For the past 30 years, I spent my career in sales and marketing. Over that time I was involved in a ton of different projects, often from day 1 development. Rolling out new programs, initiatives, and equipment teaches that there is a process that things need to go through. Also, it is important to know what is substance and what is not.
I see many who claim that we need marketing. A lot are operating under the perspective that Hive would be better off if they would only market this blockchain.
Are you one who believes that?
To start, does everyone know what a blockchain is? It is nothing more software that runs on different computers around the world. This software processes transactions and verifies them before updating the entire network of data.
Is that what you are going to market?
We see the marketing commandos on Facebook and YouTube "marketing" Hive. They are out there promoting the idea of making a bazillion dollars in a few posts. These people are either scammers or really have no idea what they are doing. Once again what are they marketing? Do they even know?
Obviously not.
What they are actually marketing is Steemit. That is the site that everyone comes to and it is inadequate. And many wonder why people leave. They are signing onto a site that is straight out of the 1990s. Even the development team is not focused upon it. Yet people are trying to drive traffic to Steemit.com in spite of an awful sign up process (due to the delay) and a non-effective site. Yes there are other front ends but new people do not know that.
I saw a discussion where someone on Telegram was stating how Hive needed marketing. Of course, this centered around the price of the coin and how more people are needed to improve it. That is not marketing, that is a pump. The price eventually drops because the best marketers in the world will not be able to sustain that pricing action without some substance. Then this person went on about the blockchain needing investment.
Just had to shake my head on that one. Marketing for investment versus marketing for users/subscribers/customers are completely different activities.
I make no secret of my monitoring of the development that is taking place on this blockchain. There is a simple reason why I do this.
People do not sign up for a mobile phone service because it uses the Genesis V satellite or whatever. We do not see companies out promoting SNTP. The State of New Jersey tourism board does not tout how wonderful I-95 is.
Promoting Hive right not is just promoting the delivery system. For the moment, Steem is basically Steemit. 3Speak, Leofinance, and a bunch of other applications have tremendous potential but they are in the early stages. Applications are slow, buggy, and lack features when introduced. Over time, with each update, they get better. This is simply how development works.
So why do I focus upon development and have so much optimism. Because that is where the substance is. It is what is going to start separating blockchains. And Hive is poised to be one of the blockchains that dominates.
Here is the Top 10 list from Coinmarketcap.
Now let's look compare that with the transaction chart.
Notice how the two lists vary. Look closely at the top 10 in market cap. The issue I have with this is there is nothing going on with these blockchains. There is no activity.
Take BCash. For all of Bitcoin Jesus' preaching, sorry Messiah, there is nothing taking place there. Charlie Lee with Litecoin is an extremely smart guy, but the same holds true for that blockchain. Not much action. Same with Ripple, Stellar, Cardano, IOTA, and Tether. More than half the top 10 has little activity. Two of the others, Bitcoin and Ethereum are totally gassed.
Now I am not saying that these tokens are overpriced or that there is not reason for people to be confident in them. Many things go into token pricing. My point is that all of these tokens received a great deal of publicity while doing a lot of marketing yet they are nothing more than potential. At present, there is no activity there. This is the pump. Without follow through on that potential, the market will provide the dump. And the follow through is development.
Those that do, will excel while those that omit this, will fall back hard.
Which brings me right back to Hive. We know the development is taking place at a rapid pace. This is the meat and potatoes to me. Here is what I take to the general public. This is what they are going to sink their teeth into. Applications like @steempress which will allow the integration of Wordpress sites. Or @actifit that is targeting the activity/exercise sector. Or @air-clinic which seeks to be another version of Webmd.
Of course, many of these apps are far from ready for the masses. Actually, that is the truth for the entire blockchain. Getting back to the top 10 list, we know BTC and ETH already operate with delays. BCH and LTC, since they are based upon BTC, most likely would reach that point fairly quickly.
Presently, the development team is working on upgrading the infrastructure to ensure it can handle massive traffic. Better to do it now than later. From a marketing perspective, nothing worse than driving a ton of traffic to a place that can't handle it.
The same is true for apps. It is time to work through the bugs and get the updates going. The development teams are all hard at work. It is a process. They understand that, the rest of us tend not to. Again, start marketing the hell out of 3Speak and you potentially risk driving a ton of people away if it cannot handle what is thrown at it. Most of the applications on this blockchain are still lacking features. This will be resolved with further updates.
