"Come In And Get Rich" - Myth And Reality About Steemit's Identity

in #growth-ideas7 years ago (edited)

The current wave of user subscriptions on steemit is providing some really interesting information about the platform's potential.

According to @stephenkendal ´s recent post about the The Last 8 Days there have been 809 new steemit user accounts registered per day. That's quite a lot!

Reason enough to ask: Are these people finding what they are looking for?

The Expectations

During the past weeks the more established users on the platform have developed and shared a lot of marketing ideas (tag #growth-ideas) in order to help steemit getting out of its fledgling stages.

Now, supposedly thanks to the rising steem price, a relatively high number of people is storming the network. They are here!

There is actually no need to study the numbers. If you are actively moving yourself on the platform then you will appreciate the wave of new faces everywhere.

You don't even need to do a survey among them to know what's been their most popular motivation to join steemit.

The Fullfilment of Expectations

"If you align expectations with reality, you will never be disappointed." - Terrell Owens

Is steemit's reality fulfilling the expectations of new users, or are we setting the bar too high for them? 

When we are talking about 809 new users per day, are we talking about serious growth and long term acquisition (retention!) or just a bunch of new nominal and non-active members that will simply appear in the records?

Let's suppose the following fictitious and extreme scenario:

  1. A potential user learns about steemit thanks to the booming price of steem.
  2. That user decides to join the platform since he believes that he will be able to make some quick money here.
  3. That user manages to pass the relatively uncomfortable onboarding process and is happy to be a steemian now.
  4. Since the very first page he's directed to is the Trending page his current economical expectations are: "I will get $1,000 for one post."
  5. That user manages to control the relatively uncomfortable editor and starts publishing his first blog posts.
  6. That user gets $50 for his introduction post since a couple of dolphins gave him their votes.
  7. That user is slightly motivated, even though there is still a considerable difference between $50 and $1,000.
  8. That user acquires 20 followers in one week, publishes one article per day for what he receives an average payout of $0,50. 
  9. That user leaves after two weeks. 

Conclusion: the reality of steemit's identity doesn't match with the stories that are told in the market or other networks AND steemit's own entrance hall (Trending page).

The key indicator for growth isn't the total number of accounts but a constantly increasing number of active and committed users!

Assumption: The user activity on steemit raises and falls according to steem price bubbles.

These are some randomly picked stats from the past months:

14th of August 2016:  13,083 users active in the past week. 

26th of November 2016:  6,237 users active in the past week. 

13th of May 2017: 12,875 users active in the past week. 

Source: steemd.com

If the user actitivy is directly related to market prices and people are only joining the platform in expectation of an easy revenue, then steemit has to work on its identity.

A brand is a promise. 

It's an idea every potential user has in his mind when getting in contact with it for the very first time. 

If steemit can't fulfill the expectation of an easy and quick revenue (and it definitely can't), then this has to be communicated to users at the moment of signing in.

Showing them the Trending page as a first impression, paying them an amount of money above average for their intro post and then letting them crash down to $0.50 articles is not fair. 

These users will leave and never come back!

What a pitty...

The Idea: Best Practice Onboarding Tutorials  📷

There are tutorials on YouTube for everything why not for steemit newbies?

We have hundreds of established users on steemit that are very experiences in front of the camera.

Let's show them how this platform works right from the start!

This article is not supposed to promote my own stuff, but just to give you a practical example, this is a video I've done a couple of days ago: 

Why not produce some professional tutorial videos where we explain the idea of steemit, real (!) expectations for bloggers, tips and tricks about writing and how to build followers.

Yes, we already have some of that content on steemit and even on YouTube. But how would a new user find it???

I furtheremore believe that this initiative should be addressed by Steemit Inc. as the official brand owner.

The most important mission is surely to lower economical expectations. 

Everybody has the same chances here, but blogging means hard work. I'm here since July 2016 and haven't ever been on a top 5 position of the Trending page. I've rather made my way through a lot of study, constant improvement and little steps.

Sometimes the truth hurts, but it's the only way to go.

So let's tell them that this isn't a money printing mashine... unless you've been working daily on that machine for a couple of months.

They are already here. Let's keep them :-)

Marly - 


Picture sources:
Title image: strongandbeyoutiful.wordpress.com; girls: girlscene.nl; skateboard friends: weheartit.com; brand quote: melissawheeler; authenticity quote: thefamouspeople.com

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Congratulations @surfermarly!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following category:

  • Comments - Ranked 6 with 81 comments

Oh wow, thank you very much! What an honor :-) I had no idea that the post has reached so many comments already. Incredible!

