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Quit any Expectations on Steem
The funniest thing on this platform is the minnows that just show up, invested no time in this ecosystem, make some shitty to decent content and only expect the rewards, but that is not possible anymore. Maybe it was possible, at the beginning of Steem but I don’t know since I wasn’t here back then, all I know is that it’s not possible anymore.
It’s funny how all I wanted was to get my account to an estimated value of $100 in my first month, and these new people coming in right now have heard all the great stories of $15k posts, and they want to get there from day one.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to set huge goals but only if you actually pursue them, if you put in the daily work that will get you closer little by little if not, you have no right to expect a lot of money.
People have to understand that the big internet stars of today have published hundreds of articles or clips, without getting a penny until they became famous, so they cannot expect to be at their level from the first day. Even so, most of the minnows joining nowadays are making more in their first month than Gary Vaynerchuk made directly from his Wine Library youtube channel after 1000 episodes.
Work Hard
Let’s say that you actually have the right mentality, you know that in order to make the real bucks you have to put in the work and go past your limits every day, and you even create great content, but you still have to quit any expectations.
For my first six months on this platform, I had little to no expectation of getting paid when I put out content. I knew that I will probably get nothing, and the best I might get was $1, but I still worked my ass off because I understood that you cannot attain greatness overnight.
I knew that I would have to work almost for free for a long time until I can get where I want to, but I still put myself out there every day either if it was in the form of a post or the type of multiple comments. For hell, I was making more money from comments than from posts, even if I spent a lot of time on posts too. The money I cashed out in my first months either came from @OCD or @SPl, but sure as hell not from my blog, since it was doing poorly but I still kept on going.
You have to quit your expectations, or they will destroy your blogging experience. If your Steem account is still in the early stages, you have to think about your posts as a way of improving your writings, learning or maybe even as discussion material for your close friends, anything but don't think about your posts as a way of making money because you will probably make little to none.
If you expect money because you see all these huge payouts and happy people, but you don’t make any, you will only get frustrated, and I’ve seen people dropping out of Steem because of that. I’ll tell you exactly what I said, my close friends, when they joined Steem, expect to make nothing for at least your first six months but keep on going at the same time.
Conclusion
You have to quit any expectations because you will only get frustrated, but also, at the same time, you will have to work your ass off. Engage in the community, make tens if not even hundreds of comments every day so you can, maybe one day in the future, get discovered by someone and finally make some money.
Think about it as you create your future, you will have to work weekends, invest all of your spare time here for six-twelve months so maybe sometime in the bright future, you will be able to quit your worthless job and live the dream.
Expect nothing and put in the fucking work, this is the way you will attain greatness here.
The pictures are from Pixabay: 1, 2, 3, 4.
It's like a new gold rush, right?
There's been quite a bit of discussion about new folks coming in with impossible to obtain expectations. That's really sad, because the potential for making money, as you point out, is only part of the Steemit experience.
I'm here because of a friend, but he didn't sell me illusions. He told me how it would be, and that's been very helpful. Maybe new users could benefit from such an orientation like I did, and the ones you gave your friends.
Still, there's plenty of helpful reading material on the Welcome page, but unfortunately, people seem to skip that. Kind of funny that people don't read what's here while they've come to use the site hoping others will read what they write and shower them with upvotes.
It's really too bad, because while the Welcome page isn't exactly for setting expectations, it does serve to temper them anyway.
I guess there will always be people with a get-rich-quick mentality. That's why those schemes work. Someone wants to believe it's true, when time and hard work are really the only consistent and true means for success.
Thanks for posting this.
It's even better than the gold rush since we're mining with our brains. I think that's what proof of stake even means, if I'm not wrong.
It's crucial to come in with the right mentality because it can break you if you think you're going to Wonderland but in fact, it's something more like Pitsburg. :))
Thank you for your comment. :)
Ermmmmm... brain mining. Interesting. You're right. BTW, has STEEM to be mined with hardware?
