"Most organizations do not fully realize the cost of losing a customer. Sometimes these losses are shrugged off and it's assume that a lost customer can be easily replaced with a new one. However, research [estimates] that it costs five times more to get a new customer than to retain an existing one. In light of this, focusing on customer retention should be an essential part of any long term business plan."
Dating back to college and throughout my professional experience, this couldn't be more true.
Overhyped and lopsided weight on application development, while focusing SP on padding each others' pockets isn't working. It's been 4 years of the same. Snap out of it.
Many emperors have no clothes and it's ok to let them know.
I'll point out that this post is not about money. Thank you.
Because I want this place to succeed for its larger potential application in society, I'm speaking up yet again, but trying a different approach.
While my stake won't do anything, and I refuse to "buy my influence/power" as that feels so wrong to me, all I can offer are my thoughts and ideas.
I'd try to hold the torch to drive this change, but I'm invisible to most and have optimistically made some portion of trending maybe 5 times in 1,200 blog posts since August 2017. That's nauseating for me.
Facing reality helps us change reality.
This image uncannily represents the adoption rate from Steem to Hive after the fork. After almost 4 years, it's still much of the same. Revitalized enthusiasm and an outlier exchange pump is smoke and mirrors to the REALITY that those on the ground are forced to witness and feel every day.
This doesn't mean we need to be told to use our stake to vote in new witnesses if we want change. I'm sick of that cop-out because it's unrealistic.
This is about choosing to operate with more balance and better leadership from the top down in ways that create tangible benefits for the current users, and ideally attract old users back who quit for the lack thereof.
This means that the bulk of your Steem Power, financial and emotional support does NOT need to be directed towards empty shell applications, newly hyped applications, or bloggers who use the right investor-bait words/tags/references to manipulate huge upvotes to trending.
This means rethinking the equation because the current one, aside from a Huobi pump, is the same ineffective one. To be honest, the new hack-a-thon development challenge was brilliant, and it was wonderful to see people investing in the pool. That's a good sign, but that'll ultimately address a part of the improvements we need.
Why? Consider This Analogy For Perspective:
The Chinese bamboo tree takes 5 years of consistent watering, light and nurturing before the seedling pops out of the ground.
Once it does, it grows 80+ feet in just 6 weeks.
Think about that. Our true potential stems from cultivating our PEOPLE on a consistent basis. Placing more good faith and resources into our people helps them develop and feel valued so they can pay it forward in ways we can't estimate. I think it's our best shot.
Let's give more people the chance to thrive.
If it's not obvious, this leads to:
- happier and healthier educated users
- more pride
- more staking
- more retention
- more trust, belief and good faith
- more proactive authentic grassroots marketing
- more proactive guilt-free recruitment
- more investment
- more engagement
- more building
- more retention
- viral growth
All this at what cost again? Clicking a button a few times a day? Taking care of those who have extensive amounts of knowledge, drive, passion, talent and potential, that have been operating on fumes at best with marginal or sporadic support... so worth it.
In other words, spread the wealth to people who exhibit the qualities we want to replicate in our community. Starving them for any reason, so to speak, is the worst thing one could do. They'll eventually leave and this risks the spread of negative feedback.
The competition will be coming so we don't have the luxury of crossing our fingers for the next killer app to solve everything for us.
The same large votes to the usual suspects is watering just a few mature trees who are already deeply rooted, and clearly set with plenty of stake to trickle down the cultivation. They don't need more. They're the ones who should be cultivating even more because they appreciate how they got there and want to pay it forward. But, do they? You be your own judge.
PLEASE take more care of the faithful population before they wither out or give up. Hope is very valuable. Kindness through some mentoring, support, introductions, or engagement can mean the world to people fighting to break the glass ceiling.
The opportunity cost of losing any seedlings of future growth and potential is so expensive, so change it up. See the forrest through the trees you're limiting your outreach to.
A sizable vote spread around to different individuals (SBI-like) means a lot more than just rewards. It's motivation to do more, be better, give thanks, and rocket fuel to help this place.