Well done!

I am new here and it is great to see your post so I know what to expect (just joined one day ago)... it is great to know that although steemit has a long way to go but real growth can somehow be accomplished as long as there will be improvements along the way.. what is more important is that we have a platform that has the potential to be a game changer on social media industry. Please follow me @arnel

I couldn't agree more, @arnel. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts! I'm impressed by the feedback received, it seems that a lot of people care about these questions.
On steemit it's like in real life: you need patience and consistency to get to the top. The most important thing as that you keep going. Sure, I will follow you :-)

Thanks for the follow @surfermarly I am looking forward to read and interact with more of your posts/tips here in steemit.

Steemit is work most of the time for most of us to make a decent rewards. Most rookies don't understand that to be in the top 10 daily u need to be on discord, steemitchat, twitter, reddit and all that jazz full time.

But just like any way to make money it takes work, time, dedication and effort with heavy dash of talent. If people look anywhere for easy money they're gonna have broken hearts not just on Steemit but anywhere.

If someone comes here looking for a quick easy buck and is disappointed and leaves then I say so sorry, good bye.
If they keep at it, put up with the low payouts but continue to produce quality content and remain dedicated to the platform without a doubt they will eventually get noticed and earn the rewards they crave.

It takes time to be successful in any career. No job gives the new guy a top salary simply because they got the job, they earn it over time. The better they are the sooner they can get it.

Your posts always get me thinking. ^^

But just like any way to make money it takes work, time, dedication and effort with heavy dash of talent. If people look anywhere for easy money they're gonna have broken hearts not just on Steemit but anywhere.

I'd like to resteem that one :-) Thank you @solarguy!
You are absolutely right: it's about dedication. That's why I think there is a gap between the information given in the markets and what really happens on this platform. I know from my own conversations with newbies that they have absolutely no idea what's going on here. This is not facebook. It's complex. If Steemit Inc. wants to bring the masses they need to be better in communication.
I'm happy that my post was thought-provoking to you, I couldn't ask for more :-)
Have a pleasant weekend!

You can resteem, it was the gyst of a previous post you may have missed i wrote. Keep at it and any star that deserves to be seen will be seen. Not trying to ride your coattails but this is it.
https://steemit.com/welcome-aboard/@solarguy/how-much-does-a-steemit-author-make-per-month-some-interesting-thoughts-for-steemit-rookies

Ur very provoking and realistic. thats why we love u

Thank you @solarguy! What a heart-warming statement, don't know what to say :-)
I will have a look at your article right away, please don't ever hesitate to share them.

I agree that when we are attempting to recruit new users, we shouldn't mention the top-paid posts. The appeal should be using Steemit and interacting with other people across the world. An income stream is a secondary perk. Otherwise, expectations are too high and disappointment is certain.

Thanks for stopping by @countryinspired. That's exactly what I believe. The chance to earn money here is obvious, but leveling boards are too high if we point fingers on the top trending articles.

This was interesting to read for a newbie like me. From the first glimpse to steemit, I figured out that its the content that rules and hard work, as everywhere else. I also noticed that many people write about coin which sort of creates lart pour lart environment. Please comment. I follow you :-) Pls, check out my intro and tell me what you think about it.

https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@velimir/introduction-post-the-liberation-grand-plan-series-soon-to-unveil-steemit

Sure! Crypto currency is one of the most popular topics here, especially among the more established bloggers. That's why the trending page is always full of it, and the first impression for a new user must be a bit one-sided... However, if you look a bit deeper, there is a LOT of other content. You just need to know where to find it :-)
Thanks for stopping by and I'll be happy to have a look at your blog, of course!!

I just started to feel discouraged about this whole platform. Reading this post definitely helped realign my immediate goals! Thanks for the post!

Good to know that! :) Don't give up, it's really worth it. Use as much time as you can to study established blogs and their authors. Learn from them and improve your own doings constantly. Make sure that you are 100% convinced about every single article that you're going to publish. Then you'll definitely succeed :)
Best of luck! You've got a new follower now...

Thanks for the great advice! I've already seen some immediate results from simply changing my mindset! And thanks for the follow too! I followed you back! I'll keep learning and adapting, so I can eventually greatly contribute to this community!

