Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
Introduction
There are some people that may feel like steemit is unfair and that it is impossible for a new user to make a decent amount of money participating on the blockchain.
I don't blame them, at the end of the day, it's much easier to blame the system than to question our actions or simply persevere...and the reality is that it is unfair...but that shouldn't stop you from succeeding.
Understanding Normal Distribution VS Pareto Distribution
After watching this video, you should have a better understanding of that graph...
Beware of People Who Promise to Make the System "Fairer"
There are well-meaning people who think that we can flatten out that curve to make the system "fairer". We should pursue that as much as that can be pursued without destroying the platform BUT believing that we can make a system that doesn't create a pareto distribution is foolishness. Blame it on God if you want but we will never be able to get rid of that natural phenomena.
What You Should Do...
What you should do is to embrace reality and do what those who are climbing on that distribution does. No need to reinvent the wheel, be activists or lobbying for a different system. Basically, don't do what most people do and do what the few successful minnow did.
Examples
There are hundreds of people who joined last June 2016 and succeeding at making a decent income from Steemit. Here are some examples:
@progressivechef - Joined June 2017 - Account value $20,713.79 US
ProgressiveChef use to comment a lot on my blog, enough for me to keep tabs on him and see what he is up to. This guy has some has one thing going for him: perseverance. The guy was relentless at participating on the platform. He could have quit many times but he kept networking. Now he does the STEEMIT IRON CHEF 2018 which is quite popular and cool.
@dontstopmenow - Joined June 2017 - Account value $25,425.08 US
I noticed @dontstopmenow a while back when, even with his minnow account had the highest % of return on curation. This guy has been all in from the beginning and now he's making a living with steem and trying to help the people of Venezuela through Steemit.com
@malicered - Joined June 2017 - Account value $1,940 + ~around $20,000 US that he is trading
MaliceRed is a really cool dude and he is also a serious hustler. Not only is he an amazing graphic designer but he is involved in @privex, offering server for witness as well as pioneering the STEEM MARINES project which aim at advertising STEEM within the Warhammer 40k community.
Conclusion
Most of those people didn't see results for a few months after joining the platform. They got to know people, found ways to add value and persevered all the way until they've achieved a relatively comfortable level of success.
Looking forward to your comments...
Nothing is a bigger turnoff than when people I'm surrounded by complain that everything is unfair. They blame all of their problems in life on their family, the government, whoever. I remove those people from my life immediately. There's a serious lack of personal responsibility for ones actions that I'm seeing nowadays and it really bothers me at my core.
I just joined Steem this month.. well, actually this week. So I'm very late to this game compared to you and those you listed above. I still see a ton of value and room for growth in this platform - hell, Steemit only has about 50-55k daily active users, in terms of social media that's nothing and would be considered a failure compared to other platforms.
I see an undervalued asset in Steem (yes, even at $5-6) so I'm going to keep investing trading profits. I see opportunities to earn Steem and grow my presence on the platform, so I'm going to dedicate the time to creating content and building relationships.
I appreciate the post because where others may see your list and immediately jump to "well, they got lucky because ..." creating a million reasons why they can't replicate the success - I (and hopefully many others) see the list and think "damn those are good returns for 6-7 months on Steem, will be back in the fall for my shoutout post @cryptoctopus" ;)
Also, Jordan Peterson vid = instant upvote.
Thank you for introducing me to So You're Saying (I guess I've been under a rock the last week) and making my night. Jordan B. Peterson strikes again! :D
And I agree with your points. As someone who joined just over a week ago, I've been inspired by the successes I've seen on this network - they demonstrate two key things: that work is required, and that work is rewarded. At the end of the day all a reasonable person can ask is to be rewarded for effort. The people I see who are really putting in their time on Steemit are reaping the benefits, and to me that's as fair as it gets.
Excuse me fellow minnow, I'm stealing that meme. I actually cracked out loud in here.
That said, I was actually wondering about that very same thing. Am I too late for the party? Are all kegs empty already?
I like to think that Steemit has just stopped breastfeeding and still has a wild journey ahead.
