Everyday I see 10+ posts talking about how to succeed on Steemit. I am not here to judge those posts or find where they come from or how do the author get their ideas - some are very basic, some are very dumb, some are naive, some are great, that is not the point - but it is only theory, the fact that we all write about these subjects out personal experience takes a key factor away from the post: It is subjective.
But not this post, this post is short, precise and to the point.
Today is Sunday, I wake up somewhat late and still in bed open my computer. I don´t usually write in bed nor on a Sunday, Sundays are my day off. But I wasn´t gonna do anything today, I have to buy a plane ticket and am hunting for good deals.
Also Sundays are lame when it comes to rewards right? At least for me, it is always the day when I get less views, comments and people engaging my posts.
In the hostel I am staying in the border of Nicaragua the internet is close to none, I can´t watch Netflix, I can´t stream documentaries so all I have is to read articles online and roam steemit. So what the hell, let´s write something.
I transcribed my own post from english to spanish that speaks about how our routine as steemians might not be the most accurate to engage and succeed. I got some attention and some replies. I answered the commments and then I started to read my feed.
I stumbled upon an article by @aussiesteem and one of her sources led me to another website, which in turn led me to another and I found a story about Google and its internal human resources problems. I read a lot about the subject, media reactions, employee reactions, people from the outside giving opinions and then I decided to write an article about it.
Only two people engaged with my content. I even tried to give my post a title that would draw attention but hell, sundays are slow for me. No biggie, let´s see the replies.
Step by step guide to get followers
1.- Find a post. Whatever post you like. Reply to it in a meaningful way including your opinion on the subject:
His reply to my content was:
I saw this post as well and it made my day due to the honest approach the writer uses, while also applying a concise writing style.
The reaction should not surprise anyone - feminism today is a religion/cult, not to be compared to "equal rights for everyone".
Do you see the reply I got? First, he states he has a bit of knowledge about the subject. Then he shows he is not bluffing and speaks about his knowledge. And then he gives his honest opinion of the subject. He doesn´t ask for a follow, he doesn´t beg to get a vote, he does not appeal to my pity.
2.- Wait for the other person to reply, this is why you comment on more than one post, cause you might not get an answer on every comment you make.
Well, as I am a polite Steemian I reply to comments I get on my content, you should try it sometimes! It is very fulfilling!
My reply for his comment was:
It is very dazzling. I for real think that most people who are making all the fuzz haven´t even read the article he writes. Come on, every aspect he onboards is unbiased and only stating well researched facts. He is not insulting or demeaning anyone!
I get it, sometimes you have to get into arguments but if this guy gets fired he can sue Google and by the laws in California que will definitely win.
Not to mention all the harrasment and mistreatment he is gonna get at his workplace...
I left a big reply. Mostly because I like the subject but also because if this person went through the trouble of replying to my content, I should do the same and engage in a meaningful way! Also i like to reply longer so people will get lazy and stop replying - lol just kidding -
3.- In the meantime the author wrote a post! Yes! So intelligent from him. Engage first, draw attention and then write a post so when you reply to their answers you already have new content! He replied to my answer on this matter:
His second reply was:
The argument "why do men even want those high level jobs in the first place?" really makes a lot of sense. Most women overestimate the "fun" those jobs provide - in the end many men slave away 80 hours a week while putting up with countless pressure, simply to increase their social standing and attractiveness. The same motivation does not work for women - hence fewer female executives.
The argument he states is amazing but at this point I don´t even care. He actually took the time to reply twice with more than 10 words on someone else´s post about a subject I care about. I should check these mate´s profile!
Remember the post he made while interacting with me? It speaks about a language I am learning. It is not the best post but it is actually helpful...
BAM!!
I followed him.
This 0.25 SBD voter (me) followed him and believe me, he will have my votes every once in a while. This person has only one day in the platform and already knows how to get followers. He has 2 written posts but 48 comments on other people´s content, How awesome is that?
In case you are still not getting the point:
The key for getting followers is ENGAGEMENT people.