You are more than welcome :-) Fingers are crossed!

Thank you for posting more realistic expectations. A lot of the guides make it seem like it is going to be super easy. I came over after one of the you tubers I follow recommmended it. Bringing his established audience here made it look simple and that could easily discourage new users.
As someone who passively uses other platforms for news, entertainment, and connectivity to similar minded individuals, it was refreshing to see something more realistic about what to expect.

I'm glad to hear that! However, "being realistic" doesn't mean that you can have a lot of luck here, too. It's still a game. You never know who's going to be online when you publish an article. You may be lucky having a bunch of whales being around in that exact moment when your content is showing up, and you may be extra lucky suiting their taste.

It's always a good strategy to think about target groups here:
The majority of users are male, have a high affinity for technological stuff and are extremely open to anything that touches the area of decentralization, freedom and self-government.

Every piece of content that supplies these needs has a good chance to succeed...
Good luck :)

Great info on knowing the audience demographics. Thanks for the wonderful tips.

I don't have any statistics, but surfing around the platform during a couple of months you come to know the people who are online...:) You are welcome!

Some deep thoughts right there.

Thanks!! I'm glad you considered them valuable :-)

Thanks for the great information. I am just getting started on Steemit and am going into this with my eyes open and my expectations low. Your post reassures me that this is something that relies on a lot of hard work to get to a higher plateau but can also be a great spot for one to hone one's writing and blogging skills. I am recently retired and have a lot of opinions and a lot of time. So this looks like it could be a nice way to keep my mind sharp. Thanks again for the story.

Thanks for your comment, @robsigurdson!

(...) this is something that relies on a lot of hard work to get to a higher plateau but can also be a great spot for one to hone one's writing and blogging skills.

Absolutely! That's it. If you like writing and storytelling in general, then this is the ideal place to be. You don't only learn from others but also through your own doings, improvements and failure. Steemit is definitely a great knowledge base, and it's a good thing that you bring some extra time. Socializing also requires a lot of dedication, and this is a social network in the end :-) You can't only focus on the content but need also to curate your relationships here...
Best of luck!

I am new and willing to give it a try. And who knows I might make some change and at the same time the value might rise. We are In at the beginning. I will see first payout on a few comments in two days.

Hey! If I were you I'd publish an introduction post. When tagging it with #introduceyourself it will get special attention, since a lot of whales and dolphins look at these new entries. Just visit the according trending page and look how the others have done their entries: https://steemit.com/trending/introduceyourself

Best of luck for your journey here!

Just enjoy what you do, if you provide value, the open market will determine your worth.

....or as Steve Jobs said once: "Be so good they can't ignore you." :-)
Thanks for stopping by!

I feel I definitely need blogging help. Thanks for this, followed and upvoted.

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful...
If you haven't done it already: sign up to steemit.chat as well. There are a lot of supportive communities where you may address questions and learn from more established bloggers. Besides, it's all about trying :-) Look how others do it and then find your own niche...
Good luck!!!

I joined in October last year on a summer vacation. As you said I post it one article per day and I did expect to be a smash. So after 2 weeks I did abandoned the platform and just continue my life until two weeks ago I had a friend visiting me in London and we talked about it. Made sense what he said and I am here again, this time with no hidden goal to do a fast exist, but to really see what is going on in this world and keep persistency.
So yes it's maybe a bit misleading at the begining and it would not hurt to do everything a bit more clear, but I believe is impossible to make it easy for everyone and they will still be the ones that they don't get it no matter what. We have our moments in life when we are completely idiots or inspired, but when the inspiration aligned with us everything clicks and is easy and smooth. Very good post, cheers :)

It's surprising that your story absolutely matches with my fictitious example, even the time periods (leaving after two weeks). Thanks for sharing your story with us, @teodora!
You are totally right: we have these moments when we are able to deliver and then there are days when we don't find any inspiration or creativity. However, you had a friend that pushed you, for instance. What if steemit could be that friend to new users just providing a helping hand saying "Hey, it's going to be tough, but I swear it's worth it."
Again, thanks for taking your time and commenting. You've got a new follower now :-)

There are people who make thousands for their private blog posts. It doesn't mean that I would make the same if I start my own blog. Same goes to Steemit. But I guess people are too greedy to realize that.
I had quite a monetary success from the first day here, but there were days when I posted 4 articles (I wrote them so, despite the fact if they are good or bad, it took me a massive amount of efforts) and got 0. I kept going and today I earn some money from my posts. Not a fortune, but it is still nice.
That said, Steemit doesn't give away free money. You still have to write to earn it and it is harder than it can look from the first glimpse at the platform. Not to mention all the power sharing problems, insider votes trading, beta glitches, and stuff like that. Like any other job, it has its own pros and cons. Sadly, there is no such thing as free money.

no such thing as free money.