In many ways, the wealth distribution curve on Steemit reminds me of the discussions that the first Internet bloggers had -- 20% of the bloggers were getting 80% of the page views (the classic Pareto distribution that you mention), and the very biggest A-list bloggers were getting a very disproportionate share of the audience. The bigger you were, the easier it was to get bigger. And the converse is true as well.
These so-called "power laws" are, indeed, a phenomena in nature as much as on the Internet or blockchain... In fact, the first post I ever wrote on Steemit mentioned the Pareto distribution and wealth in a blockchain world. Haha - that post made $0.01. But I'm inspired by the examples of Steemit users that you cited who persevered, hung in there, and started to reap the rewards. Onward and upward!
Interesting, interesting.
What you are talking about is a pure reality. I watched the Video
And understood the chart.
Well when I am allowed to make a comparison from the profession I am in: professional Soccer I see the same. And as the man in the video sad it's an econmic law. There are people who lose, and people who win.
For example, only one team can win the Champion League, only one team can win the world cup but many are fighting for it.
In some of my posts, I am mostly writing about empowerment and psychological stuff I am always telling people to use the resources they have and try to make the best of it instead of complaining that the system is wrong and unfair.
Of course, some people had an advantage. But constantly crying and complaining will not make the state better.
Let's try to give our best with that what we have.
This is my opinion :)
That indeed is very encouraging!! Hearty congratulations to all these people for all the hard work and effort they put in!!
Yes well said @cryptoctopus, thank you for that encouragement, outside making extra cash on steemit, the community is a social media like you said where we ve got to relate with other steemians all over the world, it is hard for people to respond to chats simply because they think you want them to upvote you which is wrong and that isn't fair. I use my blog for music cover, i m not doing badly but i still need the help of others to get things right, but everybody is mute.
That's awesome. I've joined Steemit around the same time and I'm around $10,000 between the money I have on the platform and what I'm trading. I think I'm just now hitting my stride. I'm not a great writer or don't have anything I've been specializing in, but I think i've found my community and am hoping to catch and pass these individuals in the next 6 months.
I joined back in June 2017 in the hopes to change my life up, it was a bate getting to where I am today but my hard work is sleepless starting to pay off . As of today my account balance holds at 27K and of course I took 3-4 K out when my son was born . Every time I want to give up, I remind myself that I am doing this for him.
Even though I never get 100$ on a post , I hope I do one day
@cryptoctopus
One can't achieve everything in a day, so we have to be patient and kept on working sincerely. It's really encouraging and congratulations to these Steemians. I think steemit is not unfair. I think we all have posted a lot of good content on Facebook, we haven't earned that much that we have earned on steemit. So keep calm and work hard.
1st time ever i heard about pareto distribution & jordan peterson well described it, then i understood how these people made that success. it's an impressive success. most of us blame to the steemit platform & reward system. but these people changed that history & provided a nice lesson. a well motivational article & valuable topic to discuss. you are a very helpful whale. otherwise no one will share the secret behind those success stories. @cryptoctopus
@resteemia
@cryptoctopus - Sir after watching the video I understood what's the relation between Pareto distribution & Steemit success stories... Creativity, Presentation ability, Knowledge & Innovation, Sir I think those are the success factors of you mentioned peoples' stories... Inspirational video & article Sir... Learn a lesson... Thank you Sir...
Congratulations for the people who made a success story with this wonderful blockchain Sir...
+W+
To be honest, I do feel that Steem is pretty fair. Sure, a lot of articles probably took a lot of time to write and they might be very well written and still not get a lot of attention, even after having spent some time on the platform. Still, I am a firm believer that if one does simply engage in discussions and show appreciation for other good posts, then someone will check out your blog, and when they do, some of them will upvote your good posts and some of them will follow you. Sure, their votes might not be worth much, but as your account grows, so will theirs and so will their voting power. In the end, I think the solution is to just keep producing quality content and accept that success doesn't always come over the night.
I used to think the same way, complaining about whales selling their upvotes but then I saw some good ones like you, Stella Bella and Surpassinggoogle and didn't leave the platform. If minnows want to earn money, they can simply do a lot of stuff on utopian.io. That's what I am doing. I upload one or two tutorials daily in my own native language and along with that, I try to write two good posts a week. Like earn money from utopian by submitting your contributions along with engaging with the community.
