IF I WAS A MINNOW ON STEEMIT I WOULD... - PART 2
Introduction
After the success and interest of part 1 of this series, I've decided to really dedicate myself to help the minnows get off the ground. I do this partially by upvoting good comments as well as writing what I believe one must do to get off the bottom of the totem pole.
There Are More Than One Way to Add Value...
Pay attention...because this is important: "People upvote people who add value to the community."
When steemit.com just got started, being a new user and writing content was valued a lot...but as more people join and 10000+ articles are added everyday, the value of "just being here and writing" has diminished.
The Law Of Compensation
Your compensation, over a long enough period of time, will be defined by 3 factors:
- The need for what you do
- Your ability to do it
- The difficulty of replacing you
When you are a minnow, you have to differentiate yourself from the pack. Otherwise you are a dime a dozen (just like the image above). There are a lot of people who can write well written articles here. So how do you differentiate yourself?
Here Are Some Other Ways You Can Add Value
Devs
People who can write code are considered to add a LOT of value to STEEM as a whole and they are handsomely rewarded. So if you can code, jump on the github and get busy participating to the opensource project. Then write about the push request you've made or the little app you've created to make life easier for everyone.
Marketers
If you know how to market and do ads, like @jerrybanfield for example, then start crowdsourcing what you make in SBD to do some ads on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc. Then share the results with everybody.
Designers
If you know how to create cool designs, like @malicered, start offering your services to create logo and branded designs for people who start projects on Steemit. Make cool hats or t-shirt is anothe way to make money on steemit. There are lots of opportunities for designers here.
Start a Project
There is always a problem that can be solved by creating a project. Many projects such as @curie, @minnowsupport and others are tackling the issue of curation. Those projects tends to be valued as a whole and make the creators of them an income.
@lemouth (my brother in law), is a scientist who works at CERN on the particle accelerator and he found other scientists to start a project called @steemstem which is dedicated to promote legitimate scientific discussion on steem. Since then, this project as been supported by the community and whales as a whole.
There is no limit to the type of project you can launch. Those projects tends to get the attention of whales because they transcend the gain of a single individual and therefore add value to the community as a whole.
Share Your Unique Story
Everyone has a story. We are all wired to connect with stories. Maybe you are a Uber driver or a flight attendant with juicy stories. Maybe you are construction worker or a plummer. It doesn't matter. We all have a story that other can be interested in. Your story makes you unique and makes you different from the pack. If you write and blogging IS the way you want to go ahead, always try to mix your personal story with what you are trying to communicate.
Conclusion
If you do what most people do, you are going to get what most people get. Find a way to add more value than 90% of people and you'll make your way to the top. Guaranteed.
Part 3 will be release Monday. I take my weekends off to recharge and disconnect from the computer. I hope you'll be back for the third installment.
Cheers!
Hello @cryptoctopus, how i'm glad that you listed start a project to be a way of growing here on the platform!
Infact i have recently started a project named : Steemit Iron Chef which is a unique type of cooking contest, it's not yet launched but I already have over 35 people interested in joining it.
I have planned to give away 3 prizes each week to the winners and it does not stop there...all contestant will be awarded points like a league. The one who tops the league at end of year 2017 will be crowned Steemit Iron Chef 2017!
I said unique as despite being a weekly contest, i have created another account @steemit-ironchef whose purpose is to act like a main reward pool and store all sbd made till end of year. The account has already started to receive donations to make the pool bigger. And this will be the final rewards for the winners at end of year 2017!
The main purpose is to help the original food authors who are not getting noticed and give them a little push!
Hope you like this idea!
So i will say there is room for anyone who really want to succeed here, it's up to the people to know in which type of waters he wants to dive in!
And also we must put your practice in place ; that is give back to the community and you will receive 10 times more soon!
Have a relaxing weekend ahead and looking forward to part 3 on Monday!
Cheers
@progressivechef
I love the idea of an Iron Chef! Seems brilliant to me. Makes me wish I was more of a cook.
Thanks so much for loving the idea my friend! It really building up nicely and will be launched shortly!
haha, if you can cook, would be great to have you participating!
Thanks for your comment!
I can mix a mean cocktail... but I'm still learning the cooking thing. Doesn't mean I don't obsess over Great British Baking Show or Top Chef. :-) I'll be keeping an eye out for sure.
I love that idea too ... will check it out ...maybe I can enter too !
That's amazing to hear my friend, look forward to see you joining once it's launched. The date fixed is 01.09.17!
