How do you get your content noticed with no followers?
In recent days I've seen a couple of posts about established Steemit users discovering Steemit users who were creating amazing content but weren't getting their content noticed.
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And I've also stumbled across a few Steemit users myself who really deserved much larger rewards and recognition than they are receiving. And not just from the perspective of quality content creation. I have encountered highly active and very passionate Steemit users who simply deserve encouragement to continue working on their skills as a content creator. We can't only reward those who create outstanding content, the users who are working hard to develop their craft need reward as well.
Based on these observations, it seems that it is getting harder to get noticed on Steemit these days.
I believe it's partly due to the volume of content being created. But it may also be because we spend way too much time screaming about the disaster that is the trending page and commenting on the low quality content that we find there. It could also be the fact that we're all simply too busy creating our own content to spend lots of time trawling through the various feeds and tags that we enjoy creating content for.
Yeah, I googled screaming and couldn't find anything relevant.
Whatever the reason is, it can be hard to get noticed these days. I am thankful that I joined Steemit just prior to a large influx of new users in late 2017. I was able to establish myself here reasonably quickly, even with a few blunders and hard learned lessons along the way. These days I have a lovely group of followers who I interact with on a daily basis and a bunch of people who I follow and communicate with often.
This means that when I post content, I know that there will be at least a few people who will read my material. But not everyone is this fortunate.
Well, firstly, don't give up. It is insanely easy to feel discouraged and walk away from the platform. But with the continual and rapid development of new applications, features and services on the Steem blockchain, the last thing you want to do is walk away. Steemit will look incredibly different in 3, 6 or 12 months time, and you'll want to be here to see what it's like then. I am extremely positive about the Steem Blockchain and Steemit and am here for the long haul, and I encourage everyone to keep working at building your presence here, keep working on building your base of Steem Power, and work hard at becoming an integral part of the Steemit community.
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So you need to find ways to integrate yourself into the Steemit community. You need to build a following of active Steemit users, and you need to create content that will receive upvotes and a high level of engagement from other Steemit users.
There are number of things you can do to achieve this. Not all of these things are common sense. Some of the ideas below may even force you out of your comfort zone, but bare with me. Getting out of your comfort zone is a good thing when it comes to content creation.
Let's start with the most obvious way to get noticed.
We hear it all the time; comment on other people's posts and it's possible that people will check out your profile and follow you as a result.
I'm sure there are people here that don't believe this will happen. But it does. I can't count how many accounts I check after seeing a good comment under someone's post. And I'll often go through and upvote the most recent post by that user if I like it as well.
The thing with commenting though, is that you can't do it with the expectation that you will receive upvotes and followers as a result. Your comment MUST be genuine. So to do this you have to find content that you genuinely enjoy. Can't find content you like? Then you're not looking hard enough or in the right places.
Spam comments are blatantly obvious, as with comments that are simply designed to receive upvotes. Genuine comments are the only ones that I personally pay attention to.
A little challenge for you is to provide a comment that isn't overwhelmingly positive about someone's post. Try leaving some constructive criticism on someone's post and see how they respond. My bet is that you'll gain a new follower as a result. On a platform where you can earn money just by leaving a nice comment, it's rare to see people being truly honest about what they see.
My strategy with commenting is very simple. I'm honest with people. If I see something I don't like, I'm not about to pretend that I do. If I feel there's a need to point out an error, I will. And I've never been flagged for my honesty. If anything, I've probably received more upvotes and followers for it.
Another important thing with commenting is that you need to ensure you have some quality content under your profile before you start commenting. If someone checks out your profile after seeing one of your bitingly honest comments and only sees a few memes that you've published on dMania, they're not likely to become a follower.
I wrote a post about contests quite recently so I won't spend too much time on it here. But if you're new to Steemit then contests are the best way to get yourself in front of new people and receive recognition for your work. I still enter contests to this day for the simple fact that it forces me to write about something that I may not normally write about, they might give me an opportunity to learn about something new, and that it puts me in front of new people with every competition that I enter.
The added bonus is that you'll also be in a position to win some excellent prizes. If you're not sure where to start with contests then simply check out the #contests tag or some of the more well known contest accounts such as @originalworks and @photocontests.
When I hit a creative rut a while back I decided to start making video content instead of writing posts. This lead me to creating beer reviews and other content on @dtube which proved to be an excellent decision.
