How My Very First SteemIt Move Was So Wrong & Will Affect My Entire SteemIt Career
Making rookie mistakes is normal, and most aren't a big deal. Except for the one I made... :-(
What Was I Thinking?
I signed up for SteemIt back in April, but it wasn't until September that I first started using it.
SteemIt takes a while to get the hang of - I'm still struggling to understand how the system works - and it wasn't until last month that I started to realize how much impact my very first SteemIt action could have.
As you've probably noticed, I originally signed up with the username 'mike314-0005', not realizing this would become the name I would get on my actual SteemIt profile. Since usernames are stored in the blockchain, they can't be changed. That means I'm stuck with it.
Sometimes I have trouble remembering it myself, so how can I expect others to remember? On top of that, it's so easy to misspell - you just have to mix up 2 of the numbers and the damage is done.
Just to give you an example: I just managed to sign up for SteemThat with the username 'mike314-005'. I wanted to use my SteemIt username so it would get some extra exposure, but I simply mistyped it: I forgot to add a 0. I ended up creating a new account. No harm was done, but in other situations, that could be a costly mistake.
I have been in internet marketing for years, you'd expect I'd know better, right?
Now What?
Getting followers, fans or people who look out for your posts is so much easier when you have a catchy name that is related to the topic(s) you write about.
A niche-related username that's easy to remember, that's what you nééd to get noticed on social media.
My only chance is that people recognize and remember me as 'the person with the long and stupid username with all the numbers in it'.
But hey, a chance is a chance and if you don't take it, you lose. I just have to work hard and make everyone remember ;-)
If you like this post, feel free to follow @mike314-0005, upvote or re-steem it :-)
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Transfer all your SBD dollars and Steem to a new account, Power down and send your SP to the new account in 13 installments or delegate all voting power to the new account. Also create a post asking all your followers to follow your new account.
That's a good suggestion, but the problem is that it's extremely unlikely that all of his followers would pick up on that post, meaning he will most likely lose some of them. Also his reputation will be lost (but this is not really a big deal for most people).
@valth & @robin1991:
I indeed worked hard for that reputation. After making a few more rookie mistakes it was down to 11. I'm happy I made it to 48 already. Any idea how much impact it could have being reset to 25?
I see the point about losing the followers. Now I'm considering: I don't know if losing some of my followers now would weigh up against missing out on followers because of the username... at least in the long run
What do you guys think?
I'm just thinking out loud now: maybe I could create a couple more posts on this account, mentioning the change of name, hoping I will be able to reach the bigger part of my followers.
Maybe I can call out to them and help me choose my new username or something like that
Branding wise, the name looks weird, so I would consider migrating. With the SP you built up, you could upvote your new account so the reputation goes up a few levels. After it has an acceptable reputation, migrate all the SP to the new account. Good luck, whatever plan you choose
Thanks. I will do some more research on the steps I need to take
I honestly don't know how many people care about reputation levels. It does not really have a function as long as you stay above 30, and it's fast to build it up from 25 to 30+. I wish I had a good answer as to what you should do, but it's up to you. I guess it mostly depends on how much you want to use your account name for branding.
It's indeed a good tip, I will definitely consider it. I have to take a look at the pros and cons first
Too bad, I thought about it well before signing up. I used this name as alias for my writing career. But when I signed up on the Dutch site where I found your account, I did not have this alias yet. And I don't want to change it there, due to all the followers I have there now. So I understand why you don't want to create a new account overnight.
It’s a bit of a dilemma. I’m trying to figure out some sort of campaign in which I use a couple of posts to notify my my followers about the name change before I take the step. Also, due to a rookie mistake, my reputation score went all the way down to 11. I worked my ass off to get it to 49. A new account means I got to start at 25 again. I will probably lose followers, but in the long run I’m going to get more if I have a catchy username. Still considering all the pro’s and cons...
You got a 14.71% upvote from @minnowvotes thanks to @mike314-0005!
You got a 8.28% upvote from @mercurybot courtesy of @mike314-0005!
Hey, @mike314-0005 (if that ended up being spelled correctly). I was actually thinking about this when I was typing in your username in my reply earlier today. It's too bad that you can't ever change it, but thanks for warning other people ;)
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I really regret making the same mistake in the past. It was much easier to earn before than it is now.