I think investing in cryptocurrency and playing the waiting game is money trees :D
Feels like free money to me ^_^

In a way. But it still takes a lot of nerves and patience... And you have to constantly follow the markets and news. It like a normal job when you start thinking this way. But yeah, the salary from cryptos is way better than anywhere else.

Absolutely! You know what: my steemit account is worth around 10K now. Guess how much money I invested into the platform...? :-)) ZERO.
However it's not FREE money. If I counted the hours invested into my blog, there wouldn't remain any positive revenue... But hey, it's amusement!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, @writingamigo! I think all of us have gone through these stages. My very best friend @knircky introduced me to steemit in July 2016. I didn't earn any money in the beginnings, however I kept going. There are days like the ones that you mention when you spend hours working on a blog post which makes less than $1 in the end.
The key is to keep going.

Steemit doesn't give away free money.

That's it! However, many people out there do believe that. And that's their reason to join. They should be informed better... Some of them are now :-)

I am new, I found what I searched. I'm a bit sad, that I see some Blogs and Posts almost unwatched. I understand, that value is subjective, so I don't mind if noone votes on a post. But seing lots of very interesting posts with only 2views accumulated, tells me, that many good things are seeming to just go under in this content flow. I would love to see, how this problem will be resolved in the future. All in all, I'm here to stay, motivated to create content and already telling people, who rely on donations and such, for their work (like animal-sanctuary) to join this community. Thanks for your post!

But having a very interesting post with only 2views accumulated, tells me, that many good things are seeming to just go under in this content flow. I would love to see, how this problem will be resolved in the future.

You are the only one that can solve "this problem" which is actually not a problem but a challenge :-) Keep on working on that content you mentioned, ask for feedback, learn from it, improve your writing constantly and things will fall into place...
Good luck!
Following you (for a start) :-)

As a newcomer to social media this week I had more reservations than expectations, however I am sold already by the positive energy on Steemit. Just having a handful of people read, vote and comment on my introduction was reward enough for me. Great post BTW, you have a new follower!

The community is very supportive! I'm glad that you've made that experience right from the start!
Just keep on observing what the other (more established) bloggers are doing here - and HOW they do it. And then just try. Trying, failing, standing up and trying again is the very best lesson we all can learn from life :-)
Best of luck and you've got a new follower, too!

Wonderful growth of Steemit.. I'also refer almost 300 people in my YouTube Subscribers.

Indeed.
That sounds NICE! :) 300 YT subscribtions is a lot, I've got 21 now, haha. Well, every journey begins with the very first step...

Im a new user, joined yesterday. Im still reading about how the ecosystem works but the platform looks very promising. Thank you for the information you provided on your post.

You are very welcome! I'd recommend you to do an introduction post after feeling safe about it, tagging it at least with the tag #introduceyourself. Then it will get a lot of visibility since there are many dolphins and whales voting on posts in that section. That post will help you to build the first little group of followers and earn some steem.
Just look at the ones that are trending in that section and get a feeling for the content that works and that doesn't: https://steemit.com/trending/introduceyourself.
It's important that you have a message (something people will remind about you when reading your nick) and a catchy selfie (not kidding) :-) According to your first blog post, you are into crypto. So that's awesome and will open you doors here.
If you have any questions, just feel free to ask whenever you want!
Best of luck (I follow you now) :-)

Got you ;) ty for the detailed tips. Ill be posting an intro pretty soon.

Nice!

So @surfermarly, I tried to follow your tips to the best of my abilities hahah. ( hance the hand writting lol it looks like a 5 yr old child did it. ) Didnt come out great but I'd still apprecciate if you check it out :)
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@mrpliven/a-noobie-has-arrived

I'd be happy to be able to earn enough to pay for my cigars and whisky.

LOL - I'm sure you are able to buy enough. Well depends on the amount that you are consuming...:-D
Then you are perfectly fulfilling the most popular belief about crypto: it's drug money! Ha!