Take it from me and plenty of people I've commiserated with, many whom couldn't bang their heads against the wall as long as I have. I'm at my wit's end, but again, I'll just spend my Friday night writing this to try to wave the flag for someone to see.
Idea/Partial Solution:
No-strings-attached sizable delegations to vetted community members who have exhibited a track record of ethics and leadership.
Forget about curation or renting for a while and let these people water the seeds you've lost touch with for you on a rotating/experimental basis.
If there is any foul play, you take it back and they're banned. You're in control.
The ROI is in the retention and empowered users who can do happily do the labor for you. Per above, hopefully you see the value in it. Take my words and multiple them by tens of thousands of people past and present who don't keep pushing to break the glass.
If they do a good job, then you'll know that that portion of your Steem power is doing the right thing by taking care of the people that are part of our foundation.
Help them grow with steady support. The proof will be in the gratitude, reports of new effort, revitalized activity, stronger roots, confidence to promote again, and ultimately massive growth once we break out of the ground floor.
Get the idea?
If that's not viable for you for some reason, please do it yourself. If you don't want to vote, then leave comments that let people know that their continued effort and loyalty is appreciated, or resteem. There are plenty of ways to show you care, and new adopters will be excited by this activity when they make their own splash with a registration.
While many seem consumed by the attention economy buzz these days, the retention economy is just as important. We need a strong foundation to succeed, so let's consistently do the simple things we should do to cultivate it!
Thanks,
Matt
Time to go outside and salvage curb-side recycling to resell to take care of our environment. Please do something daily to reduce waste and/or reuse. It all counts.
I agree with most of what you said. It is still the same people, it is still the same technology and it is still the same mindset. However, I still expect different result. Well some can say that's insanity, others can say it is hope.
When I started on steem, I have no idea at one point in time I will be within top 50 of steem stake holder. Before the JS episode started, I never did a single power down. I was the last person to start the power down in steem within the people I know.
In hive, I plan to do the same. I plan to never power down. Why? Because I am willing to wait 5 years for my bamboo shoot.
I used to not come out and talk much. Now I do. I have been told lately that I perhaps talk too much and quite clueless on recent developments. I will let others decide on that. But what I have learned lately, that if you don't talk, someone else will. That someone else may or may not be as qualified as you. Stage is usually not left empty. So you better make your thinking visible, otherwise other will grab that opportunity and turn the boat whichever way they want.
Nice to meet you and thanks so much for the support! I've usually written stuff like this in the past, and felt comfortable knowing that my smaller audience gets me and respects my voice. However, having this reach more people (and larger stakeholders) and be well-accepted so far means a lot. I usually assume that I'm blogging to myself to vent frustration/hit the reset button versus effectively reaching a broader audience (my real goal I've gotten used to not reaching until today). Perhaps the combo of the GEMS community and some nice resteems did the trick here to do some good. I haven't this much of a boost on a post in over a year, so I'm happy.
Like you, I never powered down for one second from August 2017 until the JS incident. I'd hustled to earn all my Steem (and Hive) manually without bots (around 7K Steem staked and ~1.5-2K liquid Steem cashed out). After the split, I finally lost that emotional resilience to hold it indefinitely because I saw how vulnerable people's tokens are when staked, especially when bad actors take control, or there is rapid change.
As for your growth, I think being talkative and removed from recent developments is a good thing because you're not going to be biased and thinking like the herd. You can bring fresh perspective, whether the old guard can respect it or not. As complicated and dynamic as these chains can be, people do grow as people from them and their interaction with diverse people from around the world. That's a big plus.
That's also a wise point about silence leaving the stage open for others to steer. I never thought of it that way before. We're still a small enough community that any voice can make an impact with the right persistence and networking. I've met many of the people who lead this place at SteemFest and another conference, so I know they're mostly normal people in person outside of their use of stake/style on the chain.
Thanks again.
EDIT: I also have always been able to buy a significant amount of either token, but I vowed not to so I could learn from the bottom up and respect all as equals. I thought that earning it was the best route so I didn't buy or inflate my influence. I also wanted to know what it was like to be a new adopter to appreciate the process of growth. I didn't expect that growth to be as slow as it was, but I think that this helped me stay grounded. Using my stake for curation wouldn't even have been a thought. It'd be all for helping others, how I've always envisioned the true power of stake.