This is so valuable... Even after being here for almost 3 months, this is still such good information to have!! Im so glad I was able to hop on and catch part 2!! Cant wait for part 3 now. Man I get so excited sometimes when I think of the endless possibilities of what can be accomplished on here!!! It makes me wanna get off my ass on my days off work and downtime and go do awesome stuff to try and capture that shot, the one ya know 😄
Thanks again @cryptoctopus for this series. I really like the idea of finding a specific way to add value to the community. I think my favorite line is, "Find a way to add more value than 90% of people and you'll make your way to the top. Guaranteed." I'm banking on it.
You are quite right. Your way of thinking is right. I have to find an idea that will help the community.
I have come with my idea here, we need to bring more and more creative people to this place to add values to this platform, so that we all get rewarded.
https://steemit.com/blog/@sanjeevm/planning-to-take-steemit-beyond-steemitlive-is-borne-this-day
Cool article. Basically bring some unique value to the platform and get rewarded.
Hey, was waiting for the second part, since the first one was really good.
I totally agree that everyone should pick up a niche and try to stand out from others and like you mentioned in your other posts - it is very important to actually do something in order to get more experience.
However, there is a tiny problem here:
If the minnow is a real professional in something (same marketing, design etc), it will be easy for him/her to find what to write about or offer particular services and the most important they will be in-demand in a short period of time .
The real problem lays with minnows who are semi good at something, they kind of understand a niche and interested in it, but they cannot provide any valuable information. As result, the content provided by minnow won't be interesting to the public and that in its turn will lead to 0 chance to raise any money on an article.
I am not denying that minnow should write more, read more and learn a topic and only then his content will be really appreciated.
I am just saying that it is very hard to grow from a minnow to some other bigger fish :) when he is not a professional at something.
I have highlighted this issue, because I want to understand, what a minnow should do - when he is very small and inexperienced in everything.
This is a good point @flowily! I think @cryptoctopus point is well made. But there are many people who are a "Jack of all Trades, Master of none". And finding the place where we can add to the community in a real and useful way can be difficult.
I think one of the solutions may be to find an established project to become a part of. If the project is something that you can contribute to, even in some small way, and the project gets the attention of a whale or two, then you earn by being a part of the bigger mass. Becoming a school of fish rather than a lone minnow if you will.
I find myself trying all sorts of things to bring eyes to what I am doing. Taking a shotgun to the problem and spreading buckshot all over the place to see if anything hits. Plus we all have diverse interests, so throw out articles that feed to your interests and see what happens.
I really appreciate the advice in articles like this one, it really helps to have guidance, as well as to know there are big fish out there who genuinely care about the little guy.
We need bigger shotguns indeed :)))
It's not fair but that how this universe of ours is made:
"Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. " Matthew 25:28-29
The first thing they should do, is become more valuable to other...if they can.
I don't think it is necessarily unfair. It is something we all have to work for. If it was easy, then there would be a million millionaires on Steem already.
This right here. Earlier this week @stellabelle posted a link to @dan 's intro post: https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@dantheman/daniel-larimer--co-founder-of-bitshares-steemit
I gathered from that, we are in a community that was built for the purpose of helping each other out. It would be so easy for people to make their Steem and just sit on it like a dragon sitting atop his treasure horde. But so many whales are out here trying to continue to help the community up.
I think it is the minnows who learn from this lesson and continue to strive to help others who will be the next generation of dolphins and whales to share what they have learned and boost up the masses who are coming in this time next year.
I love "Renaissance" man statement in your blog, it well describes your character as you have revealed. ...sounds like I just need to keep on keeping on...Thank you for focusing here on a minnow topic ...it is reassuring to myself and many I am sure...The biblical tells me much also...will be looking for Number 3. :)
Cheers,
Melissa
That is exactly why I think not everyone should strive to have it's own "ultimate" plan or project to share with the world, but rather participate in others...
@cryptoctopus Thank you for the invaluable tips. Standing from the crowd is definitely a game changer and I agree with you that people should add value to the community. Although I like writing about different topics, I realized that on a platform like this, it's better to be known for something specific so you can target the right audience who want and appreciate your contribution. Like you mentioned, @jerrybanfield is known for marketing etc
We look forward to the part 3! Have a pleasant weekend...
Thanks @nomad17
You're welcome
I am appreciative of the people who have done curation projects and work to form communities around interests. Without those Steemit would be at least twice as hard to navigate and to thrive in. THANK YOU PROJECT PEOPLE !!
Respect, cryptoctopus for this and the previous articles. Enjoyed reading them and always eager to get good advice. Another thing beginning steemers could do is to write about your experience with steemit (and related services) itself (things you discover/learn). I know it has been done over and over but there remains a need for new users to become well informed about what is available and can (and cannot) be done and older post tend to become burried quite rapidly by newer ones.
Anyway, thanks for the insights.
peace,
-k
Value is really important and that's what I learn from others , I am planning on starting a session at my college to teach them about Steemit after watching Stephan promote in UK . That motivated me to join abroad and learn from them