Yesterday, I wrote a post about an art exhibition, took some pictures there and it took me 4 hours to resize all the pictures and then posting all that stuff. yes, I didn't get too many upvotes but still, engaging and sharing what you the community what you have to share with the community should be given priority.
We have utopian that's paying people for their work. I myself have earned more than my salary last month, same thing will happen this month and I might be able to leave my job after 3 or 4 months and spend my time on Steemit.
Imagine if we have hundreds of platforms like utopian in the next few months, will we be needing a job and work like a slave? That's what we have to let all know who are leaving.
Some great tips and a good vision for you. Hope it all works out. I too want to make this a career, just me and my camera
I stopped trying to become succesful on Steemit for a while now and see it for what it really is; a social experiment based on a business model. Even though I dislike the great resemblance with the outside world, being who owns the most has the biggest vote, I do love the opportunity of being here. Without Steem I wouldn't been introduced to this whole Blockchain world, something that will be entangled with me for the rest of my life, advocating what it means for the world. Not to forget to mention that it will make me a millionaire ;)
Life has started to get in the way for me, but thanks for the reminder to keep it up, and get my nose back to the stone!
Would we want a world where scientists were all "equal" or do we want to live in a world where there are a few Nikola Teslas?
Buckminster Fuller pointed out that is the top of the top of the top scientists that move the entire society forward.
A hundred normal scientists do not equal one Nikola Tesla.
A hundred normal engineers do not equal one Bucky Fuller.
Instead of working for equality, we should a two pronged approach.
Raising the minimum standard of living. Across the board.
And push the best into positions where they can perform the best they can. (which usually means keeping them fed, and giving them a lot of freedom)
@cryptoctopus,
You are absolutely correct! I also joined last June and I had no idea how this platform works. Sometimes you might noted once I commented your post with misunderstand of Curation Trails! I am still learning, every day I am learning the beauty of this platform. I also earned more than 10,000+ USD and I had to sold most of my earnings while SBD at $1. Otherwise it's definitely 15,000 USD +.
This platform is a life changing platform for me. And becomes my main source of income to live the life!
I have had countless sleepless nights with STEEMIT, but with that hard works I could write this success story today.
Don't get misunderstand about what I am writing, I also learning English too.
Finally congratulations for all success stories you shared! I know you also got a huge success story with STEEMIT too! Very inspirational message you shared today! That's why I decided to give my contribution, I have a success story about STEEMIT too!
Cheers~
Hi @cryptoctopus, yes you are right, perseverance is the key to success here, just need to get going. Post quality posts, comments, participate and engage regularly with other steemians. What most important is to strive and focus on what I want to achieve here. Hopefully all is well in the end.
ay ay!
O wow, thank you for the vote @gentlebot
Very kind!
All right, so the main takeaway from this video and post - PERSEVERE no matter what!.png)
I don't think system is unfair....i joined steemit on 27 November... in these two month i'm making good money ...my account value is 6000 $ ...i invested only 3000$ in steem...i daubled my money in just 2 months...It takes time but if you give up after 10-15 day it won't work ....i never heard that someone get success in 10 days... the early adopters deserve this because they never gave up.
I agree with you on the 2nd part...success here takes work, as it should most anywhere. However, I disagree on your first point in that I see complete shit content posts & picture posts get upvoted by whales & bots. I think STEEM was created with the concept of rewarding valuable content & curation, but instead seems to be a game of getting bots & whales to follow and auto-upvote you. I think things would be a little better if bots & auto-voting weren't allowed. The worthy content should rise to the top entirely by the community, and not influenced by programs & algorithms.
yes man, that bots, whales to follow and auto-upvote embarrass me.I think reward compatition and challange is better way for steemit.
congratulations to all who manage not to be from the heavens since they can work from computers without causing them vercualisticas things. rains of blessed in the clouds delreves in the vast skies
you did not invest $3000, you gambled $3000. If losing that $3000 will hurt you, then take that $3000 off the table ASAP.
LOl...when i bought steem at 4.10 then its price suddenly drops to 2.14.... Steem/ steemit has more value than its price ...you will understand it later..
