Focusing the creative juices

I am quite diverse in my interest areas and experience and this is reflected when it comes to creating content. For me, I really enjoy exploring thoughts and processes and a great deal of what I write is based directly on my life experiences and conversations held with the people around me, lots of different people. I am a social butterfly of sorts and feel comfortable around all kinds of people and that has opened me up to all kinds of experiences.

However, over the last few years on Steem, I come across those who struggle to find content to write and as a result, likely aren't able to consistently deliver. While I understand not everyone is a writer, everyone I have ever met has been an enthusiastic speaker on the things they enjoy. Ever heard someone talk about something they love?

Perhaps the problem is that people don't love enough.

Maybe because we live in a world of mass consumption of everything and instant gratification no matter the desire, we no longer go deeply into even the things we enjoy. Perhaps it is that our attention span has degraded to that of a juvenile goldfish and no longer have the attention energy to invest into what could develop into loves?

Maybe we are just so entitled we expect love to fall into our lap, like an exotic dancer at a strip joint.

What I have noticed from a few people lately is that those who are interested in the themes and embracing frontends, are upping the quality of their posts as they are writing about what they actually enjoy. This is something I predicted would happen with SMTs as people would be incentivized to contribute into communities that are interested in by people who are interested in what they have to say, whereas Steem was a catchall for all kinds of content.

To get rewarded on Steem consistently (without buying in and self-voting, circlejerking or botting posts) requires appealing to the preferences of the audience and the level of economic support will depend on what stake that interested audience holds. This is why Steem content does so well (if presented well) as it appeals to those who are interested in Steem, who are also the ones who are likely higher staked with Steem.

However, the introduction of the SCOT Tribes has meant that more people have had a chance to invest into themes they enjoy and are willing to reward content along the thematic lines. What people still don't seem to have recognized is that there are hundreds more whales on Steem now than there was two months ago (35 with only 17 or so active), they are just distributing tokens that aren't Steem. Some of them are whales on several frontends and are distributing heavily daily.

As @taskmaster4450 has often said, "the whales are losing their power", but it isn't just through their leakage of Steem stake percentage anymore, as there is now value in tokens that aren't Steem also. And still on Steem.

Understanding how this works yet?

What is happening is that for those who are interested, there are a growing amount of places that they are able to approach with their creativity and experience to participate in and these places are supported by consumers who are more likely interested in the same topics. An artist can create for creativecoin, an investor on LEO, a sports fan on sportstalksocial, a STEM enthusiast on STEMgeeks - and there are staked consumers looking for decent content to eat and reward.

This is precisely where Steem has been heading since the first block back in 2016, however people tend to get caught up in the drama along the way. While everyone has been shouting at Steemit Inc demanding the introduction of SMTs and communities, they don't seem to have spent much time thinking about what those two things combined actually look like, or what they mean for consumers, creators, developers and investors.

Not overly creative thinkers, in my opinion.

You see the problem with that last comment? How are people expecting to get rewarded for their content if they are not actually creative in their thinking about what the market looks like and how the consumers, creators, developers and investors all integrate and play off each other? It sounds a lot like entitlement to me.

As @nonameslefttouse has often enough said, your blog is your business, and this is true whenever you want others to reward what you produce, no matter what kind of content you produce. It is up to you to work out how all of this works and what is the best path forward for your business. It is up to you to invest into your own success.

Many businesses fail.

Just like any startup, many of the Steem business accounts (all accounts looking for reward of some kind) are going to face failure and the less adaptive and less willing to understand how the ecosystem works, the higher the chances of failure. You might not believe you should have to work for your business if you produce content but, it is much like an artist that stores their work in the attic expecting buyers - but of course -

your work is so brilliant it sells itself.

Right.

This is not a place just to drop a post and get paid and, this is 'monetized* by a decentralized community of owners, not a centralized authority like Facebook or Youtube. It is fundamentally different here and while you might think it is someone else's job to sell your work so you can make a living, 'you'd be wrong - at least at this point in the game.

Perhaps later there will be an increasing number of users and services on the tribes and communities that actually do source and reward work professionally but, someone will have to pay them as well. Ever sold a painting in a gallery? What percentage commission did you pay to the gallery itself? What about a book to a publisher? Promotion costs because there is work involved in the promoting of something. On Steem, this work is mostly getting performed by ourselves - oh - that is what happens on all the platforms that monetize.

You might be the greatest artist on earth, but if you have no hustle in you - no one will hustle for you.

I am enjoying seeing more focused content from some people, and I am enjoying that when I read their contributions that it feels like they enjoyed writing it, they enjoyed researching it and they had a bit of fun going through the process because they themselves are interested in what they write. They aren't just fishing for votes from random people by producing random content;

they are looking for support from people who are looking for them.

An art gallery isn't the place to sell investment advice, a health food store not the place to sell cars. The differentiation of content and consumer based on genre and theme means that there is a better chance that the two will meet and create a supply and demand relationship directly without a middleman to take a cut.

What we are seeing now is just how interested the contributors are in what they produce and while there is not a Tribe for everyone, the range is growing. We can also see those who are interested in learning about the ecosystem as some still don't seem to have noticed the changes. We can also observe those who have built up a diverse range of support because while some might earn well on Steem, they get next to nothing from the Tribes - whereas those who have built diversity into their business are doing well across several tribes.

This ecosystem is expanding rapidly and through the growing range of themed experiences, it is actually becoming more inclusive through the decentralization of topics. More people can find a place and build a home and if they are smart, will gather and support the communities in which they reside.

Find some digital real estate. Build a home.

You are the architect of your experience, how creative are you?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]