I thought it would take a few months to make $100 on Steemit. I reached that within 9 days. My expectations and reality were not aligned :D

I didn't really join for the money though, but more so to support alternatives to fiat money, and to support the decentralised models where everyone benefits.

I think attracting people in through hooks other than money is important. Such as censorship resistance, promoting decentralised blockchain tech, etc.

Wow, congrats on these $100 @riskdebonair! That's huge. It took me 9 months to get there, and you did it in 9 days :-D

I think attracting people in through hooks other than money is important. Such as censorship resistance, promoting decentralised blockchain tech, etc.

I like your message. There are many reasons to be part of such decentralized social blogging environment. It's important to point them out. I'm mainly hear to communicate and to learn, because:

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. I follow you now :-)

Thanks! I too try to learn from everyone I meet ^_^

I joined in january when the price was slowly rising (before it fell again; took me 1 month to get to $200, then forever to get to $300, and now I'm way up because of the price increase).
One of my early posts made $100, so that's what helped me get over $100 in no time.. It was photos of a visit to the alleged hiding place of Bin Laden in Pakistan.

Oh wow, not surprisingly you got so many votes for such an intersting issue! Could you share the link? Or do I find it easily scrolling down your wall?

Here is the key: Continue to make the reward system fairer for all users. If newbies see they are "moving up" they will be more prone to participate.

To be honest, I think the rewards system is quite fair already. Once the reward curve has been adjusted, there won't be much more issues to complain about actually.
What is unfair from your point of view?

Yeah, steemit is not a get rich place. Its a social media site where you can get paid some for your efforts. While there may or may not be some funny business associated with the trending page, many people who receive big rewards are those who have been here for a long time, and have built up a following. Its like with youtube, those who have been at it for a long long time, and have garnered large subscriber bases can earn extrordinary sums of money for each video they post (some thousands, some tens of thousands). People aren't signing up for youtube accounts assuming that they will get rich from posting a few videos, and they shouldn't be signing up for steemit assuming the same thing. Networking takes time, building a following takes (A LOT of ) time. You are right, we need to give people realistic expectations for what they can achieve here as they start out, but they also DO need to see that if they put in the effort, extraordinary success is also possible here. Just as it is at youtube or other monetized sites.

I couldn't agree more. Great statement, @justtryme90!
YouTube is a good example, however I believe that people who join steemit have even higher economical expectations than the ones that start vlogging on YouTube. Producing video content is still much more time-consuming than writing a short blog post. Especially when seeing that the mentioned established steemians even get their $100+ for simply sharing a link. From the outside it must look incredibly easy to succeed here.

It's a simple step of education to warmly welcome these 809 daily new subcribers and say "Hey! Cool that you are here, but there are a few things you should know about." steemit is brand new and complex - it needs more communication than other platforms.
Again, thanks for taking the time and stopping by!

I really admire you :)

That's cute, Adam. And I know that you were the very first one in replying to this post :-)
Looking forward to reading more about your travel stories!

Enjoyed this very much! I'm fairly new myself and have no expectations of becoming rich but the steem factor is nice along with the freedom. Likin' what you do!

That "get rich part" was an exaggeration :-) I just wanted to place emphasis on some of the key challenges steemit is facing currently. You are absolutely right: there are many reasons to join this platform. We should promote them more.
Thanks for your compliment and taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great weekend!

I stick to Pareto's Principle, if the people have sticking power they will succeed. If not they will be another statistic. 80/20 rule never fails us.

Absolutely, Randy! It's a choice to be here not an obgliation :-)
However, as a product seller you can't promise something that you or your product won't fulfill in the end. It's about identity and credibility.
80% of these new subsribers will leave in less than 20 days. I'll bet you :-)

Great post, and I love the Steemit community is growing!

Me, too! Thank you @susanne. It's much appreciated :-)

Awesome post Marly. i have often wondered what effect the new users would have on the platform and vice versa. I personally enjoy using steemit as a social media interface, but at the same time i never enjoyed previous versions of social media(fb,ms, etc) much. I'm waiting to see what happens when the classical social media crew gets on steemit.

Thank you @yakuhi!
I think the "classical social media crew" as you call them is here already. I've really noticed a change in the way of communicating during the past weeks. It's been neither better nor worse, just a different language.
I don't believe steemit is ready for these masses yet.