Now get your hands off of that pizza and go follow @waitingforgodot
Hola amigo, cuéntame lo que me quieres platicar. Un saludo.
Hola amigo que bueno que te veo por acá :D
Estoy de encargado de la cuenta de México (@mexico-trail), una cuenta dedicada a hacer comunidad entre las personas de habla hispana enfocándonos en especial a los mexicanos y a los expats viviendo en el país.
Recientemente comenzamos a realizar una serie de concursos semanales para incentivar la escritura y publicaciones de calidad y con buen contenido. Hasta el momento tenemos buena respuesta por parte de la comunidad (doce participaciones la primera edición y 17 la segunda) y ahora vamos por la tercera.
En la primer edición yo patrociné los premios (20 SBD) y en la segunda los patrocinaron dos integrantes del equipo de curación en inglés del que formo parte. Ahora estoy buscando personas que quieran involucrarse patrocinando esta tercera edición.
Al ver tu involucramiento con la comunidad y tu esfuerzo por que las personas hagan bien las cosas, publiquen con calidad y utilicen bien los tags quería saber si a) te gustaría ser juez para la cuarta edición y b) patrocinar el 50% de los premios para la edición 3 o 5, como tu prefieras.
En el perfil @mexico-trail puedes ver algunas participaciones, los posts presentando a jueces y patrocinadores así como la convocatoria anterior.
El día de hoy publicaremos la tercera convocatoria en algunos minutos.
Espero tu respuesta, saludos y gracias por ponerte en contacto!
Gracias por tenerme en cuenta, si me interesa, aunque mi forma de pagar no sería envíando los Steem como tal, sino dando upvotes a todos los posts de la persona, dependiendo de la cantidad que sea, no se si me hice entender, pero aquí pongo un ejemplo: Si mi parte serían 5 SBD, entonces, para pagarle le daría 10 upvotes a sus posts(de la persona ganadora obviamente) cada uno al 100%, al final recibiría unos 5-6 SBD(teniendo en cuenta que hoy mi voto al 100% está dando unos $0.55 aprox) o le daría upvote a sus comentarios o algo así, ya eso lo podremos cuadrar. No sé si me hice entender, y si lo hice, espero estés de acuerdo. Ahora mismo tengo mi dinero invertido en Bitcoins y otras criptomonedas. Pero aún así creo que a la final da lo mismo si lo hago de esta forma. Déjame saber tu opinión.
Claro! Esta perfecto así! Entendí perfectamente! Muchas gracias por tu apoyo y estamos en contacto entonces para la semana 4. En esta semana tres ya veremos quien resulta ganador. Te incluyo dentro de los patrocinadores de esta semana en el post. Gracias de nuevo amigo y nos estamos escribiendo.
Para estar más al tanto, porque sabes que Steemit no notifica(por lo menos a mi no), cuando tengo nuevos comentarios, si quieres escríbeme a mi Wapp +57310558978, y me explicas unas dudas que tengo por fa.
Anda fallando, a mi tampoco me avisa jaja. Claro, te escribo en la semana, ahora no puedo porque no tengo celular :( Pero en la semana me dan uno y te escribo :D
Dale, más que todo las dudas que tengo son: 1. Cuál es el post del concurso para revisarlo en detalle? 2. Cómo miro los participantes 3. Cómo voto como jurado? 4. Necesito que nos coordinemos bien para el día anterior a dar el premio, no votar y tener mi Steem Power al 100% para poder cumplir con lo que digo, gracias amigo.
Yep! Agreed!
Yo mate I just went to your profile to upvote everything you had still unpaid and you haven´t written anything in a month! Damn, I am going to start upvoting your comments, sorry about that.
Hahaha! Thank you brother! Yeah, I suppose I should post somethin' but commenting has been my thing really so far! The kids keep me mighty busy as well. I mean, I've met loads of koool people here such as yourself. I do have a ton of ideas to write about and plan on writing at some point so stay tuned! Take care my friend!
