I'm sure you know this but this is wonderful writing, Ben. I'm so used to reading things on Hive that are somewhere between good and totally, incomprehensible rubbish. Fantastic writing is rare. So thank you. Thanks for sharing your fantastic gift with it. This post was truly a pleasure to read.
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Caroline, you've made me blush! Thank you so much for the kind words. I've been writing for many years now but comments like this are rare and put a real spring in my step. I do try to make sure I put as much effort into my posts on various platforms as I do my fiction, but it is a different type of writing and one that doesn't come as naturally. I guess I've set the bar for myself now and will have to ensure I reach it every time or else risk disappointing you.
Ah, fear not Ben. I'm far from consistent in following anyone, so it's more likely I'll trip over your stuff from time to time. I'm not much of a reader of fiction so I'm even more likely to be infrequent! (But @samsmith1971 you love fiction, right? Have you seen Ben's work? Might be worth a follow!)
Ben, you do you. And simply notice, as a far better writer than myself, when I made spelling or grammatical errors, when I use a word incorrectly or have chosen poorly when trying to describe something. And know that when I do see your words that they're going to be far supreme to anything I'm writing. (Though maybe follow me here and read anything you find vaguely interesting just to see how I'm using the platform. If/when you comment on my posts I'm far more likely to remember to click across and see what you're up to!)
Followed you, I have!
And if you have questions about how to make the most of this platform let me know. I've learned a lot in the last 2 1/2 years.
I'm always happy to do some learning. One thing I have found interesting and a bit of a challenge is that in order to get eyeballs on your posts you seem to need to post to a community. I've approached Hive on the basis of building my own blog to help attract Web3 readers to my writing (I'm kid in a sweet shop excited about the range of creative opportunities NFTs bring to authors). I'm pretty happy with the way follower numbers are building but that has mostly come from posting to communities. Am I missing a trick here?
Hmmm, yes. It's an interesting one. Yes, you're definitely more likely to gain followers by posting in Communities. I'm sure that building your own blog is possible to some degree through posting here on Hive. How much and how well is going to depend, to some degree, on how well you gently, and persistently promote your work. I feel like you did it well here.
I'd suggest watching out for people who promote their (other) stuff (blogs, products, etc) here in their posts on Hive, and see what you can learn from them. I'll see if I can remember to tag you in some good examples when I trip over them. (No one immediately springs to mind but there are some photographers who sell their photos who I've seen do this really well). I think that learning from what them and their method can be applied well to you and your aims here too.
So, I suggest testing out a few Communities where you like the vibe and feel like it's a good match for your posts and share you work there, seeing what hits you get as you share consistently over time. Ideally, you'll find one or more Communities where you also find posts by others you enjoy reading and you can give some love back to that group. Not only for the benefit of the group and therefore the whole of Hive, but also because I've found when I pay attention to others posts they pay attention to mine. If that's your primary reason, people will feel that intention. But if you do it in a genuine way then genuine attention will flow back from some people.
Also consider "curating" (reading, upvoting and commenting on) posts in Communities where you are an interested student and reader but where you may not share posts. Like if you're interested in NFTs but don't want to write about them, that Community may have many people who like reading what you're writing.
Okay, that's enough. Play with anything in there that feels fun, supportive, aligned for you. And if you want to know who else to take advice from here on Hive look for people with reputation numbers that are a chunk higher than you (65+ is pretty reasonable) and who are engaging on the platform in a way that you think is helpful, authentic and ethical.
!LUV
Thanks for that fulsome reply, Caroline, there are some really helpful tips in there. Really good suggestion to follow and engage with NFT communities even if I don't want to post any specific content there myself. I know I also need to build up a better understanding of what people will tolerate on this platform by way of promotion. Direct promo is not my reason for being here, rather it's to build up a community of interest, but I'm still keen for people to know I've good books out there looking for readers. Also, I hadn't clocked that the number next to your name is your reputation score! Definitely good to know that. And please do tag me in whenever you find someone you think I could learn from. Thanks again.
You are welcome, Ben 😄
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