@surfermarly this post is a perfect summary of the situaiton on Steemit right now. it's awesome. Thanks for taking the time to make this :-D

Whenever somebody starts talking about making lots of money on Steemit, or when I see lots of spammy posts... it's like COME ON! Steemit is a platform that enables users to CREATE VALUE, and then earn money relative to that value. We should encourage new users to join for the community and the platform IMO, not the idea of a quick payout

You are very welcome, @heymattsokol! Thanks for your great thoughts, I totally agree with them.
That "Hey come on part" is missed currently. That's why many users leave after a short while and the fluctuation is extraordinarily high. I'm totally convinced that a bit more communication would help to improve the situation considerably.

PS: Cool blog of yours, you've got a new follower now :-) Ah, and thanks for your reblog!!! It's much appreciated!

Klasse Post, ich hoffe du hast einen tollen Tag :)

Ganz lieben Dank, Chrissy! Ich hab heute einen Apfelkuchen gebacken, in den man sich am liebsten reinlegen möchte :-D Haha!

Easy gemütliches Wochenende also. Ich hoffe, Ihr habt auch eine super Zeit!!!

yummy :p

Haha! You can officially call me a good house wife now :-D

I will haha..looks delish!

Showing them the Trending page as a first impression, paying them an amount of money above average for their intro post and then letting them crash down to $0.50 articles is not fair.
These users will leave and never come back!

super true

Life isn't fair, people need to take responsibility for their own success or failure.

Still I see people with proper content leaving.

I agree @hilarski I see people giving up or getting impatient. Maybe they just don't belong here, imho. I'd rather figure out what works, be patient, learn, contribute, and learn some more. If I make a few dollars while I'm figuring it out, that's fine with me. I just joined a few days ago.

super true

Of course we do! But the platform also has some responsibility towards their stakeholders. If they define growth as the no. 1 goal in their roadmap (and it's been literally like that), then they should act accordingly. Currently we have an extremely high rate of new subscribers per day, but it seems that nobody is taking any measures to keep them. Upvoting an introduction post is surely not enough...

"Upvoting an introduction post is surely not enough..." well said!

Resteemed. Upvoted. Followed. I'd give you a big ol' hug too if I could. haha. Great post!

Haha, thanks! :-))

One thing for sure, steemit is a nice platform. Be it sharing your story or blog about something you are interested. Now, having said thats, everything needs time. And, patience is a virtue. A good post, as you mentioned above, needs lot of reading and studying. Keeping up with that is not easy. So, for a new steemian, its the key- consistency.
On the other hand, I do agree, we need a guidance model for any new user and expectation get set right at the begining. Tutorials and adds are an avenue to it.
Anyway, its a nice post. Resteem

Thanks for your support @uday625! It would be great to have some tutorials in order to make things easier and more comprehensible for new users. In the end everybody is responsible for their own doings, but if we wanna see steemit growing, then we might have a common interest in providing a helping to everybody who is standing at the door.
That's my favorite quote in that context:

Absolutely! And, we will do. @surfermarly

As a new user that has been around for a bit, I need to say that it's extremely hard to get reasonable expectations and I still can't figure out what I'm doing, I still don't fully understand what the rewards for my initial post will be, if curation has any real value for a new account and so on and so on. I wish some of the more experienced users will do some posts on what one could reasonably expect and how exactly everything is calculated. The fact that there is not just Steem but also Steem Power and Steem Dollars doesn't help either.

I actually think I'm kind of get it, but it's still relatively confusing.

On top of this, I'm not sure what the rules are.

Thanks for this valuable comment, @rocking-dave. That's exactly what I meant when talking about providing a helping hand to new users. steemit is really complex compared to other social networks, there is no doubt about that. Some of us are here since 9-10 months, and it's obvious that we perfectly know what we are talking about. But to somebody who is new, these things must sound extraordinarily strange.
Have you signed up to steemit.chat already? There are a lot of helpful communities where you can address questions of all type.

I haven't but I will, thanks for the pointer. :)

You are welcome!

To put in blankly, Steemit is just another content creating platform, like many other outhere. The catch with Steemit is that you get paid directly by the users of the platform, who enjoy your posts and give you votes. You can make money from the first creation of content.
All the others platforms out there, starting from Youtube and finishing with Instagram, require a large base of followers till you can make money. And the money arrive from advertisers that hire you to promote their products.
On Steemit you make money if what you write is resonating with other people.
If people are arriving for some hit and run posts, let them come. They will run the hard way that Steemit is not a get rich quick scheme. You have to put a lot of work to be visible.