Enjoyed the post, it's spot on. It's the engagement aspect of this platform that will make or break it. The reward system is great to bring people to the platform and hopefully inspire good content and behavior but it's the actual human interaction that will keep people coming back.
I know that for me, when I take the time to write a post or comment I'm hoping that someone finds some kind of value in it. That's the point of sharing with each other right? Hopefully we learn or grow or laugh or see a new perspective.
and if there is value in what we're sharing beyond just the reward, it's the actual engagement that translates it into those human emotions and feelings that come from knowing that you're interacting with someone that actually found what you had to share valueable and worthy of engagement, no matter how small.
When you spend a good chunk of time writing up a post to share with the community and put yourself out there to just find a bunch of crickets or some bot is your only reply, it's disheartening.
Meeting people, exchanging ideas, helping each other out, being part of a community, that's all the goodness. The rewards should be just an enabler of those things.
I usually only comment when I actually have something positive to say about the post or if it's one of my friends a good smartass remark. They know my humor and expect it from me. But seriously I do try to comment when it is something relevant to the post. Oh and I NEVER EVER BEG FOR A FOLLOW OR A VOTE. That's their choice. I'm just grateful to be part of Steemit with my friends.
I get it mate, for me it was the same... but now that i have a bit more SP people spam my content a bit more and then I comment a lot with "Do not spam, engage or feel my flag wraith" hahaha. I haven´t acutally flagged anybody but one user, they usually get the warning.
Ohh I guess Ill have to follow you, just to get some of the smartass remarks. I hope to get them or ill be crushed!
Hahaha...WOOF! You got it, friend and don't be afraid to return them to me as well I really love it. That's why I'm here to HAVE FUN!!!
Hahahahaa your username rocks mate, followed you because of that! Haha
Thank you. Makes me feel good!!!
Finally a 'How to' post that actually says what needs to be said, Engage.
Meaningful comments always give me the motivation to check someone's thread out to see what they're doing here. I don't just look at the posts, I always look at their comments too.
I get sick of the 'great post follow me' meme, I haven't followed anyone in a few weeks. But I'm off to check this dude out now.
Nice one buddy.
Oh yes!! And it is actually giving me a lot of profile of interesting people to look at! And I am following a lot of people replying right now.
Ohh that reply is the worst! Or the other one that tries to use a bot to include your username so it doesnt look like an automated response but the bot messes up and includes another username instead of the one posting XD
I've had a few interesting 'bot' replies. Including one on a post I did about paedophilia that said 'nice pictures'!
Needless to say it was flagged out of existence.
Hahaha that is just plain wrong. Very recently happened to me something similar. I posted about bot answers and a lot of bots answered "good post" hahahah
I can understand it's hard to see past the monetary rewards when using Steemit, it is human nature after all to always want more.
But I do agree, engagement is key in a place like this, and it is one of the things I love most in my short time here on Steemit. I have young kids, so going out, meeting new people and exploring the world isn't something I can do as easily now on my own, as when I was single. So a place like Steemit has given me the chance to engage, connect with and learn from other people on passions we share, and I love that they could be anywhere in the world. Just like you're currently in Nicaragua, and I'm currently in the UK :D
Yes! I mean, we are all here for the money in some extent, some more than others but that is not the point, it is very delicate to judge monetary reasons.
But engagemente, that is something we are entitled to judge as this is a social media platform! You know?
It is amazing, I have found people from all over the world and actually going through your feed is so much more fulfilling that doing the same on FB. The difference is that people here actually make an effort to share good and quality content whereas on facebook you just click "share meme" and that´s it.
If it wasn´t for all the people I want to keep in touch, I would close facebook tomorrow.
Which part of the UK are you from? I am from Mexico but been traveling central America for a few months now.
Yes I agree, everyone is on Steemit for their own different reasons. Some may be more misguided than others, but I guess everyone is just doing what they think they should be doing.