Excellent, post. I agree wholeheartedly. I quit my job with the US Department of Defense and just spent months writing a new cryptocurrency trading book, available on Amazon as of this week! 100% upvoted, resteemed, and following you now @guyfawkes4-20!
Good luck with your book man.
Thank you!
Hey man, that's awesome, how's the book going so far? Thanks for that, I appreciate it. ;)
Going well so far! Paperback and eBook.
Expectation is dangerous, I think many people came in hoping to make it big almost immediately(include me at first). That is the picture people that introduced them painted for them leaving out the hardwork part, the dedication, building followings and improving themselves part. I remembered my first day after approval, I got down to writing my first post without trying to comment on other people's post and gaining some followers. I have seen many account become dormant or quitting because they were not told the full story. I wrote this on one of my posts - anytime people hear internet business, they immediately think it is get rich overnight thing. You can be rich fast with Steemit but you must be ready to pay your dues and work hard. I will rather put the hardwork here though because reward can be enormous.
My case is a bit different. I had no idea about steemit. When my friend showed it to me I was skeptical. But I created an account. Then I forgot about it. From the beginning, I had no expectations but also - no motivation. My friend was pushing me for months. Asking, literally, every day when the hell am I going to post something on steemit. He knew that I'm a writer, he knew that I'm a photographer. So basically, he saw a potential in me. I guess. One day he asked me for a favor. He wanted to interview me for his blog. I agreed immediately. That's what friends do, right? Back then I thought I help him but actually, he helped me. That was a breaking ice moment for me. That day I really discovered steemit. I've started to understand and enjoy. I've found an amazing community that is extremely supportive. People that give you a reason and willing to create. I still have no expectations but I have motivation. I still don't earn real money but I want to be consistent.
Thank you, @irreverent-dan. For pushing me, nagging, terrorizing and being an annoying person! ;)
Beautiful story! Very well put and nice attitude.
Thanks for kind words :)
Haha, I very well know the case, I'm always pushing my friends, constantly telling them about Steem, trying to make them work and post more. I have a friend exactly like you, he's a great writer, tremendous potential and I always have to try to convince him to post more, @buzlealex, feel free to bother him, maybe he'll start posting more.
Oh, yeah, I know @irreverent-dan as far as I interacted with him, he seems like an excellent dude, he's done a great job with you. :))
Sounds like a mission. @buzlealex, watch out! I'm gonna follow you, upvote and comment on your posts as long as you comply and start to post frequently! And even then I will not stop to visit your blog! Beware!
You are very welcome @agniese. I will continue to do so!
Very well put, it's funny that the first thing the FAQ for the site says is "have fun, don't expect anything but a great community", but I guess people don't spend time looking into that.
I am still very fresh to the platform, and day by day I try to learn something new about the reasoning and technology behind it and it is a very very smartly done system that has a potential to truly let quality content shine, but like you said, it is not made to make you feel like a special snowflake, but rather give you a potential, and how crazy is it, possibly REWARD you for doing what you love and get nothing for it monetarily on any other social network.
I see this platform as a way to reach more people and I believe my intentions are good, and no, that doesn't mean I am entitled to anything, but at the end of the day I can sleep better. I have been doing my music stuff for years now and I learned one thing - if it reaches one person and truly changes their life a tiny bit, even if it's just a smile on a rough day - then I am not doing it for nothing.
Anyway, don't wanna ramble on, but posts like yours just solidify my opinion of the community so far - beyond any money stuff. Cheers, my man!
I'm still amazed by how great Steem is and the possibilities we have. I know people from third world countries making a full salary from one post, and they are not even dolphins, it's just mind-blowing.
That's the spirit man; I often used to have the same thoughts in the beginning, if I would've received some nice feedback from the community, even if I weren't making money, I would've been reasonably satisfied.
The community is fantastic, good luck man. ;)
I really believe in that or maybe naively want to believe in that (or generally that "people are good at the core"). I think a perspective goes a long way, if you look for negative, you will find it, but same with positive.