Firstly, it took me well and truly out of my comfort zone. I never thought that I would be someone who would get in front of a camera to create videos but I did, and in time, I really enjoyed it.
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Creating video content is challenging, there's a lot to learn. And while I never became skilled at it, I learnt a lot and I'm thankful that I chose to give it a shot. I also put my account in front of a lot of new people, and gained a lot of new followers as a result.
You might be thinking that you'd never get in front of a camera, well that's fine. What other types of video can you create? Can you create something artistic? Can you interview people? How about filming your cat doing something stupid? There are a lot of options with video and it's well worth trying to see what you can create.
But you're not just limited to video content, what about @dsound? Can you turn your posts into podcasts rather than only creating written content? What about streaming your gaming activities on @dlive?
And if you're into photography, you have dApps such as @steepshot that you can upload your content to as well.
There are a tonne of options available to you and new dApps and services on Steemit are becoming available every week. For example, I've started creating my posts using @steempress.io which is a relatively new Wordpress plugin that allows my Wordpress blogs to be automatically posted to Steemit. By doing this I'm posting under the #steempress tag which puts my content in front of a new audience again. And because of this I might gain some new followers.
There are a huge number of active Steemit users on Discord, and many of us spend way too much time chatting there rather than spending that time creating fresh and new content for our Steemit profiles.
You'll find me in the #TeamAustralia channel on the Peace, Abundance and Liberty (PAL) server on a very regular basis. On the PAL server, you'll find a large number of rooms that are centred around a variety of themes and topics. There are also a number of rooms for which ever country you may be from and this is a great place to start if you're new to Discord.
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Why would you head over to Discord to meet your fellow Steemians? For the simple fact that you'll more than likely meet some like-minded people who can encourage you, provide you with inspiration for content creation, and teach you a few things about how to succeed in this great big Steemit world of ours.
For example, I would never have discovered the #TeamAustralia group if I hadn't randomly clicked on a Discord invite link one day that I discovered in a fellow Australian's post. And if I hadn't done that I would never have become a part of the vibrant #TeamAustralia community and met some amazing people. I've even met a number of these people face to face which I never expected would happen when joining Steemit.
At the end of the day, getting your content in front of your fellow Steemit users isn't overly complex. It might take a few attempts before you succeed but you have a variety of tools at your disposal to succeed.
Commenting is the easiest way to meet new people, so find content you enjoy and let the author know what you thought of their material. Contests are being run all the time, and many run weekly, such as the #BeerSaturday competition that I participate in every single week. You have the many dApps to try and use. And I personally encourage you to try them all. You then have the active communities in Discord, there are countless, so head on over to Discord and check them out.
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And if you want to find me on Discord, I go by the same name there as I do here. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have and/ or help you out if I'm able to.
Most importantly, get out of your comfort zone and try something new! No one will laugh at you for learning a new skill.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://cryptonbrews.xopus.io/2018/07/11/how-do-you-get-your-content-noticed-with-no-followers/
I still think one of steemit's biggest flaws is that everyone comes here as a content creator and not as a consumer (unlike youtube for example). This results in a lot of poor-to-average content being made which then takes up valuable real estate in feeds. meaning a lot of the good stuff goes un noticed and unrewarded.
That's a really good point. I used to think that everyone has something to say, but many of the people that I've spoken to about Steemit say that they simply don't have anything to contribute. Maybe those people should just exist as curators rather than content creators. There's certainly no harm in taking that position on Steemit.
That's exactly right, and yet the manual curation guides such as curie, ocd, even steemit worldmap-- get no support (ie. delegations) from the whales. Come up with a fancy app that circle jerks your mates though, and that's fine. That's all they care about.
This is actually one of the reasons I'm not sad that people leave. Most of them wouldn't be publishing crap on other platforms because there's no incentive for them to do so. My latest pet peev is ulogs. I don't really give a fuck and want to pay to know what some stranger did today, which is probably boring and normal. I don't see this as adding value.
I had the same reaction when I heard about ulogs. I thought, "Oh, great. Another way for people to write crap content." My husband even said, "There you go. The I'm-sitting-on-the-patio of Steemit." (A reference to a sarcastic skit about content on Twitter.) But I have been pleasantly surprised.
Good writers can create interesting content out of their ordinary day. Granted it can sometimes read like a letter home, but if you care about the people, it's still fun. Granted, too, I'm pretty picky about who I follow and read, and that may help filter my results. But it hasn't turned out to be as awful as I expected. Perhaps time will change my mind.