Nevertheless, what a great platform Steemit is for providing these possibilities. It is amazing that some people are able to use Steemit as their main source of income. I'd be thrilled if that happened to me :)
I relate to how you feel about Facebook. I also need Fb to help stay connected to friends and family across the world. If only they all moved with us to Steemit, eh? :D
I'm currently living in Surrey, just outside of London. I'm originally from Hong Kong though :) Are you backpacking in Central America? How much longer are you travelling for before you head home?
And BAM! Followed! :D
Yes yes! If they all came to facebook that would be nice, but then we would have memes everywhere :( Dont know how comfortable I feel with that jajajaja
I am in Central America, going back to México and then to europe for steemfest in november, then a bit of europe and after my mandatory 3 months insider schengen i will leave to south east asia! What about you!? How much longer in UK?
Very meaningful post , i my self too uses similar methods of reaching out to peoples post and engaging with them which, in return builds a relationship
If you think about it it is the best way huh? Im sure there are more and maybe i am unfamiliar with some, as long as I have been here I´ve tried a lot and when I saw the effectiveness of this one it became the only one I use!
When I participated in @merej99 Community Engagement Challenge is when I gained the most followers and my reputation increased the fastest it has the whole time I've been on here. Her stipulation was to write 500 posts/comments in ten days. Man, that pushed me, and I was struggling st the end, but it definitely taught me how to engage with other people and support the work of everyone else. While I haven't been able to keep that same pace, I definitely have started to put Engagement with others over producing my own work at times.
Oh wow! That actually sounds like a very appealing way to encourage the community to engage. And it wroked perfectly for you! Did the contest included a prize? What was it? Oh wow, you just gave me an amazing idea for the mexican community... for real...! Thank you so much for dropping by and commenting! I am so happy I already follow you :D
There was a prize involved...but it didn't go to just one person...it went to all of the people who achieved the parameters set by @merej99. She had received several donations and hen more rolled in as the challenge continued. The total pool of money was split equally among all the challengers who finished. She was also going on vacation for a week and so she delegated her SP to one random winner for a week. As the challenge wore on, people were encouraging and helping others to cross the finish line. It was pretty amazing to see people that committed to helping others finish! I know there was talk of her running another round at some point. I'm sure you could go check out her posts about the challenge progress and you'd learn a ton! It'd be worth your time. It'd be fun if you started something like that for your community too!
Oh my I will definitely go through her posts right now! Damn this late replying is killing me, but hey, at least I saw this. Sounds like she has a good thing going on and she shares it with a lot of people, I like that type of person :)
Good tips! Now follow for a follow? Haha
I am seeing that some people unfollow me, 1 or 2, was it my content? I realized these are some people expecting to be followed. I will only follow someone back if their content interests me.
My real followers followed me because of my content not because they expect to be followed. And I'm the same to others, I don't expect them to follow me back!
I even ask them to read my previous posts and if they don't like it, they don't have to follow me.
Plz upvote my post I am follow you lets support each other go to my blog I hope you like!
Hahaha well, actually I also get a lot of unfollows and I think it is people who follow you, tells you about it and if you don´t follow back they unfollow you. I think is pretty much what you are also talking about.
Exactly! Why the hell would you want a follower that is never going to engage with your content?
I would happily trade 50% of my followers for 50 people commenting and upvoting my content every day but hey, we can´t have an stemmtopia right? haha
True, let's just accept it as it is. :)
And BAM! Followed!
Oh no, I already follow you... Oh well...
This is the real key, I hate the follow for follow thing, is the most useless way to get followers. Real followers are made by engagement as you said, this was the first post that explained that the best way, great content.
We should stop every one using that follow for follow bullcrap man. I always warn people who tell me that "Stop it or feel the flag wrath" they usually stop, I have only flagged once in my life. But hey, they learn the lesson and some even reach for advice which i glady give and might end up following them afterwards haha
I also comment a lot, and I am new here. You know that you followed him, and maybe he also checked who followed him, because it is easy to see when you only have 8 followers. You can check the names. But when you get old here, and you have few hundred followers, you won't check which 5 or 10 new people joined your followers brigade, so you won't know the main reason behind your followers following you.
