Almost Four Months In, Here is What I've Done for Steemit!

Having joined the Steemit network in mid-April, I'm fast approaching the four-month milestone. And while this is an opportunity to celebrate my personal achievements, I'd rather focus on what I have brought and profited for the Steem community.

One of the recurring achievements that's cited among Steemit users is the amount of content that they have delivered to the network. I too have brought forward multiple posts, including unique technical analysis contributions levered through years of professional experience.

But what I thought was a distinguishing attribute is my media credentials. I recently celebrated 500 business articles published through InvestorPlace. Because the vast majority of our stories are republished through two or three major news outlets, I have been sourced well over 1,000 times!

Promoting STEEM on the Mainstream

As I was growing, so too did InvestorPlace. Thanks to our growing popularity, we inked a distribution deal with Yahoo News. Now, we were going to have global exposure, particularly if our stories merited great public interest.

One of my biggest accomplishments and contributions for the Steemit network was my InvestorPlace article, "Why Facebook Inc (FB) Should Fear This Social Media Kingslayer." The piece really got people's attention. It may have been one of the first, and perhaps only, InvestorPlace article to cast the widest net possible -- not only was it featured on Yahoo Finance, but also on Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, and Yahoo Canada!

Along with that tremendous boost, the piece prominently displayed on MSN Money and Nasdaq.com. For some time, Google Finance kept the story at the top of the site's "Facebook News" rotation. My greatest honor was that countless people shared my article on non- Steemit related websites and forums. To this day, I'm still finding new citations and sources.

Round two was in the form of a Snapchat article. In my story, "SNAP Inc (SNAP) Stock Had Its Fun. Now It’s Time to Abandon Ship!," I urged investors to be careful about SNAP stock. A key reason is that Snapchat had nothing unique to offer, whereas burgeoning social media networks like Steemit was bound to steal market share due to its innovative reward payout protocol.

Though less-frequently discussed by the Steem community, the Snapchat article received an enormous amount of eyeballs. And with my brief write-up about Steemit, I again featured this community across Yahoo News' vast media empire.

Other Endeavors for Steemit and the Cryptocurrency Markets

Additionally, I have written extensively on the mainstream about the blockchain and cryptocurrency assets. Many people on Steemit are aware of my articles featuring Nvidia, and to a lesser extent because of my personal bearishness, AMD -- both companies produced graphics cards specifically engineered for cryptocurrency mining.

But I've also outright supported the blockchain markets, well before it was cool to do so. Those from the mainstream that took my call on bitcoin enjoyed a three-fold increase in their portfolio. And those that really paid attention got into ethereum. I don't have a calculator on me so I can't punch out the exact profitability figures, but rest assured, it's yuuuge!

On the alternative media side, I heavily promoted Steemit on Crush The Street, which also has its own Steem account via @crushthestreet. When I first began working for Crush The Street, it was a very small organization. But in the past year or two, our footprint has exploded. We are now one of the most trusted names in cryptocurrency news.

On a personal front, the videos that I produced for my Bullish Money YouTube channel featured Steemit for the last two or three months. Irrespective of whatever I was going to discuss, the Steemit logo was "brazenly" promoted. In one respect, it was pro- Steemit and decentralization. At the same time, it was a huge middle finger to the corporate media establishment.

All in all, I would estimate that I have reached 10,000 real investors with either the Steemit opportunity, or the blockchain in general. When was the last time a Steemit minnow did that?

It Will Only Get Better! ... or Worse

As you can imagine, I have extraordinary clout that is simply unavailable to the vast majority of Steemit newcomers, and even hardened veterans. A great many of you have commented that I do "great work." Trust me...you haven't seen shit! The reason that I'm on heavy rotation in the mainstream media is that the proverbial second mile is just a warm-up lap for me.

I am in contact with sources within major news organizations. One of the future stories that was suggested was a full, comprehensive analysis of Steemit, a "year in review," if you will. Of course, anybody could write such a piece, but it wouldn't gain much traction outside of Steemit.

You see, in order to spark normalization of Steem and the blockchain culture, someone with real credibility, someone with a professionally vetted portfolio, must initiate the piece. Without arrogance, that someone is I.

Here's the tricky part: I cannot write a fluff piece or an infomercial. The source originates from a highly respected news media outlet. Fluff pieces would eliminate me from doing future work and would impugn my professional reputation.

I must be fair, and I must be objective. That means, in part, that I cannot simply write from the perspective of someone who is talented in social media content and who leverages mainstream influence. Instead, I must present the opportunity from the average minnow's point of view -- can the everyman or everywoman find financial success on Steemit?

I won't bullshit anyone. Many behaviors that are accepted as normal on Steemit, I find at the very least ethically questionable. And that dramatically impinges the monetary incentive that supposedly Steemit levers against its competitors.

Concluding Thoughts and a Request

I could impart a litany of problems, complaints, and concerns that I have with the Steemit network. But the most meaningful dilemma, in my opinion, is Steemit's (and some Steemians') incredible capriciousness.

Steemit as a going concern largely depends on someone's willingness and ability to invest real capital towards the Steem network. That is, a genuine living can be made blogging on Steemit, but only if you put up serious money and convert it to STEEM Power.

Outside of bringing in tens of thousands of followers from YouTube and other social media platforms, it is extremely difficult to become a whale, or even a dolphin, on the sole basis of great content production. That, I find to be a genuine misrepresentation. My suspicion is only growing because one of the founders of Steemit resigned from his post in March of this year.

Thus, Steemit and STEEM is a speculative, altcoin investment -- the social media stuff is really just a front for a creatively disguised ICO.

Here's the thing -- I WANT to be proven wrong on this. But recent trends only reaffirm my growing concerns with Steemit.

In no other legitimate operation would someone accrue MORE credibility, MORE mainstream influence, and MORE followers, and make LESS money!

Listen, as much as I love doing what I do, I'm not going to write a fucking dissertation about statistical arbitrage amongst leading blockchain assets for chump change that won't get me to the counter of some shithole Taco Bell restaurant.

I understand that some folks are very angry at what I just said. But for those who are angry, or have been angry at me, I request that you target the message, not the messenger.

After all, it is in poor taste to attack someone who has done so much for the Steemit community.