It cannot be stressed enough. Hive will have the ability to handle a ton of traffic. Out of that top 10 list, BTS, EOS, and Hive are going to be part of the pack in that category. Hive already has the traffic which will only grow as more applications are added (and the sign up process improved).
As the applications get up to speed, then it is time to market. Having something of substance is what you want to take to the masses. There is an old saying in marketing: successful marketing of a poor product only gets you into bankruptcy faster.
Patience is needed. We are still very early in this game. The price action will be whatever it is. The market does what it likes usually without reference to much else that is going on. That is the nature of that beast.
Source
Notice how the performance of a technology always precedes the adoption. All the marketing in the world is not going to increase adoption without the performance being that.
And that is what the developers are working on.
hive is poised to dominate. When the industry and market is ready, it will explode. From a marketing perspective, there will be a ton of things to bring to the public.
Which will eventually be factored into the price of the coin.
If you found this article informative, please give it an upvote and rehive.
Thanks for such a good analysis.
Steemit needs to add some color to the site. Then get out of beta. Then marketing.
A single sign on, across multiple apps, on a decentralised, open ledger; where you've got a persistent username, no transaction fees, and incredibly fast block chain and enormous scalability?
Might I add, real world applications?
It hurts me how undervalued Steem remains.
It is clear that steem will thrive because the range of steem blockchain is wide. You can have users like myself who do not understand much of blockchain to top notch programmers and developers. Thanks.
I personally dont know why may of the creative people are still on the platforms when they dont give you anything. Like instagram etc, They are spending hours there, yet on steemit that one hours will make you more than the other site gave you in a year. I guess they have not seen steem yet, i dont know.
Interesting read. Thank you. The traffic metrics are very interesting... One correlation I'd like to illuminate would be one I just notice myself, but, the ratio of Market Cap to Transaction number. In other words, a division of tx number into market cap; which might provide at least a different perspective on how a coin's value relates to how many transactions they are performing. And you bring up a very valid point--what these "transactions" actually are is a different story; one which requires at least a cursory knowledge of the tokens themselves and their technologies.
I think it's interesting that Bcash (I don't mind the name, actually. I try not to let the political bs cloud the fact that, imo, that "fork" is the most similar to "Bitcoin proper" as I understand it. Now that we got that out of the way) has the tightest relationship between its market cap and its tx rate.
That could be interpreted a variety of ways. One might be the opposite tack; in other words, "Well, XYZ token (say EOS, for example) is performing n number more tx than BCH, for a fraction of the cost. Therefore, it is superior." But again, do we really know the nature of these txs? What are these blocks being "filled with" or kind of values are they producing? How closely related to the token's "actual worth" are these transactions?
I don't necessarily know the answers to these questions, but I think they're worthy of notice.
On your discusison of marketing tactics or strategies and how different people misunderstand or don't support the proper things regarding STEEM, I would agree to an extent.
You are correct that many people may not understand the semantics, confusing things like STEEM (the token) and Steemit, the social platform "application" built on the STEEM "variation" (for a lack of better way to say it) of the graphene blockchain; with which the STEEM token is a "(crypto)currency." Therefore, any application built within that same ecosystem--the STEEM blockchain--would, in turn, affect the value of the STEEM token. For me, it was actually the aspect of steemit which permitted monetary "upvoting," combined with the "cryptographic" aspects: i.e., the responsibility over one's account; the wallet features; all the various ways to parse the data--typically via neat apps built by fellow steemians such as Steem Now, Steemd, to name just a few) even, in a way, the bots (gasp!) in other words, the structure of the whole Steemit "economy". I was pretty much "sold" at first sight. But not everyone, for various reasons, apparently feels the same. (I think you hit the nail with the "barrier to entry" time/ wait--I've had pretty much everyone I've told about the app tell me they "never heard back" or otherwise couldn't get in :( . That's not good. Idk what's up w that tho lol)
SMTs or "STEEM Media Tokens," to the best of my understanding, is just one of these proposed "applications" to be introduced on the STEEM BC. Afaik, SMTs were an idea put-forth by the STEEM, INC. "team", headed by Steemit CEO @ned, which could be roughly equated to ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum BC--a way to create icos of your own and all the trappings that go along with that. In other words, STEEM's version of Smart Contracts. This, of course would be huge.
