I'm getting a lot of message from people lately about why some posts are doing extremely well while others aren't. Hopefully this video will save me a bit of typing. As always, there's an element of luck involved, but for the most part things are running exactly as they were designed to. It's a marketplace, governed by the laws of supply and demand, and once you understand the factors at play, it's really not that mysterious after all.
Quick Answer: Why certain posts earn so much more than others
I'm getting a lot of message from people lately about why some posts are doing extremely well while others aren't. Hopefully this video will save me a bit of typing. As always, there's an element of luck involved, but for the most part things are running exactly as they were designed to. It's a marketplace, governed by the laws of supply and demand, and once you understand the factors at play, it's really not that mysterious after all.
Thank you for your video. It should help new users realize that value is subjective and that steemit is not rigged in any way. If you continue to make quality content then you will eventually be rewarded. Also love the silicon valley username!
Really hope so as I don't see much earnings despite alot of efforts spent trying to get more readers and voters.
Thanks, man! Nice to be humming on the same wavelength.
Making great videos are all about content quality and not about length. You've done a great job packing a lot of info into a short video, which is what most people prefer. With the decreasing length of the average users attention span, users probably won't ever finish videos longer than ten minutes or so. And I'm glad you've responded to the frequent posts complaining about whales and how they aren't making money. Keep up the good work!
Yeah, it took a lot of trial and error to settle on a format that works. We want to get a general understanding of something as quickly as possible so I hope I'm able to provide at least that much. There are a lot of expert programmers around here that are way smarter than me when it comes to the software so I'm happy to direct people to them when lots of detail and advanced explanations are called for. The developers here wrote a fantastic whitepaper though so that simplifies the quest for greater understanding a lot.
Yeah they did write a great white paper, but you know as well as I that probably 90% of people will never read it and look instead to informative posts like yours. You also are adding value by explaining things along with links to other users who can explain the more technical end instead of copy and pasting content. I can't upvote content that only has someone else's work with no other unique content. Hopefully more people comfortable with vlogging will adopt your approach. You and @craig-grant are my two most favorite vlogs at the moment. Always come away with a few nuggets of information.
My style is not really well-suited to this medium (or any other) as I tend to go for an attempt to comprehensively examine something. Academic family, gotta love it. The practical upshot is that you're not going to find much general understanding in my posts - although some do, and do so superbly. You're going to find something that bears a suspicious relationship to how we were taught in maths and computer science to test an idea or a solution - coverage of the general working case, the corner cases and the out-of-bounds case.
Well, autism probably has something to do with it. That and a deep abiding hatred of being taught something that not only proved to be bogus but was known by the one teaching to be bogus. Something I got from teachers, parents, friends, a couple of therapists, bosses, the media... You get the idea. I'm tired of being told things that just ain't so.
I don't assume others think that way, although I won't deny it would be nice if people were more accepting of those who do. All three of us. However, sometimes you have to speak the other person's language. If you think that would help, I'll give it a go. It would be nice if I could speak my language (autism) sometimes, but the tag system doesn't seem powerful enough to ensure people only see such posts if they want to.
The steemit system is fine as it is, but it needs to be tweaked. When someone ends up with 50 upvote and 1.50$ the system needs to attribute some kind of value to this post due to the interaction it causes in my opinion!
that indeed is odd
Great vid man, I'm new to steemit but great advice!
I keep telling myself this... as my awesome content never gets more than 20 votes
Yep. I agree.
The best strategy for large SP holders is to upvote anything that can increase the pie. We'll see a lot more of this in the future.
I think that if you have good content that is interesting to people. However what is interesting to people is going to be a little unknown until you try different things. However having a good looking post that is well formatted, easy to follow, and contain good information is helpful. Good information though.
Here is a post I put together called Steemit Best Practices that may help some people get noticed more.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@groovy/steemit-best-practices-a-guide-to-writing-good-posts-that-benefit-steemit-s-content
Yes, it's a great big laboratory with thousands of scientists experimenting with different ideas and methods. It's also the free market so the more effective solutions will prevail while the rest are forgotten. It's how evolution works and we've got it kicked into overdrive here.
Steemit isn't rigged. People need to deal with the platform.
On another note.
Steemit needs:
-Groups
-Chat feature
-Private messaging
-Marketplace
Agreed. All of these features will come in time.
For a newcomer like me this video really helps to explain how the whole system works. It makes an awful lot of sense and gives me food for thought on the kind of content the community is looking for. It might be worth linking something like this into a welcome message for new members to help them get started off on the right foot.
