[Steemit-Help] Are your earnings really free?
Many new users come to Steemit because they heard ‘You can earn money with blogging, it’s totally free!!’. But is it? Is it really free money? Receiving your first payment is always super excited because you earned money. But I can tell you that it isn’t free money at all. There are several causes that make it so and in this post I will explain those reasons.
First off. Time!
Yes, the phrase ‘Time is Money’ is paramount here. You have to invest a lot of time into blogging and posting stuff here on Steemit. Time that you could have spend working on other things and on a full time job. A well crafted post can take up to 30 minutes or more. Taking the minimum wage you can make $5 or so in that half hour of working. So you have to atleast earn that when you’re beginning. Then the promoting starts and when I started it took several hours and I didn't get above the $15 for sure. So it actually costed me money.
So we covered posting and promoting, then comes the networking with other people to build your followers that will up vote your posts. This will take a lot of time too. So.. basically you make a ‘loss’ when you first begin. Only when you’ve grown and got a lot of followers that can up vote your posts you will earn it back. That might take months!
The silent killer: Electricity costs
Yup. You are using electricity as we speak. You are sitting behind your computer or laptop and you need to power it. That electricity gets your bill up. You don’t think about these kind of stuff but it does cost you money.
Making a profit
So to make a profit you need to consider several points. To get an income that is sustainable you have to follow these pointers.
- Knowledge. Everything you know is valuable. If you have an amazing hobby like photography, you can share you photo’s with everyone. Share it!
- People. Networking is important. Without loyal people and friends you will not get upvotes.
- Power. Steem Power is important, it gives you influence. Also, when you got high Steem Power you will get a lot of minnows liking your posts because they want a chance to get an upvote back.
- Maintain. Maintain all the relationships you make while networking. You will grow together.
- Persistence. This is the most important part. Keep going! Stay active and you will do great!
All these points come down to 1 thing again. Time. So it’s not free money, it costs you time and you’ll have to work hard for it to become great. Once you’re a dolphin you can reap the rewards!
You have some very valid points @rkrijgsman. Good work.
When comparing the options for 'making money' it is important to take into account all the factors, which include:
Plus it is also important to take into consideration that many people are running their computer anyway and that they may be putting a lot of time into social networks that don't pay them anything already.
Since I had been putting a lot of time for FREE into social networking before using Steemit, from my perspective, my investment is minimal and my income is decent.. So in a way, I am getting my 'backpay' for all my previous unpaid hours on social networks and in the future I might get paid more - so it's a fair balance in my case.
Interesting point. It is true that this is a platform that pays and Facebook, twitter and so on don't. If you spend quite a lot of time on those and less on here it can be seen like a backpay in a way ;).
The factors you mentioned are also pretty good and my opinion is that when you enjoy something it isn't seen as work. As for me on Steemit. But practically speaking it's still time that I could invest in designing (that I also love) and get more out of. So in a way it still not 'free' ;)
Yes, I could be doing other things that pay me more 'money', but Steemit is less stressful and is more in alignment with what I need to be doing in a social context. 'money' in itself is an opposite to 'free' - "will it cost money or is it free?" - so i don't really think it's possible to involve money and be completely free!
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This is the way to look at it. I was using Twitter too much, blogging on my own sites for years and doing Youtube occasionally. The latter was really the only thing that paid back anything.
These days instead of sitting in front of the TV or playing games I'm building my blog here and developing a community with SteemitBC. Additionally, working on Steemit keeps me involved with blockchain and crypto and moves me closer into that world where I would like be.
Lastly, even though many of us have only been on Steemit a few months, we are still early adopters. There are only 300,000 accounts with only about 30-40,000 used regularly. Establishing yourself and your community will pay back many times over when the next wave of users rolls in, probably by the end of the year.
I agree with u 100%, for a newcomer it may not be really easy to come up with a content that will garner attention immediate. It takes time, persistence and even creative ideas. It also takes up energy especially if you are doing research. GREAT ARTICLE!!! THUMBS UP!!! IT DEFINITELY HELPED ME
Good news and interesting it is needed by the public like the news that you have posted, thank you for posting him hopefully things you have done is useful for many people especially for the creator of posting, I and other friends, hopefully we. Can be glorious here thank you may be happy with my comments
I agree with what you're saying for the most part and I've also thought a lot about this, but at the end of the day you are making money for doing something you want to do, whereas a job is not necessarily that.
I see this as an investment for people who put in the time and effort, they will be rewarded much more than those who see it as a quick way to make $5. The system isn't perfect but it's a good way to weed out the people who aren't in it for the long haul
Of course, it's an investment of time and effort. I agree. But an investment does cost you thus it's not free ;)
I think the system works fine this way though, because the 'weak' ones will quit and the great ones will stay. It's just about your vision for the future!
On the same notion, everything you do that is worthwhile in your life can be viewed as an investment, whether you're investing with your time or money.
With steemit your earnings don't come from a boss or big company, they come as a direct result from what you the user do
Hear hear!
I agree with many of the points made... but like @ura-soul said its also about a lot more than the money. Here on Steemit I get a real community feeling - there are good people here with creative ideas, people that add value to my life... I say do what you are passionate about and the money will flow.
100 percent agreeing, good post!
Fully agree. At least for me, I am not even break even if I compare the money I make here to time I spent. But as you said I will be persistent and continue to work on it. Hopefully over time, if gives some compounded return. :)
It does. My posts are making a $6 average, so I'm still not getting the rewards I desire but that's no problem at all. I'm in it for the long run and start to invest more into Steem Power to grow. In a few month's I probably break even on each post which is fine!
Just take your time and you'll get there eventually!
Thanks, believe you will be doing great with what you are doing. I will look up to you. :)
Hopefully your forecast comes true, mate.
"The satisfaction of using social networks while earning some coins."
@pocketrocket
Why Instagram and FB, I use electricity and time there with nothing in return? What can be better than Steemit? :)