I mean you can look at it from many different perspectives, and for someone it's their livelihood (like the example you provide) and it becomes work and money play a bigger role, but even then I think it comes down to the intentions. If you treat it as a business, shady business practices might get you a quick dollar, but lose you all your customers in a long run very soon, that's just as true in real world.
I appreciate your kind wishes, man, I think I already found a whole lot on here that puts a sparkle in my eye :)
You will be able to find so many amazing humans here, that will simply blow your mind. It's the perfect place and time to be, great people and the possibility of getting rewarded for engaging with them. Are you part of any discord servers? You should join some.
You give such a great example with the business comparison, I know a guy that joined around the same time as I did and he treated everything as a business while applying shady business practices that got him some huge bucks back then but now, that the prices are enormous, he's not making much anymore.
I'm glad you feel that way. :)
Thank you. I think a lot of people need to read this. Reesteemed.
Thank you, I agree, people need to read it. :)
Expectations hurt.
I get what you're saying, @guyfawkes4-20; that aiming for money but not the experience or lessons learned is not a good way to go about in this platform. Hell, in anything in life. However, I sometimes tend to focus on the money that my posts make because I guess it tells me whether my posts are being liked by the community or not.
As everyone keeps saying, keep producing good posts and maybe you'll be noticed. So that's what I try to do. But how do I know what I'm writing is good, has the potential to be noticed, and/or if I'm even on the right track?
I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy here but I've seen posts that aren't that great but make a ton only because of a good following crew behind them. So if I take those posts as an example, will that put me on the right track? Probably not. I just wish there was a good way to get good feedback from successful bloggers on here.
I get what you mean, but I don't think it's a great way to count the success on Steem by how much you make if you want to see if the community likes your stuff. The thing is that most of the Steemians don't have power, so they can show their appreciations through comments because it may worth more. Money, usually come from the few and the comments from the less, if you get what I mean.
It's hard to figure out if your posts are good, I consider them good, and probably a lot of other people do, but there's no specific way to find out. Trust me and keep on writing, but also try to continually improve them because there's always place for growth. As in my case, even if my posts are looking great I know that my thumbnails can be improved and I'm trying to get better ones now.
Don't bother too much with what people think of your posts; they are good enough, keep on creating. ;)
Wow. I never thought of it that way. This is so true. Anyone can throw around a few cents here and there but someone who actually reads your post and provides thoughtful comments is definitely worth a lot more.
I also have been thinking about working on signatures, thumbnails, banners like you have, etc. Thanks for pointing this out!
Haha will do! ;)
Only tangentially related, but it does remind me of a thing that I do; whenever I upload a new set on Mixcloud and it does well, or the opposite, doesn't get as many listens - time and time again I try to analyze what might be the cause of it, is it a bad cover art? is it too long? is the beginning not captivating enought? etc. ad infinitum. Thing is, sometimes it's just pure luck, I still get crazy about it, but I try to catch myself doing it before I go into a downward overthinking spiral. Sometimes "expect nothing" is really the best policy - you tend to be pleasantly surprised more often than not :) All the best to you, cabernet!
Good point @deeptechhouse!
Haha this is me sometimes too. "Expect nothing" one of the best way to be content!
True. i see it so often in my curating journey. The frustration at not making mega bucks. I tell them the same thing. Engage. Write good content. Read and comment. Ah! But that takes work. Yes it does. I put in long hours here, but I have made many friends and learned many new things that I wouldn't have if I had only been here for the mega bucks.
I feel you; I used to work even like more than ten hours sometimes, back in the days when I had more spare time. I have so many friends here, and the way I evolved since joining is just impressive. :)
@guyfawkes4-20 thanks for the post mate! I believe in the power of persistence very much so when it comes to Steem. I have invited over ten people in my life probably to join Steem. Three have created accounts, two stopped, and the third is just beginning!
It's not easy to continue to do it. It must be part of your day. It needs to happen, like working out. Thanks again!