But as of the writing of this post, afaik, "production" of the SMT project it tenuous, and the source of much dispute between certain members in the community. Though I am by far from someone "in the know" about steemit or STEEM or STEEM inc's doings (one of my personal "complaints" about a decntr. system--it can be difficult (ironically) to seemingly get a "consensus" or even "objective" view about the goings on in the community.) Anyway, last I heard, ned said something to the effect that "the SMT cave is full this week" meaning (I think) that they were hard at work on the project.
This remains to be seen; and either way, I think the community would agree that a bit more communication and confidence between these cave-dwellers, whomever they are--and the community at large.
Yeah, we are all in our caves doing what we can. I hope those guys at Steem Inc. are being productive, but if not I think we are still making a lot of progress with a lot of new applications.
I too find the steem on graphene ecosystem absolutely fascinating. Not everybody has an early adopter mindset though.
This was great! Got me looking into BTS for sure. Steem I just keep trudging along with earning here and there but I'm with you on the belief that one day steem will absolutely go way up in price. I think any coins with any merit to them will exceedingly go up in value in the future. Not just because of successful blockchain tech. but because of big banks and their involvement within the crypto world. I mean do we really think that an entity such as GS buyin' Poloniex wont have a great effect when their ready?
@taskmaster4450 That is why I just took 1 LTC coin I had and told myself what is that 1 LTC doing for me ??? Well the answer was Nothing so I moved all of that 1 LTC over to BlockTrades to purchase more STEEM and what will that STEEM do for me. Well If I power it UP I will earn more STEEM or SBD. The Bottomline is LTC just sitting in my Wallet was not making me more Tokens...............
I have recently moved some ltc over to steem as well, though I am a bit more conservative and like to see a bit of diversity in my overall portfolio, its funny because of 30+ coins in the portfolio, steem is the only one I actually use ;p
did you receive the Byteball airdrop? If not i'd highly rec checking it out... An amzing app
I have G! I actually sold some of my balls to @balls2steem account, who help take these newfound baLls and convert them to pure steem!
Very interesting... I like it. They're bot--STEEM and GBYTES--two of my fav cryptos for sure. Hard to decide... Does the account "go both ways" ;) i.e., change STEEm to Balls??
Interesting question for sure! I don't think they do that just yet, but I bet they could eventually! They actually started it because they wanted more Balls, for some secret project! I will ask them if they have future plans for paying balls 4 steem ;-p
TIMM sure hopes so!
Suppose that having Steem Power gave you part of the reward pool for all high quality content on the Steem blockchain, no matter when it was created. Wouldn't this give investors a motivation to buy Steem and convert to Steem Power? Wouldn't this give incentive for authors to somehow promote their content? Yet, Steem doesn't pay rewards for content older than 7 days, no matter its quality or its desirability. Why shouldn't upvotes of old posts generate rewards that get distributed according to the same formula for new posts? This would allow Steem to better support evergreen content and provide an incentive for authors to produce better content. At this point, after just a few months on Steem, it is clear that I should not spend too much time on each post. It is also clear that lots of high quality posts can get buried, simply because they are not noticed in the first 7 days. Of course this leads to people paying for votes in hopes that more people will see their content. Yes, Steemit could provide a better user interface to slightly address the discoverability issue, but there is only so much a user interface can do to counteract the perverse incentives built into Steem.
Proud member of #steemitbloggers @steemitbloggers
you should read this post by @mattclarke regarding the 7 day payout..also the comments...
https://steemit.com/steemit/@mattclarke/scratching-the-7-day-itch-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-short-payout-window
Thanks for the shoutout, and example.
See how I stand to gain a few followers now, despite the post above being past payout?
Had I not put the work in, would others link back to it?
Good content is a pre-requisite in any case .
But that doesn't disprove the need for evergreen people , who feel the need for it , technically if you had an evergreen post you would still be getting an upvote on it.
As far as I am concerned , this is a feature that can be built when needed....
Ive seen that argument before, but I still believe that the 7 day limit is antithetical to quality content. Yes, it promotes continued posting, but overall it discourages putting a lot of effort into posts. It is also highly artificial, since we know from lots of experience that content is not often discovered or valued when it is first published. This happens with books, movies, scientific papers, etc. I have argued that we need a way to rapidly experiment with different Steem rule-sets so that we can get competition among the rule sets. Ultimately, users will migrate to the rule-set that they like the best.
You make some valid points...