But as you have written this article from the perspective of a follower, and you tell why you followed a noob, this makes a lot of sense. So thanks for sharing.
Yes! Well, I even asked for permission to write about him, I don´t want a steemsuit hahaha but yeah I get your point.
Sumed up, when I follow someone I tell them, not expecting for a follow back but because I want to give feedback to the user, so he/she knows why I followed and why I like the content and he can continue to do it in the future.
For real, almost every follow I do has a comment "I followed because of this exact reason".
ok, maybe I should also do the same thing, good point - letting them know why you follow them.
Ok, let me start from you. :)
I didn't tell you that I started to follow you few hours back when I read this article. keep posting, good luck.
Yes yes! That way people can keep doing what they are doing. Followed back mah bruh.
cheers bruh! :)
This is exactly what I'm doing whenever I leave a comment on someone's article. There is nothing more sincere when you take time to really read what the article is about especially if you're interested with the subject he/she wrote instead of skimming. Whenever I see comments that looks genuine and coming from the heart, I do my best to reply to those comments and if I find their blog interesting, I would follow them.
Ohh yes!! I am so glad you said this, I am not the only loser who thinks like that! :D Hey, this post is really making me follow a ton of people! Bam! Also followed!
We are both nomads, great minds think alike. :D
Haha! I'm following you too. And I'm sure more people will follow you because you wrote this awesome article. :D
Cheers fellow nomad! :D
Hey, I am followin back, not because you followed but because you just complimented my great mind! Hahahahaha read you around fellow nomad :)
Big ballin'! I love intelligent nomads, I think they can be anywhere around the world and survive for being themselves. You and I have something in common. And since you are on Steemit, we have a bright future ahead of us. :-D
I couldn't have said it better myself!
Steemit is a COMMUNITY, not a get-rich-quick scheme. The whales who are on here making all of the Steem are not doing it because they figured out some crazy trick to get so many people voting and following them. It's because they've been on the platform for a long time and they've been interacting with other people!
Thanks for the post, and solid advice :)
Exactly my friend! The moment we dismiss the idiotic idea of getting rich here we will enjoy this experience as a whole. Those tricks neeever work, they might get you followers but they won´t get you engagers, I can promise that.
Thank you for taking the time to reading and commenting my friend, voted this comment for that.
Awesome article! Like the other comments have said and the article, its community building. If you want to get recognized you need to write content, and good content. I've been working at this for a few months now and my focus on content I like and then writing about that content. Also, commenting helps not only with earning for those focused on that. It's a key in helping you build a base of followers. There are a lot of people that I follow based on a really good thoughtful comment.
Thanks again for this post! I'm now following!
This is exactly how I build followers. I often say 1000 followers is only as good as 1 if only 1 reads your content. So I figure the only good way to get followers that read my content is to read and reply to their content.
Admittedly I haven't yet read your other posts, but this post gives me a reason to check it out.
Thank you for the excellent advice.
Yes! My dad used to say a phrase very similar regarding clients and you are absolutely right!
I would trade 70% of my followers for just 70 people who engaged, voted and commented on my stuff....
Thanks for taking the time to read and commenting my friend, definitely earned a follow mate, read you around!
Everyone is looking for the magic formula to "make it" on Steemit.
More than that, though, I'm looking for a way to make it...preferably while helping others to make it.
I tend to gravitate off the beaten path "looking for the poor quarters where the ragged people go" to wax Simon and Garfunkel.
I came across your post in my new quest to do just what you're talking about. Engage.
A hundred times yes! Oh that phrase is magestic, thanks for sharing it.
There is no magical formula, while this works for me maybe a person in Malaysia is making tons of money by doing exactly the opposite! But hey, crazy world.
Your formula sounds appealing :) If I had more time for sure I would emulate part of it...
It should not be just thinking about money ...can be just like instagram just for the fun of it ...🤙🏼
Oh and you know half of it my friend, there is a platform like youtube and one like instagram projects around the corner, basically steem based social media exactly like YT and IG :D
This post received a 3.3% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @anomadsoul! For more information, click here!
lol steemits hustle. life is not about rush its gradually
True - the community is just better here! People think it's weird, but it's fun once you're involved.