This is the basic truth about how things are going on in steemit. Most people think you can just start earning big immediately you join and when they start their journey and they are hit with obstacles like getting few upvotes or less attention they tend to back out and say the community isn't fair..
For you to get recognized you have to add meaningful contributions to the community, make friends, be consistent and create unique and great post.
As for me, I might not post everyday but I always engage with the community and drop comments on any post I read.
I'm here for the community and ready to stay.
Love Jordan B. Peterson, on my old blog before I came over to Steemit I actually wrote an article based on this very talk. And something I have observed that when it comes to Steemit and social media, the typical Pareto principle 20/80 I wouldn't say apply. I would call it the 1/99 principle.
Another implication from that is that you won't know as a minnow when it's going to take off before it actually does. Because when you hit that critical mass, the effects are incredibly exponential, and as humans we tend to think linearly.
Otherwise, if you're into travelling, vlogs, fitness, self-development etc feel free to check out my channel, in any case keep up the good work and I'll see you around!
90/10 is a 80/20 of an 80/20,
99/1 is a 80/20 of a 90/10.
The pareto principle is fractal in nature. :-)
Hey @cryptoctopus ???? Listen
One thing i learn from your post is pareto chart .. well done bro
Never thought of that, solid thinking my friend 🙏🏼
It's like learning to play a new video game, the second time you play, you do better than the first and the more you play the better you get until you max out your skill then you stop getting better.
well good to see your post and give me a new hope and motivate me from these 3 guys history
you are right and i am fully agree with you that many of us thinkg , we cannot do it and its impossible for a new user like us to make a decent amount of money
if i say true, i also thought like this but now i can change my thinking on it to read your post, and sure try to do best like these three guys with my best attitude, good work ,give some more time and a better confidence @cryptoctopus
every one has some ablities but some time we dont see and confuse on some points and dont give more time to think that we cannot do it, but your post is good for all them who still not see thier abilities and not try to do best and dont give more time ..
hope they all work hard with good attitude and stick on thier work and will not be upset if they dont get good result in some days or months,, only stick thier aims and try to do best
I joined steemit September 2017, first month was like hell, like seriously the name said blog and earn and still am yet to earn a cent, subscribing my internet every week so as to stay online, but soon got to realize that the only way to earn on steemit was via interaction with other users.
Making a high standard post alone wont get you anything, although you might see some reward here and there probably randomly, but the real earning comes from those you build relationship with, after-all steemit is run by humans just like you and me, not automated bots.
My advise to new users would be consistency do pay, be consistent with what ever you do and try build relationships forget about the millions write-up you make a day but focus on building relationship with other users.
I love reading the experiences of the minows @progressivechef @dontstopmenow @malicered and the video perfectly explained the distribution where if we can grow depends on us to insist and persisitir with our publications I was won if I can continue to grow in steemit.
I joined too in June 2017, got hooked and intrigued and I think I've been pretty lucky and blessed so far. But yeah, I do get some of the criticism. Things can be hard to understand at times, I found it sometimes difficult to see a carefully crafted blog post only get a few views. Nevertheless, even if you join today, have no real social media experience or massive following on other channels, even if you think you're too young (or too old): it's NOT impossible to make it big here. It's not easy, not everybody succeeds, but if you really want it, you're determined and you have an open mindset you definitely can make it BIG here.
You are right, themore time pass the harder it’s is to get noticed. That’s why I am really putting almost all of my day here on steemit so I can grow my profile and eventually be considered a dolphin.
Hard work always pays off!
A great post @cryptoctopus.
I wrote a post similar to this today. The distribution pool of the top account is actually getting less. The Whales and the Orcas went from a 84% share to 82% share in the last quarter (based upon MVests held). This is an 8% annual drop.
Of course, some of the comments were such that people were saying the system is unfair. I even noted that the Whales were not "lucky" but took advantage of opportunities. It took balls to buy STEEM at 6 cents after it dropped from a few dollars....there was a time when it looked like STEEM was done...to buy means one deserves the merits of this decision.
Jealousy is a powerful thing. Of course, the ones who commented about the system not being fair were on it less than two months.
What a surprise.
There is not need to change the system....steem will end up being more equally distributed as time goes by....the reward system is designed that way.
