake. Yum!) @ironshield
Eclair CAKE?! What is that, it sounds delicious and like I want to eat it immediately. :) Thanks for stopping by and the support.
Yummy, cheap and easy to make. My fav. @ironshield
Ooh, that looks delicious—thanks for sharing!
great list @lilyraabe. Look forward to seeing that first live theater production from @TheNewAlchemists on the blockchain. Sounds like it will be awesome :)
Haha, yessss fingers crossed! Thanks so much for the support!
Nice! Always good to get focused. I'm so glad you're here, contributing. Our artistic community is richer for your presence and creativity!
Thanks so much for the kind words! And ya, was totally a helpful challenge to set goals and be accountable to them. :)
This is very interesting, you have come so far in such a short amount of time and have embraced so many different communities.
With @TheNewAlchemists account does that mean you will post less on this one - or will the sort of run side by side?
#thealliance
Hey thanks for the support! :) I will continue to post here pretty regularly (I think it’s important for each artist within TNA to have their own unique brand and I love getting to write about whatever I want without always having to connect it to my work). And I’ll be cross-promoting, and using this account to occasionally collab on projects happening in the TNA world. A mash-up really! More art in more places. Appreciate you!
I've known you for almost 3 months now and it is amazing watching you grow... The energy you have is crazy. Very inspiring... A driving force that makes me want to try harder, especially now after having read this post.
Thank you for challenging me to do this. I think clearly defining your goals can be key to succeeding, and it is something I often don't do very well (I'm very much an in-the-moment kinda person).
Your TNA project is especially exciting. I meant it when I said I have this feeling it is going to be immensely successful. Proud to be part of it! (speaking of which, let me download that banner now, while I'm remembering!).
Thank you so much for those exceptionally kind words! I feel the same about your blog--it’s stylized, aesthetically pleasing, and your quality is spot on all of the time. It’s been awesome to watch it develop, the sky it the limit!
I’m really excited about TNA and stoked to have you in the room early on--would love to figure out a way to get you collaborating if that feels like a good fit at any point! See you around.
Great post Lily! There's also a Steemartist group on discord to meet new artists. I'm still figuring things out and have to find time to do more on Steemit and keep the motivation to write. I want to do some process videos soon when dtube stops giving me errors.
That all sounds awesome! I really appreciate you popping over to say hi and support this. Dtube gave me trouble for the longest time -- but as an FYI -- there is way more money in Dlive because they do not take a 30% cut of your earnings like dtube. Whatever you post up there stays as video record, so it works well for way more than just live streaming...
You're very welcome @lilyraabe! Thank you so much for the tip. I tried to upload to dtube and getting errors and tried their chat and no answer. And with Dlive it was done in a second. I'm really glad you told me about it and if it even saves money which is even better! Now I hope people check out my first try out video ;)
resteeming so I can come back to this later after I’ve thought about the challenge a bit.
Awesome, hope you get a chance to participate!