Awesome. I've been trying to engage with people but I guess I was engaging with the wrong ones.
BAM!! Followed! ;)
blush - my third day on this website, just trying to see how things are working on this platform and now I already serve as a model for a "how to get followers on steem", funny! :D
a few bullet points:
Very nice post ;) I also mainly follow people who write good comments on my posts or who share content that was resteemed by one of the people I am following. But I have started muting people who are really offensively asking me to follow them in the comments without any conection to my post or anything. Resteemed :)
I mean, yes of course we like money and rewards, but that is not the point! You could easily make more money doing something else, if we choose to be here is for the community right? This was a pleasant surprise! So glad to see you around :) I hope I am not muted! hahahahaha kidding.
Thanks for the resteem!! Oh yeah, the horrible part is when they send you 0.00000001 SBD asking for a follow XD
You forgot to mention a catchy title. In most examples of blogs of this type. You get a click bait title/image and very little useful information.
Your post on the other hand hits the key point. You must engage fully to get full engagement.
That is why it is important to me, to only follow people that I know or those that I find on steemit who produce interesting work.
I don't care if they are a whale or a minnow. Interesting content is what I am searching for, as are you too no doubt.
The occasional flaky/funny post is always welcome too. We are human after all...well most of us? lol
It's pretty sad to see all those begging comments, 'follow me here follow me there'. If you check out there work it is usually just copied and pasted from somewhere on the web. Pathetic really.
The other thing that is a red flag to me and probably you too, is when I see someone who has followed 1,000's+ of people and has a fraction of followers?
Why do they do this is a mystery...well not really. lol
Good post well executed. I'll give it a resteem to deter spammers from dumping their crap comments on my blog as you saved me having to write it. Thanks.
I'll give it an upvote when I get a bit of juice worthy of this.
Crap mate, can i steal this to make another post! Hehehehehe you are full of correct and true engagement my friend, I just followed you because of that! I will definitely be around on your posts my friend.
And yeah, I tend to put catchy titles also, I declare myself guilty of that hehehe
Of course! I have even seen people following 17,000 people. If I am following them i unfollow in that second.
Thanks for the resteeem mate!
My pleasure @anomadsoul There is nothing wrong with catchy titles as long as it has something worthwhile behind it. Click bait just ruins reputations and on steemit that really matters.
I totally agree. Imagine that! someone who shares a similar interest might be interested in seeing what you do too if you first show interest lol. I think conversation and real feedback is what everyone craves on steemit
While making money is nice, it's the content and interaction that I enjoy here. The personalization and effort that so many in this community give so freely.
You sure are right about Sunday posts. I posted an article and it slide right through with hardly a notice. I'm a newbie and will definitely pay closer attention to viewing trends. Lesson learned, haha.
Yessss, we could be doing more money somewhere else... we are not gonna get rich by blogging, if we are here is for the nice community bonding my mate. Damn, this post with so many good replies is making me follow a ton of people! Bam! Followed!
I love getting replies, it makes me feel so good and thanks for the follow. I'm working on some new stuff right now.
A friend of mine said once "Todo en la vida es interés." Everything in life happens due to interest.
That's the key. If we SHOW interest, we might get it in RETURN. Give and take.
Engagement is the key, I couldn't agree more.
And yes, it's statistically proven that steemians vote (engage :-)) less on Sundays here. That's reasonable: Sunday is family time to most of the people.
Now it's Tuesday and I still react on your post, so I just skipped that "Sunday problem" hehe
Have a great day, Eric!
"Nada en la vida es gratis" So yeah... it goes hand on hand with that saying you wrote...
Yes yes and you out of everyone else should know, engagement is what has brought you so far on steemit and I´ve learned so much from you.
Oh damn, family sundays makes sense but still, some of us are not married with children nor close to family so we gotta still post right? Hahaha
Yesss!! We found a way to beat the system! :D
Have a greater day, surfer!