I think the best thing to do is to take ones eyes off earnings and focus more on making friends and establishing an impact here, if that is achieved one can successfully drive the route to success.
Great post. People who complain and blame others, often times playing the role of victim. They need to take responsibility for their actions and results. You get what you put in.
Hey cryptoctopus,
Thank you for sharing it.It is such an encouraging stuff. You are totally right, there is nothing like easy success. You have to persever and grind for it. If you just keep going and your today is better than yesterday then you can do anything.
It just reminded me of my philosophy of life and I think it totally fits here.
So it is like keep posting on steemit and you will grow slowly as if it is a marathon and use your one day as a sprint and intereact/comment with other users as much as possible.
Thanks
i also joined steemit in july and not struggle more to thought that here successable people only who wcich have lot of invest otherwise not possible but now i have a good example to start with my best and increase my income in steemit......sure every one do evey thing and not impossible in world
thanx to reminde and give me a better hope because we know everything but some time we forget it and we need a reminder with good example in which some tell us that we need to give more time and try to hardwrok and more better if we want to get big success and your examples are too much for me and also all who are reading this post
Love hearing about people crushing it on Steemit...
In general, the Pareto Principle is a subset of Pareto distributions. It’s generally known as the “80 - 20 Rule”. Examples include:
Business sales - 20% of clients are responsible for 80% of revenues
Wealth distribution - 20% of the population control 80% of the wealth
etc.
I think Pareto distribution is a human construct. The example given (profit of items) is only because human nature chooses so. This is also true for income, access to healthcare and justice. If you are on the “spike” (the “good side”), of course you want to bring over the best ones to your side of the fence. If you are on the “spike” you really don’t want to “shift the whole thing”. Nature is “Bell” , human beings are “Pareto”.
You claim it to be a human construct but as the video proves, if you run the simulation over and over the same results occur. This would tend to be natural and that humans choose this way because of a genetic predisposition to do so (as in nature vs nurture). If the outcome was varied it may be because of lack of accurate data or that action/thought/system is not natural and does not fall into a pattern.
exactly. Like the video says, even distribution of stars in the heavens and distribution of gas in a vacuum follow that pattern. It's just baked in the fabric of reality.
I understand where you are driving at sir. But sometimes, the reputation matters! Most whales do not read contents of post with low reputation and most of us do write good stuffs, even more than the ones with high reputation.
I'm glad you did this post, seriously it shows you appreciate consistency and hardwork and you have minnows in mind. Thank you @cryptoctopus
But please don’t fall into the victim mentality. If you worry what someone else is doing or getting or whatever you are using energy on things you cannot control instead of the things you can, such as your own content and network.
20% of your clothes will be used 80% of the time too
Absolutely!!
That's why I buy Hanes X-Temp Tshirts. That's all I ever wear. I don't need expensive fancy clothes. Why spend $50 on a shirt that you wear a few times a year?
I do not believe this is so.
I feel that the Pareto principal is a direct result of the bell curve.
To do anything well, you have to have passion.
To do anything well, you have to put in much practice.
To do anything well, you have to have a natural talent for it.
If you have passion, natural talent and really practice at something you are much, much, much better than everyone else at that thing.
If you take the opposite people, it doesn't matter which parts they do not have, they are equally bad compared to the best. Or, basically, make up the long tail
Basically, a few above average attributes puts you head and shoulders above the crowd.
It is very easy to get to 80/20.
Maybe you weren't paying attention. They ran Mathematical and Physical Models that had exact same outcome, unless gravity and math are just "Human Constructs"
I'm so inspired after reading this article, i feel i can reach the stars, steemit is my breath of fresh air, the only hope left for poor people like us,, thanks again for sharing this motivation, and congrats to all successors
the simple truth is that
no one came into steemit as a whale and everyone worked for his popularity and steem power.
some days ago i came across a picture of @surpassingoogle's post where almost all big names like @nanzo-scoop, @kevinwong, @shaka, @lukestrokes and all other whales upvoted a post the post could not even get beyound $2
photo below
and in addition, the steem price and sbd price where very low then and some they have to keep up with other offline stuffs for them to keep up with life.
but now that they are now enjoying what they worked for, the minnows now feel cheated and are asking for upvote as if its a birth right, i have always told minnows and i would continue telling tha
Reading through your post gave me hope. I was scared of steemit at first because I don't know if I will accepted, if I will be welcomed but here I am still trying to be seen or even heard. There're nights I just feel like this is it am done with steemit but I have that hope that one day I will be seen and heard. Here is one of my challange.