There is some introductory info on steem.io but I'm sure the greeting experienced will be developed and refined in time. The platform is still brand new, after all. :)
Great video especially new people like me who are trying to figure it all out. But I would really appreciate if someone could explain exactly how vote earnings are calculated and where all the money comes from. Right now it just feels like magic internet money created out of nowhere.
To call it magic internet money created out of nowhere is pretty darn close to the truth, actually... but so are all other currencies. For instance, the US Federal Reserve prints America's currency out of thin air and loans it into existence. Likewise, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and steem are created out of nothing and distributed acording to their own unique protocols. For instance, bitcoin is awarded to "miners" that compete in an ongoing math contest. Steemit, on the other hand, awards the newly-created currency to posters that are upvoted by stakeholders of Steemit.
Indeed, it is magic internet money created out of nowhere, but, in a sense, so is all money. Even gold isn't worth anything (i.e., isn't money) until someone's willing to work for it, at which point it is money. So the "moneyness" of gold magically came out of nowhere (or more accurately, the gold was imbued with moneyness when the worker accepted it as payment).
Exactly. All value is subjective, not just here on Steemit ;)
Excellent video. So correct that it is a combo of many things: luck, supply & demand, and being the first in your niche. If people have fun and just post what they love then it will it be just that, fun!
yup. And you have to be clear about your intentions and expectations right from the beginning too. Are you doing it for the enjoyment of it? For the opportunity to express yourself? or for the money? Be honest about your motives and you will be much more able to succeed at attaining your goal.
Thanks for this, I've been trying really hard at posting new movie trailers daily with write ups on each trailer. with 3-4 likes each time. When i spend hours on it, its quite degrading. Anyway i just keep swimming.
I think the challenge you face is that posts about movie trailers look like spam. I am not saying that they are spam, but when whales are scrolling through we have to use very simple rules of thumb.
If it looks like something that could be scraped from a RSS feed somewhere then it will not get attention.
@dan I posted one of my little treasures, a picture I took of Miles Davis in 1984!. I wrote a story and today I can't see the photo anymore . I clicked on picture info and it leaded me to a site called godaddy . Called the company and was informed it's @ned scott the owner . I am confused ! How can I copyright such photos . I am really proud of this and want to keep rights in my hands and see it again in my post ! Please reply ! Thanks much
ah okay thanks for this. i just write about what interests me the most. Ill try change it up a bit, find a way to make it not look like spam.
Ask yourself, why does it look like spam? Try putting the title: "Critique of Ghost Busters 3" or "Review of Ghost Busters 3", for example.
wow thanks a lot, This is very helpful
That is so comforting to hear. Thanks!
When something isn't working, you've just gotta listen to the market signals and adjust your approach. Keep adjusting until the market tell you that you're on the right track. Then keep refining your system and developing your reputation. With a little time and perseverance, you'll find your unique grove and do just fine.
Thank you so much! I've been here all of 3 days and I can't help how much I love about it. I keep learning so many new tricks from folks like yourself on how to optimize the usability of this site, and I have a distinct feeling it's going to change my life!
Welcome to the madness then :)
Great ideas man thank you for sharing the love.. I'm trying to join the few of y'all making YT videos about Steemit..
I did a quick video about moving past the make up posts and taking Steemit to the next level.. check it out and please let me know what you think :D
https://steemit.com/new/@stealthtrader/steemit-vlog-2
Good move, @stealthtrader. Not everyone likes or is good at producing content so it's great to remind everyone that curation is an equally valuable avenue to pursue. Best of luck with the vlogging.
I attempted a funny post to help newbies not be intimidated by whales and mentioned you in it @piedpiper along with the link to your most recent blog :)
https://steemit.com/money/@stealthtrader/when-your-not-a-whale
Let me know what ya think brotha :D
lol good stuff. Thanks
Man thank you!
That was fast and I really appreciate you taking the time to do that :D
thank you Piedpiper!
Looks like future millionaires to me
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@cryptofunk/36hpqm-allow-me-to-introduce-steemit-cat
Great post! Addressing the questions that many people were asking :)
Good to have you back, man!
I think it's fair to say that right now a single up vote by a whale will cause a trend from others getting posts with very high revenue. However as more and more are using the system, every vote will begin to count more and more. Early adopters have a large influence above all right now.... While that will probably not decrease anytime soon. Perseverance by the minnows.... Even in an attempt to simply gain the attention of whales... Will eventually grow every individuals influence on content.