SMTs will do that. Not all content can be best monetized here, but a movie can't actually be put on the STEEM chain (just a link to a movie). Link to your paid content in your steem blog, use ref link, find other ways to monetize yourself. Document your progress on steem, still look for a theatrical release of your movie or an art gallery for your canvas.
I've heard thereason has something to do w how the blockchain operates--there has to be a discrete "cut off point" to account from; it's too difficult (at present) to permit such backlogged additions, so to speak. I think Dan Larimer explains this somehwere
I’m glad to read your posts every day.
I’m a firm believer of the Steem blockchain and I don’t have any doubt about its success.
IMHO is the best usable altcoin in crypto land.
Steem on mate!
I agree with the general sentiment , build something robust and then go for marketing.
I disagree that we should not think about marketing at all ( seems like the point you are making) . Steem maybe doesn't need full blown marketing flood of ads but getting the new customer pipeline experience is also vital to learn from the market and understand pressure point. From my understanding , we are currently sitting at zero ( or near zero) efforts dedicated to marketing.
Most importantly , for my benefit since I don't know how to judge it , can you expand/qualify your statement below:
rapid pace compared to other blockchains ? are we close to the SMT target ( how close)? what new feature in last 1 year (in your view) lines up with the rapid development ?
Rapid is obviously a relative word.
Rapid as compared to other blockchains? Yes some. Compared to BCash...I would say yes, the development on STEEM is rapid versus that. Compared to ETH....not so much.
The applications exploded this year, with more than 50 appearing in the last two months. Naturally,not all will hit but that is a lot of apps churned out (although not all big ones either).
Another area I see a difference is the frequency of updates on some of the newer ones. Actifit already released 3 updats...dlike 2 or 3...and they are in their first month or two.
Since I joined in August, the pace is a lot quicker in my view.
So , Iooked into this a bit more , it looks the STEEM developer activity score is much better ( rank 12) than the overall STEEM rank (45)
https://www.coingecko.com/en?sort_by=developer_score
Tks for your response..
You inspire me with your perspective!
My feeling is that the biggest elephant in the room, which threatens steem adoptiion, is the counterfeiting of steem. This was explored in an old blog post of mine whose link is included for your reading pleasure.
https://steemit.com/steem-network/@novacadian/where-is-the-trust-in-proof-of-brain-mining
Ah - you have a sales background... that makes so much sense!! You are relentless with your upbeat posts about the potential of steem!!
Totally agree with you though - and I particularly like your logic in this article. 😊
Good point, I have hear of that dominance from Steem traffic, but never check the list as you show. Thanks.
b.b.
Excellent piece. I shared it in twitter and Facebook instead of resteem
thank! This is a professional analysis and elaboration.👍
Excellent post! If people find the apps on the blockchain useful it will go places. Right now, meh, not so much. I have never had a dtube video play without buffering like it is 1999. People pushing it right now may not be wise since most are like me - if it doesn't work the first two tries I move on.
It's a true blessing that STEEM is cryptos best-kept secret.
You nailed it with this one. Great perspective and exactly my thoughts.
Resteemed.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on this. I am really enjoying this platform and am hoping that it really takes off. I will be following to read your continued thoughts on this.
Hi taskmaster. You make a strong case for why Steem will do well. Patience is needed and agree why push something that is still trying to work things out. It is growing everyday and will be ready in the not to distant future I am certain of that.
I just love reading your posts, but ironically I haven't followed you yet. My mind must have always skipped that part whenever I crossed paths with your posts.
Not this time. Just followed you and hoping to read more such Blogs.
Oye que gran reportaje, una visión clara, yo concuerdo en que Steem va a ser sólida porque tiene un uso, pero debe depurar procesos para poder mantenerse en el largo plazo
This post opens my eyes 😮
A very good analysis on the platform friend, effectively steemit is hardly in a process of improvements that will take it sooner than later to be one of the most named and used platforms in the world. There are still shortcomings such as a fast registration (as you mentioned in your article) but a marketing done in an intelligent way could help a lot to this, this is a process that must be carried out together with the dtube arrangements, etc. A very good contribution, I really liked you won a friendly follower.
I think you do a great job of explaining whence your optimism springs, @taskmaster4450. Thanks for the string of informative posts!
WOW! That was half of MBA in one post. Lets start an internal fund to buy into STEEM - I am a newbie with about 1 dollar but sounds like a good idea!!