I'm having a hard time finding health professionals here on the platform...where is everyone hiding?! Where are the doctors, nurses, pharmacist! Any suggestions of people to follow would be greatly appreciated. :D
Also, any health professional who stumble upon this and have ben apart of the community for more than a few months...I'd love some insight into how this community works and what I should focus on to engage the health community here.
image.gif
I know one doctor type person, @nedspeaks, he is a very nice person, like you he was struggling a few months back, and has found his niche I think. Take a look at his page, he does a lot of health related information, but he seems to be in a bit of a busy period, as I do not see his post as frequently as I used to. Just a busy guy, but a nice one.
thank you so much @bashadow. this really helped me a great deal. Gracias! i just followed you
We just view Steemit as a place to take notes while doing research, publish the notes, and hope that someone ELSE appreciates them more than just ourself. For that reason, it's pretty cool.
Getting a little scratch is just the thank you at the end.
Our next post will be on Raiblocks, it's a VERY interesting crypto which allows each account to have their own entire blockchain. It's not without risks tho, and that's why we're looking into it to see if it can succeed where others are failing (like long transaction wait times, and high mining fees). Check out our blog or follow us to read our research if you're interested in a stock analyst's professional take on cryptos.
Thanks for reminde and give us a better hope,We know how to work,But some time we forget it and we need a reminder with good example,Thanks for that(@cryptoctopus)!We need to give more time and more better if we want to get big success and your examples are too much for us.Steam is moving us upwards.Thanks for the articles.@cryptoctopus
I stopped trying to become a success on Steemit for a while now and see him for what he really is
; a social experiment based on a business model.
Although I do not like the great resemblance to the outside world, being the one with the most votes, I love the opportunity to be here. Without Steem, I would not have been introduced to everyone in Blockchain, something that will keep me going with the rest of my life, advocating what it means to the world.
Do not forget to mention that it's going to make me a millionaire;)😎😎
Please check the this post i made it for u
https://steemit.com/cryptoctopus/@bitcoinist/cryotoctopus-snow-editing-and-live-text-editing
@cryptoctopus 2018 va a ser un año loco para Steemit, con especulaciones de precios de $ 100 por año.
I completely agree with you, my friend and some people come to the Steemit in order to quickly earn money and enjoy life, after which they start issuing posts with accusations that they are not noticed and in general everything is bad, but they did not even think that at the beginning ways need a lot and work hard, create decent content, acquire followers, etc. I'm in the Steemit for half a year already and I know what I'm talking about! You are right, do not listen to the screamers about the instant improvement of the ecosystem, you just need to take and create this ecosystem with your own hands every day. Those participants who passed this thorny path, could do it and achieved success! Thank you @cryptoctopus
That indeed is very encouraging!! Hearty congratulations to all these people for all the hard work and effort they put in!! #resteem ur pst @cryptoctopus
I understand where you are driving at sir. But sometimes, the reputation matters! Most whales do not read contents of post with low reputation and most of us do write good stuffs, even more than the ones with high reputation.
I'm glad you did this post, seriously it shows you appreciate consistency and hardwork and you have minnows in mind. Thank you @cryptoctopus
gracias por la información, buen vídeo
Sincerely, one of the keys to making it on steemit is consistency. Rome was not built in a day so, one shouldnt expect all the goodies to roll in at once
I hope one day you (or someone else) would make a post like this and my name will be included in the testimonies.
Awesome post!
I think that has to be a great motivation for everyone. First of all must be consistency and quality of work. Many people come here and do some stolen quote post hoping to earn thousands of dollars.But there is no free money here. Everyone eventually gets what one deserves.
Thank you, this is one of the support you give us plankton for success. Thanks .. best regards from plankton who want to success @arfah
@cryptoctopus You are right, I agree with you.
That is that everybody just saw on one side only so that meraka is too easy to give up.