Yup. I've also been seeing some people get large payouts only to cash out and spend it all... investing in steem power is the way to grow your voting weight but that requires some self-discipline.
I literally just asked this on the slack I think a lot of its luck but a lot of it is people seem to be upvoting content like gifs that can be made so quickly. IMO right now so many people arent bothering putting in time because they make a gif post and it gets 50$ Im guilty of it too but I at least try to do one good post a day. Like today I do an hour writup on my heart surgery https://steemit.com/life/@calaber24p/8-months-later-my-experience-of-having-open-heart-surgery-at-the-age-of-22 it only gets 8 cents but I make a stupid meme post that took me 10 seconds and I get 50 cents.
It would probably be worth doing some research on well established publishing platforms to see what more successful contributors there do. Learn from the best, I always say. Model your approach on someone that is getting the results you want and then just keep making little adjustments until you find your groove.
Me
Make friends with the big whales and have them upvote your Post with their huge steem power!
Yup, once people notice that someone is consistently providing content they like, they watch for more of it. Reputation is very important here.
That's exactly the problem
No problem at all. It's just like anywhere else. You subscribe to channels you like on YouTube, you follow people you like on Twitter, you friend people you like on Facebook. This is just another platform where good reputations are appreciated, just as they are in real life.
On point , no rigged Election like in Politics !
I've been doing posts with quality and to promote the steemit platform. For example this last post below and although it's my best paid post so far, I see post that have no value in content reaching even higher amounts... but that's the game we have now...
https://steemit.com/steemit/@brunopro/famous-quotes-revisited-number-one-william-steemitspeare-promotional-for-social-media
I think it's more luck and having whales as friends... but we're all in the beginning of this adventure right? :)
yeah, gotta keep in mind that value is subjective. It doesn't matter if we agree with the voters or not. We just speak for ourselves and accept that others value things differently than us. I don't like most top40 pop music but I never say that it's without value because millions of other people out there disagree with me and are voting with their dollars.
There's about 60,000 comments on this post already, so forgive me if this has already been pointed out.
Note that it's not just whale investors who can get a lot of steem power and have powerful votes; the platform is intended to increase the voting power of good voters (the curation rewards). If you curate quality content, the platform pays you steem power which increases your voting strength.
So if you want to have a greater say in what content gets promoted, and you don't have a lot of money sitting around to buy steem with, then either post quality content or keep an eye on the new posts and upvote the good ones. Over time your steem power will increase, and you'll have more ability to promote the content you think is important.
Indeed. This makes it so that even people that don't have the knack for content production can still participate and earn by curation. There are no excuses for failing to develop yourself here. There is no barrier to entry and anyone can build up steem power if they just work at it consistently.
Great video, but I have a super super important question.
Are you wearing a Star Trek shirt??
lol not quite... but now I kinda wish I were!
Thank you for this post. I was really trying to figure this out. Why someone's meme about a movie or tv show with a couple votes was worth more than someone's story that had many votes.
Please take a look at my first post. Maybe you could give me an up vote :)
We need a follow button not a flute mr piedpiper ask Dan :-)
haha yes. There is a follow button but it's not very functional yet. They're working on it. :)
I've noticed this...especially with individual development for following already happening.
You are so right to bring new users into the system they have to make things easy to use. I have a bit of an idea of what it would need to do. To that effect I think that a new set of tools needs to be born. https://steemit.com/steemit/@iamwne/steem-killer-app
I wrote an article here with a hopefully detailed but still easy explanation why early voting for minnows does bring more money and upvoting topular posts brings nothing.
Happy about any critic ofc.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@engineercampus/handing-out-likes-on-facebook-and-co-isn-t-the-same-anymore-since-steemit
Because 200 users control 90% of the steem: https://steemit.com/voting/@jcweiss/what-is-the-gini-coefficient-of-steemit
yep, and thank Baby Jeebus they do.
Explain why you think that.
"1% of the people own 90% of the money." Does this sound like you've heard it somewhere before? Knock knock, its your fucked up country and that doesn't seem to have been working out too well now has it?
I don't have a country. No idea what you're talking about.
interessting, thanks mate
you're most certainly welcome
just simple and understanding. Good luck.
Thanks. You too.