Can't agree more! The retention for me personally is the most important one.
Even if small, no one can manipulate it.
YES! Finally someone said it for me cause my English is too bad to explain my thoughts.
Communities are the key on Hive\s success and community leaders who indeed care to grow their communities need the appropriate support.
As @skatehive skateboarding community organizer I can guarantee that this will work.
@liondani, a top 30 witness delegated 50k HP to our community and things have skyrocketed since then.
New people joined, older members of our community started posting more often and of course I have a lot more motivation to continue doing what I am doing cause I can finally reward our community members.
I don't even bother checking the trending page anymore. I've been seeing the same people there for over 2 years so no, thank you.
You are lucky you made it in trending 5 times. I do not know how that feels! Hehehe.
Resteemed and I'll be back for an upvote once my HP recovers.
Much love @steemmat
Thanks a lot. I've always wanted to skateboard but shied away from it because I didn't want to risk hurting myself to not be able to play baseball. I still play baseball, so no skateboarding yet. Maybe I'll be the old guy trying to learn eventually that people make fun of until I nail a nice slide along a rail. I just want to slide!
As for hitting trending, I may have really hit it 2-3 times. The other ~2 posts were very well rewarded, but not on the top of the list or anything.
Glad your community is growing. That must be a lot of fun.
It is never too late man! I do not know your age but @stickchumpion is 40+ and is still ripping! I say go for it. Even riding a skateboard will make you feel f*cking awesome.
I won't lie though, injuries are a really common thing in skating! Hehehe.
Yeah, the community is growing every day man. We have almost reached 90 followers and more than 20 active posters. Not bad for a niche community.
And yes, sliding a curb on a skateboard feel so f*cking good! Hehehe.
I've also debated a simple electric skateboard/longboard to get around my city. A bunch of people have them and they're so efficient. I would have to do a lot of basic training to get myself to a level of comfort before doing that, but it's an idea!
Go for it bro and you won't regret it! It is the most awesome way to move around the city! Eco-friendly, fast and of course you're gonna have so much fun!
I second this! There is something special in the rag tag, rejects of society, put togetherness of skateboard and longboard communities that make them so special. I have never felt as accepted as I did when I finally met all the skaters I was seeing online at my first big longboard event, and it made me a community builder as a result. Then I saw what SteemSkate was doing in 2017, and I knew I had to bring the longboarding community here.
That delegation from @LionDani, as well as votes from @curie and the witness Wolf, has been making my posts do pretty well, which in turn has just got a few new members to join. If it goes well for these new members, I honestly expect a flood of ppl. This is a group of people, wjo despite being all broke skaters, managed to raise over a million dollars for cancer research with their nonprofit they started called Push For The Cure. They've also organized an international race circuit, and formed their own governing body to regulate it themselves.
We need more people thinking like you @Steemmatt !
Actually, i think my next video will be about how awesome these guys are, and why the whales of Hive should support such a community joining.
Cool background. It's nice to get support from people who can help you make an impact. If I may ask, is that a certain percentage of snowboarding that translated to skateboarding? I'm a solid skier and snowboarded a few times to get the basics and feel down.
Absolutely. Main difference is you can turn with the slightest lean, because you don't need to dig in your edge to start turning. My roommate @aaronadventures is a snowboarder, and he just came along for his first ride. He took 2 slow runs, and then was so comfortable he started going full speed into the runs with me.
Spreading the wealth around in terms of the reward pool is ultimately how this grows. It's disappointing how many people think stacking tokens for the sake of stacking tokens has any sort of a future.
You get it and always have. For those who might not read it above but skim the comments, wealth also comes in so many non-economic forms, which, depending on the person, can be even more valuable. This place won't sell itself.
For years I've tried to address the large lack in business understanding and people-are-capital awareness. That's to be expected, but it's inexcusable to not adapt for the betterment of the entire ecosystem, economy, and user base when it's abundantly clear that it's needed. It almost feels like these people are getting what they deserve, which sucks because we suffer too.
