Hi all! I am Ruan Combrinck, hailing down south all the way from South Africa.
I decided to join Steemit for a few reasons, but the short and the sweet version is that music is one of my passions. By that I don't mean that I am a critique or top-end producer - more of a connoisseur if you will. There is no degree nor profession behind my name just a will to share all the interesting great songs and artists I experience with those around me; and after years of pressure and encouragement to put it out there for others to engage with, I have decided that 2018 is the year. Steemit provides a platform on which to share that part of myself. As far as my preferred genre goes, it is rather wide - anything to do with guitar or a band of some forms.
Further, I have been playing guitar since the age of 11, but it was only around 16 that I discovered that there was more to it than grade course work. This is when I stopped lessons and just started playing what I felt like; and it was around this time that I also formed a band in my school for which I played lead guitar - The Jockstraps.
That's where the corny and sometimes ridiculous side of me presents itself and I will try as best I can to protect you from it.
The band mostly played covers and performed one original song which was my first experience with song writing. However, I never really thought I was qualified to share my music with others; it's only in the last two years that I started thinking I had my own music that I wanted to share with the world. The catalyst that led me to feel like I had something to give was provided through a meet-and-greet with one of my favorite South African artists and an all-round great person. In this meeting he left me with this wisdom:
Singing and performing is, as with everything, based on an 80-20% principle; that is, it is 80% confidence and 20% skill.
My interpretation of this is that no matter what the feedback, I want to put myself out there even if no-one responds, just for myself and because I can.
The involvement I wish to have with the Steemit community is twofold:
- Firstly the sharing of my appreciation of music, and yes this includes even the bizarre and absurd that I have found through my many escapades.
- Secondly, I would like to use the platform as the chronicling of me learning about both writing and recording music, where I start off as an inexperienced performer and make the mistakes necessary to become a more wholesome musician.
(Any advice or tips on that front are more than welcome)
So follow me if you want to be exposed to songs or artists you have probably heard of and forgotten about, or the rare ones you haven't - you can always unsubscribe to my tastes any time. And if you want to follow my experience as a musician discovering the workings of an independent artist, do likewise.
This is me, and I would like to engage with the world around me instead of being a passerby.
Welcome to steemit. I hope you will enjoy your stay here. If you need help with anything at this platform please do not hesitate to ask me or anyone in the community
Welcome to Steemit! It's got a steep learning curve, but it's worth it in the long run if you keep putting in the time! Just know that it will take quite a while before you start getting attention and followers. The secret to success? Keep posting high quality content regularly, and make sure to search out other people's posts, read them, and give relevant comments.
Tagging is extremely important. Always make sure to use all five possible tags, and to keep them relevant. You can always just tag something "blog" or "photography" or something else really general (so long as it's still relevant) to fill the quota if you need to- most of your tags should be established ones, though one or two less used ones are fine.
Posting more than four times a day can reduce your potential rewards, as well as turning off potential users. (I aim for one post per day most of the time.) Consistency is important, though, so you should try to post often.
Always make sure to attach a photo to your posts! You should also have a finished profile: Write a description, add a profile picture and a banner- neither needs to be of you, necessarily, but you should have something- and set a website.
There are a lot of really good resources out there for minnows (new users). You should check out the following groups and services, they offer a lot of valuable resources to new users:
@thesteemengine (Check this one out first- they're an extremely supportive group.)
@qurator (These guys offer an excellent liftime upvote to accounts that post consistent quality content.)
@originalworks (Whenever you write an original post, tag this account- they'll verify it's original and upvote you.)
@steembasicincome (Another lifetime upvote option.)
@steemstem (The biggest and best STEM curation group in the game. If you're interested in writing or reading about science, check these guys out!)
@geopolis (A fairly new science curation group, this one's dedicated to the study of the Earth.)
And, again, the biggest thing is just patience. Breakout successes are incredibly rare on Steemit- you've got to find your way there through perseverance and hard work. It takes time, but you'll eventually succeed if you put in the work.
Please feel free to repost this guide on the posts of other minnows you run into!
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @ruancombrinck to be original material and upvoted it!
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