A Musicians Steemit Journey... |so far|

So, here i am. A few days ago i have passed the 2 month mark of posting on Steemit. As stated in the unnofficial guidelines this seems a good of a time to write a post about my time here. Kudos to those that read to the end. 😁

One day i was watching the news on Croatian national television, listening to some economists tear apart cryptocurrencies. „Bitcoin has no value, its not real money, the bubble will burst, its money of terrorists and criminals“. All the regular things you hear day in day out. And usually i wouldnt mind it much, i would just flip the channel, but one thing struck me. The way they talked seemed to me like they were not talking from a position of objectivity, in the way you would hear the same men and women talking about other economy related topics, but rather with a disgruntled voice, slighty annoyed, covertly angry, pouting like a small child. 😁

Funny thing is that this approach they had is the reason i pulled up google and started my research. I started with youtube and bitcoin news. I watched videos with Andreas Antonopoulos (and to this day i find him being the easiest to understand for the layman making him the best voice for cryptocurrencies in the mainstream, imo). Anarchapulco with Jeff Berwick which i didnt find as likable although he does provide some good information.

I was digging for a few days, trying to soak up everything i could and what do you know, i run into the light-skinned complexion of non other then our very own @jerrybanfield. 😁 Already used to the crypto pitches of various currencies out there i didnt give him much attention. But then Jerry kept popping out everywhere in the recomended list, with his bright background among all the other dark, overpacked thumbnails trying to attract viewers with the cryptoshine. He just stood out, so i had to click.

„Money from likes? Exposure for quality content? Facebook competitor? Decentrilized? Community curation? Complete freedom of expression?“

..... All these things in one place was a kind of a utopia for an unknown musician from a small south european country.

Chrome was open, new tab clicked and i typed in „Steemit“....

Waited a few days for my account, busy with other things and once approved i started browsing again, reading all the things others were writing, seeing those huge numbers, $500, $1000, $15000!. I was hooked, haha.

„I can do this! How hard can it be!“. Id soon see how hard.

It all started with a longer testing period, slowly getting into it and adjusting my expectations. First came the regular reposting of content and watching for reactions. >every few hours browsing my posts trying to figure where this all might take me<

It took a little while for my posts to get some traction, at one point actually being a bit dissapointed when one of the videos i worked the most on, was lost fast in the abbys of the „new“ pages on steemit. At that point i started to question everything but eventually decided to press even harder. Then, i didnt understand the importance of exclusive and original content on Steemit.

Good thing i sticked with it because a few days later, @ivan.atman found me and introduced me to „Discord“. I joined the same day and started to do one of the most important things a minnow Steemian can do. Communicate. Our Croatian channel was small at that time, numbering around 20 members growing rapidly day after day.

From there i started checking out other discord channels, PAL, SMA, Whaleshares, Adsactly, all of which offered their own twist to the Steemit and Cryptosphere approach. At that point i was still learning, my posts getting very small numbers until i started to get support from one bigger account (I wont link him so he doesnt get spamed by some overzelous bloggers) which allowed me to invest in my first mic creating an opportunity for me to join the contest that changed absolutely everything for me. „OpenMic“.

My first entry being „Perfect by Ed Sheeran“. I recorded my entry sloppily, clipping everywhere, uploaded it to Steemit and unexpectingly went to bed. Next morning i woke up, grabed some coffee while browsing my phone and i see my post having $111 next to it, with a large number of comments. I couldnt believe it. I was ecstatic. Once lost, now found.

Now the ball was rolling. Next week i entered again with „Hotel California“. Badly recorded, echo everywhere and i knew that wasnt it.
Third time would be the charm! Week 73 i entered with my guitarist, playing a traditional Macedonian song „Jovano Jovanke“ we both love. Not expecting much due to it being so different from other entries i actually hit the nail on the head.

I WON! Happiness overload. 🎊🎉🎊

(Jovano Jovanke/Pulp Fiction)

Thanking everyone, riding on the high of the win,i started chatting in Discord being a pain for the day to all the moderators. (sry @simgirl 😝)

Being noticed felt so amazing.

And thats mostly how it all went down so far. Haha. In my time here i have received 4 Curie votes in total (2 full ones), entered OpenMic 4 times with 1 win and came in 3. in @killerwhale karaoke contest.

I currently have another entry going for OpenMic Week 75, that is doing amazingly well with the most comments i have ever received (I probably have to thank OpenMic for at least ½ of my followers), thanks to the votes of bigger well known accounts and the amazing support from all the commenters. (Youtube link)

(Schindler's list theme)

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I think this post went long enough, haha. 😂 I was supposed to just make a selfie as a verification for the guys in Adsactly but i started writing and ended up with this. Weird how Steemit hooks you so easily.

Since this is some kind of an „anniversary post“ id like to have a small giveaway for my followers.

After the payout of this post i will send 3 SBD to one of the commenters on this post randomly chosen using pick.esteem.ws. (Spam will not be considered as a valid comment)

Since it seems a proper thing to do ill give a shoutout to the Steemians that have been the most helpful or supportive during my time here, making Steemit feel like home. (Sry if i forget a few of you😅):
In no particular order.

Daily motivational and overall feel good content:
@awakentolife and @petra-zen
Video producing journalist:
@olegw
Life blogger, photographer and soon to be DJ:
@exanime15
Musician and iTalent creator:
@ivan.atman
No introduction needed:
@velimir
Steemits leading meme reviewer, supreme leader of "Meme Army". Creator of #memechallenge:
@fibra59
Writer of the most immersing short stories i have found on Steemit:
@spalatino
One of the composers i love the most on Steemit:
@beyonder
Composer,gamer, musician and overall nice guy:
@playitforward
And to end it off my favorite curators i cant thank enough:
@vortac, @jazzhero and @markangeltrueman

Everyone have a great day. To my followers, i love every single one of you, and to all.... Keep on Steeming!