Thanks for the huge boost in exposure.
Wise words! And a nice way of thinking! If only more people will see things the right way, just like you do!
Thanks a lot. While everyone's views can feel right to them, sometimes it just takes time or enough exposure to alternative views before they realize that things may not be as ideal as they thought. Change isn't easy.
Some of us see the need/opportunity sooner, yet don't have the influence to do much about it. For me, my best tool is trying to speak to those who can more efficiently do something if anything resonates with them.
good post - it seems to me that everyone votes for top bloggers and does not support beginners at all - there is an urgent need to change something in the redistribution model!
You know I was cruising the #introduceyourself tag just a few minutes ago, and noticed @appreciator was making it rain on beginners.
Perhaps - but most of the community is not involved in this process.
The irony is that 1 person with strong stake can have the same impact as 50+ people with smallish entry stake without barely making a dent on their "rechargeable" SP. I really believe it's a trickle down economy that will help the most, not the expectation that everyone needs to buy stake to fully function in the economy.
Wise words my friend.
I've personally been trying to engage more lately.
The trick for me is not sounding like a dumbass while doing it. ;P
You last comment got me to laugh. Those were well placed wise-assed words my friend.
Wise words, Yoda.
Too often do I forget to explore beyond my Following Feed.
"Named must be your fear before banish it you can."
Thank you for the strong support.
I think to comment on and reblogging new authors' posts is really encouraging asides from simply rewarding. I'm not keen on cross-posts, but I'm really impressed with the new tipping feature. You are right though, there are too many apps. Hive is decentralized so multiple ways to access it is important, but they all don't need funding and we don't need to get excited every time a new one comes out. Unless it is truly revolutionary or ends up onboarding thousands of new members, who cares?
More people need to think about user retention. Perhaps calling out people when they do things which are bad for user retention (such as downvoting for reasons not directly related to the content or author), or just looking at manipulating the price.
One thing I've realized there are a lot people here who just want to feel appreciated and part of the social network first and perhaps make money second. These are the best people to keep for sustainability because they are likely to engage above the minimum required to avoid trouble and tell all their friends, too.
I like your message at the end, it's the most important. I don't resell curbside recycling, but I do donate to several environmental charities and I use a lot less electricity and gas than the 'average' residents in my apartment.
Solid perspective all around. Thanks for helping the environment in a way that works for you!
Much appreciated. I'll check it out when I see the notification. Ironically, the ones who care the most seem to be the ones humbled on the bottom. Too much complacency and misdirected resources at the top. It really takes message at a time until people realize they've been wasting precious time with the wrong strategies.
">... misdirected resources at the top."
That's how they get to the top. This is why decentralization is leaderless. Hive isn't actually decentralized, because the stake that governs it isn't decentralized, but concentrated in the accounts of an oligarchy that keeps rewards flowing to them.
Steem is the future. It is the future of Hive if Hive does not change how governance is effected. All it takes to rule Hive the way you want, just as Sun Yuchen rules Steem today, is more money than the current oligarchy has. While neither you nor I have such money, plenty do. Hell, it cost Sun Yuchen more for lunch with Warren Buffet than it did to take Steem over.
We'll see if Hive survives the focus of rewards on the oligarchy. I'm not gonna bet on Hive. When Hive ends up some censored cesspit of centralization, the competition will surpass it quickly. Note how quickly Hive surpassed Steem after Yuchen began his solitary governance. That's even without changing how the blockchain works.
Better things are possible, and when the misdirection of resources has it's inevitable and terminal result on Hive, if not before, they will rise above.
Thanks!
Well said. It's stuff people don't always want to hear because it's instinctive to feel like their power is threatened, but Hive can be a repeat of Steem if we all don't learn from the past and adapt. Ironically we just want the entirety of this to work for everyone, not consume their power. It's been way too top-heavy for too long, and those who've enter the higher ranks in more recent times seem to lose their values fairly quickly from either the politics, peer-pressure, or newfound complacency/entitlement because they paid to have their place up there.