The catch with Steemit is that you get paid directly by the users of the platform, who enjoy your posts and give you votes. You can make money from the first creation of content.

Exactly! That's it. That's boon and bane at the same time from a marketing point of view. Because on one hand this chance attracts a lot of new interested users, but on the other hand it encourages expectations that can't be fulfilled.

If people are arriving for some hit and run posts, let them come. They will run the hard way that Steemit is not a get rich quick scheme.

I don't agree on that one. Imagine that steemit was a coffee shop and everybody out there was telling that you could get the very best coffee in the world there. Imagine that steemit was YOUR coffee shop and that you were the only person that knew its secret: to get one of these coffees the customers need to sing a song. I bet that a lot of potential customers that enter the shop would say: "Singing? Me? In public? Are you kidding? No thanks." But if you told them before, maybe they would have prepared themselves and brought a song... just to get one of these delicious coffees everybody's talking about.

You don't win having them in your shop once. Only a loyal customer (user) is a valuable customer.
The very same thing happens on steemit. 100,000 dead accounts are worth nothing.

Sorry for the long side kick :-)

Nice post. It isn't the easiest thing to do, but constantly looking at the price of steem isn't going to make it move. That's a job for the traders.

  • Creating content
  • Learning some formatting tricks
  • Developing style
  • Hit the post button without over thinking it
  • Ultimately enjoying yourself with blogging

For me, these are the easiest ways to get involved and price increases will follow. It's great to get some ching ching for content that you were going to put on the internet regardless.

Thanks for sharing.

That's surely an exemplary approach, @bitsburgh! I agree on all of your 5 points and would like to add the following one:

Once you stop thinking about the money and start aligning your focus with your own excellence, you'll make it to the top anyways...:-)
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Wish you an excellent weekend :-)

Question, what was your motivation to join steemit?

My very best friend called me and told me "There are girls on steemit posting articles about make-up that make thousands of dollars. I bet your surfer girl stuff will kill it in there!"
Well I didn't make so much. My intro post earned $3,63: https://steemit.com/liveyourdream/@surfermarly/from-city-girl-to-surfer-girl-steem-your-dreams

Then I found out that storytelling was one of my hidden passions and I kept on blogging, independently from any monetary success. I even started to write a book since the positive feedback on steemit made me feel very confident when writing. My English has improved considerably since I'm here. Not to mention all these amazing people I've come to know along the way. There is something true about that "came for the money and stayed for the community" slogan...:-)

Thank you for the reply. I am really enjoying your posts. "came for the money and stayed for the community" I'm a newbie and I already feel the same way. I was really craving something different. I should probably focus on making some money though. Haha

Everything in life needs a certain training period. After a couple of months blogging on steemit is like riding a bicycle :-)

No.... get rich while surfing ;-)

LOL - I wish it would be that easy!! :-)

one cent from me... sadly I have not more. So poor office guy even - lol

LOL - still? Man, you have to change your profession. Unless you are a crypto trader...:-D Haha Then go ahead, cause this is the future!

hahaha :D - Yeah now you hit the topic.... :-)
I extra wrote now a little story about me for you - lol! So hope i can join you on Canary Islands soon... too bad I just came home. When all went like we wish I will hire you of course for private surf trainer, great I meet you here in the mass of strange people! Link:

https://steemit.com/life/@hastla/9-monthes-away-now-back-and-love-it

Haha, that was kind :-) I'm happy that we've met, too.
Not sure if it would be a good deal hiring a beginner as a surfing coach... But hey, it's your money! :-D Thanks for the link, I will have a look at it tonight.

Correct. Well thought post.

sticktoitness

I just finished my first week here and I gotta say I think my expectations were __SUPER high in comparison to the reality of what being a minnow really means.

After my first 7 days I made a "Week In Review" post that outlined all my activity for that week and the steem generated and also I had many-many questions and concerns.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@artwatch/first-week-in-review-questions-for-steemers-in-the-know-do-you-have-any-good-advice

The advice I got back on that article was AMAZEBALLS! It really opened my eyes to the realities of steemit.

To beggin with I thought I was failing already but in reality when I asked people how I was doing at that point stats wise.... apparently my numbers/steem gained from my first week was good/rare even. So I think there might be creators out there that maybe believe they are doing poorly when really they are doing quite well already.

It would be good to disillusion noobs right away so that they don't get discouraged and they set the bar a little lower in their minds to start.

Changing my perspective on this has made all the difference!