Keep Steeming!
Love the Myth of Sisyphus reference :) sometimes the work itself is what brings us joy, not expectation of anything, the hope goes a long way!
Haha, right? It's a nice subtle reference; I loved that myth. :)
To tell you the truth when my mentor in steemit suggested it to me I started only for writing and giving an idea to unknown people of my thoughts. I did it through stories and not theoretical texts. Not really many votes I got but Somewhere in the blockchain some thpugts of mine exist... Financial benefit may come or not... It is the idea that mainly counts.
I recently wrote a story on "the vision of whales" and secretly I hped it was read by whales... nothing significant happended but that is life. Creation with mo expectation.
Take care!
Love this post! I find the same thing among my artist friends - in general, not just in regards to Steemit lol .Everyone wants to get rich overnight, no one wants to put in hard work.People would rather work at a job they hate than try to build something slowly. If their life doesn't change overnight, they give up and use that as an excuse not to even try next time. Followed you! :)
You are totally right dude. Since the day I joined I have been spending almost my whole day 24/7 here on steemit, learning about communities, the platform, and making comments whenever I can.
My next step is opening a bittrex account but they closed that option for the moment lol
Low expectations is such a benefit. If you expect to have the least possible you will only get what you expected or more! Great post my friend @guyfawkes4-20!
The expectation is to be rich! But, that is quickly dashed.
Nothing in, nothing out. It is hard work, but, there is a lot of fun along the way!
This is a great message to get out there. Once I lowered my expectations, I began working my ass off on researching and recording my podcast, knowing that eventually it would pay off. My most recent episode post has about $19 of Steem in payout ($6 a piece for Steem), which isn't a lot for a whale, but more than $0 I was getting before I discovered Steemit.
Steemit has helped by listener base grow and provide a small stream of income to keep me motivated.
I love that particularly, I have the same thinking, as someone who sometimes sees very little benefit to things like Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for truly engaging with the audience I am trying to build (and I am not going to fault those platforms, even if the reason is me, some things you click with and some you don't), I am seeing a lot of potential in steemit because it just "makes sense" to me and I can see in my head the way I'd wanna grow. But more than anything everything is about "links", to quote steemit white paper, and those connections between your different social presences is what creates those connections and for that I see a lot of potential in steemit already. Thanks for your take on it and incidentally giving me encouragement!
You're welcome. I use the other social media outlets myself, but the discussion here is the best. My podcast is about war and geopolitics, and the knowledge base here is pretty incredible.
Congrats dude, that's epic, even if it's not much is enough to be worth your time, I know the feeling. Exactly, even if some don't make a lot here, it's better than what they did before on Facebook. :D
Yea man. My political debates on Facebook never rewarded me with $10-$30.
Making close to 100 USD and having 30-40 downloads an episode (rising from a solid 2) is great.
Plus I think Steemit is just filled with a more enlightened group.
Its best to treat Steemit as you would any other social media platform. Don't expect rewards; you don't get them on other platforms anyway. The platform is about the posts and the community. The rewards are just gravy
I definitely needed this today. Building momentum on Steemit can seem pretty daunting at times when you also have a full-time job. (I'm writing this on my lunch break right now). Just have to keep working hard in my moments of free time! Thanks!
Same boat :) But I find that instead of watching countless YouTube videos while I eat lunch or after work, I am actually excited to either engage with the community or work on my own posts or future ideas for the blog and that in itself makes me happier to be productive and engaged.
Great advice @guyfawkes4-20 When I opened my SteemIt account last summer I went in with a similar mindset. Don't expect to generate anything probably for at least a year. At first my content wasn't good and definitely wasn't polished. I decided to delve deeper into how to write my content in the markdown browser and posted a fiction paper I wrote for a school assignment using what I learned. It payed off for me but it goes to show that this platform requires an actual effort and love to get a post to hit it "big".
It's always good to see a nice minnow bashing post. They die at a rate of 97% for good reason.