Simple and straight to the point! Thanks for sharing :)
I put together a post where I have written about the future of Steem if it reaches full potential. It will be so kind of you to check it out and leave feedback. Thanks! :)
https://steemit.com/steemit/@sauravrungta/in-a-dark-world-steemit-proves-to-be-a-ray-of-sunshine-originalcontent-a-steemit-original
I'm going do that. And evolve. Thanks
moar videos dude 8]
sure thing
https://steemit.com/steemit/@nippel66/a-way-to-earn-big-if-you-have-alot-of-steem-dollar-aviveble-read-this-hope-you-vote-as-a-tanks-for-the-hands-upp
Thanks for video .ur video gave me confidents . i am not losing hope one day my post get success thanks once again #longlivesteemit
I am new to this and i still trying to figuring out how it works...so no complains till now :-P
Why would anyone contact another person that makes money to complain about it ??? LOL. I make little money also, but I never contacted anyone to explain why he makes so much money.
It's weird, right? I just can't relate to that mentality. Shouldn't we be happy for others when they do well?
Yes, exactly. And if you aren't happy with your own results, then find a way to improve. And if you don't manage to improve after trying, then find yourself a different hobby.
I am ! This platform is mad crazy and fun 🙀 Whatever Happens .
I've noticed a lot of the top-earning posts get the most flags, as well.
Steemit may incentive people to be nice to each other, but jealousy has been with humanity from the beginning. And it is not easily slain.
Well said !
Amen to that!
for him this bring new money, improve rating he share his ideas, his opinion, but we decide to believe or not
Realy?
If someone is friends with a capacity - a few million. He just calls and says, I have made it a new post, you apvote it? He answers: okay bro! No problems. And it's done!
Who does not have such friends - get NOTHING. As in life.
That's what we have now!
This list is not enough tabs "Random Article"
Why random? Because I see a lot of good posts, which are gaining 0-1 dollar simply because they had not noticed!
And if there was a place where random posts show up. They could collect more awards. That's all.
To hell. Because it is still no one can hear me.
Similar to SP, SMD tokens cannot be purchased directly on an external exchange. SMD are primarily earned through contributing but can be purchased by converting STEEM tokens to SMD tokens.
Actually Steem Dollars can now purchased on external exchanges !
https://poloniex.com/exchange#btc_sbd
https://bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=BTC-SBD
PS Abbreviation of SBD = Steem Backed Dollars
or just SD = Steem Dollars (not SMD please edit)
Just watched your youtube vid. Thanks for keeping it simple. Cheers.
My pleasure.
Ok, this clarify a lot! Thank you!
You're most certainly welcome.
Good points man.
thanks.
Awesome compact and concise.
Thank you .
my pleasure
You are absolutely right. There's some brilliant stuff that's bound to get overlooked, but that's inevitable. But one thing's for sure, in the long term, everything that is trending will be good stuff. It's an amazing system that really rewards merit.
Yup. People just do what they're incentivized to do.
We just wrote something that we'd love you to check
https://steemit.com/steemit/@cultura.bitcoin/steemit-decentralization-of-the-paradigm-of-writing
Keep posting vlogs!
Post like these are what I'm always looking for. Short very informative and straight to the point!
'happy to help.
Extremely usefull !!!
Thanks
A lot of people talking about other people talking about the same shit every two seconds. Complains to the left complains to the right. The era of the rights and feelings of the masses is here ! Everywhere ! People complaining for everything ? Better posts get less money ? Check out the prices for an Warhol on your wall ... Is that price fair ? Even compared with a Monet or a Van Gogh ? Get real , and get som respect for your self people, this is fucking lame ! Want money ? What is money ? Do you sell quality or do you sell yourself ? Or you do this just because you hate working ? Or maybe you just lazy dawg ? Or maybe you just want to get rich like almost everyone else ?
The only advice i have for you "guy in the video" , look at the camera when you talk. Confidence is sexy and usually sells good too ;)
Have a nice evening !
lol the art example was spot on. I often use the music analogy too. I don't like most top 40 pop music but hey, apparently a whole lot of other people do. My opinion on the subject isn't that important. Market signals are clear and it's never a good idea to ignore them.
I agree with you you for the most part, but there is an element here that is subjective to the taste of what the people with a high amount of voting power is and what they like.
So in essence, the post needs to be of a good subject matter with good content, and also, a little bit of luck!
Hello @piedpiper, I invite you to support my charity event. This is not spam: https://steemit.com/steemit/@jennamarbles/a-new-stage-in-the-development-of-steem-now-we-can-do-more
Great video and time to get to work and start writing what value has for Steemit ;-)
Right on! Best of luck to you.
Thanks @piedpiper :-) Have a nice day