Contest time again!

This time, it's not mine; instead I'm a participant. @anttn asked a few questions in a post, concerning choices we make on our Steem journeys, so I thought I'd share my bits. You can read the original contest post here.

The Questions Are as Follows:

Posting or engaging?
Videos or writing?
Commenting or answering?
Voting or delegating?
Writing or reading?

Leading to the broader overall question:

What were the different phases you went through that you want to share?

Well, thanks for the contest @anttn! Here are my rambles, based on a bit more than a year here.

Letting the Hooman know it's MY turn to use the computer!

It's All About Finding BALANCE!

In the beginning...

I'm probably blessed to have started before the whole "Resource Credit Issue," keep in mind that I can't speak to what's like to be a freshly minted "Plankton" right now.

Initial visibility can really only be had by being hyperactive. Which means putting some worthy posts out there, and then commenting on other people's content, preferably in niches "relevant" to your own... IF you have a niche.

In my first 30 days, I probably put 300+ posts out there, if you count both top level posts and comments... and I used my 10 minuscule daily "dust votes" religiously on content I felt was "good."

And it was seriously DUST! I "purchased" this account from @anonsteem and I started with 3.00SP and built this up from scratch! Today it would be impossible to build an account from 3.00SP; you'd need a small delegation.

Skin in the Game

After about six months I decided it was time to actually invest in this thing we're doing here. So — after we sold some "attic stuff" on eBay — I bought and put in 50 "purchased" Steem, to supplement my (at the time) about 170 "earned" SP.

At that point I had also found more or less a routine:

• Post 3-4 times a week
• Find interesting content and comment/upvote on it.
• If it's good enough to upvote, it's good enough to comment on (90% of the time)
• Always reply to people who took the time to comment on my posts.

Napping under the Hooman's work lamp...

Drawings, Giveaways and Contests

In the beginning, I was helped a lot by the (sadly!) now defunct #newbiecontests and @newbieresteemday initiatives. From there, I learned the value of using drawings, contests and giveaways... even when you can barely afford it... as a way to build engagement and a following.

To date, my most "successful" post — by far — has been my fairly recent Steem Anniversary post, for which I ended up giving away 15 SBI units as prizes and getting over 100 comments!

As you can see from this post, I still participate in contests, as well.

Engagement is Key!

I can't overemphasize how important engagement is, if you want to get anywhere on what is basically a social site.

Soon after starting here, I found @abh12345's Curation and Engagement Leagues, and I have found that to make a huge difference in keeping my motivation levels up.

If you're not familiar with the Leagues, DO check out the link above, and get yourself enrolled!

The Leagues "work" because you get to connect with others who are also motivated by the social and engagement aspects of the Steem ecosystem.

What are you doing with that camera in my face!?! What are you? The paparazzi?

The Final Questions:

Posting or engaging? Both!
Videos or writing? Definitely writing. for me. And I'm unlikely to watch a video longer than two minutes.
Commenting or answering? Both are essential, but if I don't have time to curate/comment, answering first.
Voting or delegating? Voting, for sure! I would only delegate to a 100% manual curation trail.
Writing or reading? My focus tends to be writing, but I do both.

The "Phase" I'm in right now is the final drive towards reaching "Minnow" status here — meaning 500SP of my own. It's significant because it's a generally recognized "milestone" in the community, but also because it means I've reached a point where my small upvotes are gradually beginning to have an actual impact when I find promising newcomers to Steem.

But I am actually looking beyond that; to reaching 1,000SP which I consider a level at which a 100% upvote is certain to be above the infamous "dust threshold," and also a level at which I would feel comfortable starting to give delegations to active newcomers who are struggling with managing their Resource Credit limits.

And that's about it!

Thanks again to @anttn for hosting the contest!

=^..^=

20190416 0213
100% Powered up!
88.64% of the way to 500SP goal!
Target date: June 30th, 2019