I send this to various gasping minnows many times a week. This is a tough place with a tough crowd that came ahead to you. There are many ways to make money here right out of the gate and you don't even have to annoy the big guys while doing it :)
Make Money Blogging on Steemit Top Tips and Checklist for Better Results!!
Great post, thank you. Steem is going to be huge in 2018, I'm glad we're here early.
Agreed, get frustrated at some point. This is the first comment that make this day!
This is such a refreshing perspective here @guyfawkes4-20. After reading a variety of articles by steemians who've found success on here, I've learned that the most effective way to become successful is to post every day, and more importantly, comment numerous times every day (as you said). It seems as though the number to hit is 5,000 posts and if you have decent content along side that level of interaction, you'll have a consistent stream of income. Would you agree?
Really great post here man. Thanks for sharing!
PS: I'd love to hear your thoughts about my recent post: Want To Get What You Don't Already Have? The Art Of Compersion Will Get You There!
Hey man, you mention to be 6 months with no expectations. But I've been here for 6 months now, so where's the money? Jokes apart, I'm comfortable with not making money, and I am amazed at how much I managed to earn even if $300 isn't a big amount here. To me it's a ridiculously high amount. I don't want to put in the hard work, do this the whole day. But I do like to write and feeling valued once in a while. I used to send articles for newspapers and then stopped because to get published you had to talk about what they were writing about. And in the other social media, you get to feel used mostly rather than valued. I'm just happy that some hard working authors are making it in here and that my presence here doesn't just help me but them as well as they are like me.
I just read the post of @davemccoy
[https://steemit.com/steemit/@davemccoy/quick-tip-you-succeed-when-your-followers-succeed-why-steemit-is-different.
This was an eye opener. Than I read the way @glenalbrethsen worked. Didn't post in the beginning. Give true helpful comments to others and than started sharing.
Than your post. You say you need to focus on bringing good content. Not getting only much rewards. Work hard. And then at the end you will get rewarded. But the main goal you need to see the future, invest in it. Thanks for your post. Upvoted and resteemed!
I am new at steemit, and I just want to point that no everybody new here is like that. I believe that doing things just for money won't bring money. I came here to express myself, as I couldn't find a place to do it way I wanted to. Money is cool, we all need it, I need it..but making it only motivation is stupid, doesn't make happy. Things that truly inspire us are not only about the money.
Wow!! you wont know how helpful this post has just been to me.
I was at he verge of quitting steem, but you just gave me that boost of encouragement, endurance and perseverance.
Thanks a million
Just catching up on my comment game.
Keep up the good work and creating amazing content. As you were.
Yep . . .this is probably the first article I read, I am surprised that there is a 'here to make money attitude' when that is the attitude that totally destroyed the mainstream media. . . apparently some people think repeating it on a smaller scale totally different and totally noble??
I am really curious what the quality of the discussion will be in a forum where people are incentivized financially to comment?
Words of wisdom, my friend!
You know, I started here with high expectations. And I jumped right into the crypto space, cause that's where the money is right? Well, I also write about cryptos as my freelance job, so it was a match.
Then what happened?
I started to connect with people, and my mindset began to shift. I wrote a piece of fiction for the first time in over 30 years, and I enjoyed it. I dug around some more and found more great people and some awesome communities. I joined some Discord channels and have become increasingly active there as well.
I'm not making much money, but you know what? I don't care anymore. I still have high expectations for Steemit and STEEM, but I also have a greater degree of patience, and an appreciation for the true value of the platform - sharing, helping others, community building, and basically just enjoying your time here.
Unfortunately I feel like I might be in the majority and that most people who join won't ever get to that place, and instead will quit in frustration. Which is a shame.
I was spoiled with great results on my first post, but I also had a long stretch hoping I would earn a dollar on one. It's really true that results come from working at it. It's hardly even work except that it matters if you don't do it.
Just be consistent, reach out in the comment section, publish your best content, and keep doing it every day. The more you put into this community, the more it rewards you.