The #walkwithme project, however, that's another story. I curate for a group on discord and Oh, God, those are boring. Not quite as bad as the one-photo-wonders that amount to "Here's a picture of the bowl of soup I had for dinner. Oh, yum, it was great." I finally had to put my foot down about those. (You can post what you like, but just don't expect me to read it.)
I agree with your original point though. People who come to Steemit consider themselves (rightly or wrongly) to be writers, artists, content creators. They may have limited interest in strolling around trying to socialize through comments on other people's posts. (This is especially true given how awful much of the content is.) Steemit can be a terrible time-suck if you're trying to do it right ... create good content yourself, comment like a champ, do your thing on Discord and still have a life. For some, it's just too much. And I have to say I sympathize.
This is going to sound really ignorant, but what the hell is a ulog? Is it just a blog about someone's daily life? That sounds like a diary which is utterly tedious.
I think that's exactly what it is. Dear diary but with $ attached. Check the tag. It's popular! A bunch of Aussies are writing them which is how I know about tthem.
Hmmm I don't know how I feel about that. I suppose they could be good if there was something meaningful about them but if it's just about what meals you ate throughout the day and what the kids got up to then I don't think it's my cup of tea.
It's like that 'walkwithme' or whatever it is tag. That one is 98% boring shit too. People just go for a walk and take photos along the way. Urgh! Kill me now.
Haha I've never seen that. Remind me to tag you in a post where I'm walking through Woolworths and taking photos of rice brands etc.
I can't upvote this because it's 9 days ago, but I'm laughing out loud. I'll find a more recent post and give you a vote on one that's equally entertaining. I came across this conversation on effofex's reading log. Now, there's someone who finds worthy content and gives it a platform. Sorry to jump in, but "kill me now"...that did it for me.
I did some ulogs, but as I made a rule to myself to keep a (personal) minimum quality standard & because most of my days are boring, I don't do it everyday.
But I don't think ulog is inherently bad, some of them are actually great posts even based on their content alone.
Actually if I did it twice a month then I'd consider that month very interesting to talk about. Haha~
Very true. There seem to be so many people who have very little to say and they end up writing about anything and everything. Hoping to get some attention.
Please really highlight this statement above for those skimming this post. I was guilty of commenting like mad in my first attempt at Steemit 3 months ago (I'm at attempt #2) while my own blog was pretty much empty. It wasn't until someone replied to my comment and told me that I need to grow my blog, along with the commenting if, I wanted to get better results for my efforts that I realized my mistake.
Done. I realised as I was writing that sentence that I'd never seen anyone mention if before. :)
True. I guess it's just something that's often overlooked. I know I did.
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You are spot on on the commenting on good posts, and picking up followers. I decided to find new, good quality posts, and just talk to them, I have run into a LOT of very nice people! I agree about avoiding the trending part of the posts, too antiseptic, LOL!
I just ignore he numbers, and learn; and teach, where I can. I have been having a blast meeting people with active minds, all over the World! I have picked up a lot of homesteading information for the new land we bought, that will help me avoid problems I might have had. I have been able to help others electronically (I am an Electrical Engineer) and maybe help them to avoid some problems too!
You are also right that you will get out, what you put in, and If I am unwilling to stop and take the time, to help someone else; why should anyone invest time to help me?
Well I'm glad you stumbled across my post. I'm not hugely knowledgable about homesteading however I've encountered the homesteading community here, and they are huge. This is a great place to meet like-minded people if that is one of your passions.
Thanks for finding me, I'll check out your profile. :)
Come on down! I love blogging with bright people!
:)Homesteading is just a small but important part, I enjoy a lot of other areas on steemit too. Alternate energies draw me, herbals, machining, fishing, and gemstones.
One of the things about steemit that is fun, is whatever I am interested in; someone in here does it. I learn every day, makes steemit a lot of fun.
Joining Discord has by far been the biggest help for me so far. Prior to that only a handful of people would see my post. I'm also learning a lot about the ins and outs of the steemit platform from more established users in the different chat rooms.
I originally created my account in July 2017, but only recently started actually using it. When I first posted almost 2 months ago I was kicking myself for not getting involved right away when I first signed up. After taking advantage of the many tips you mentioned in the post I can say I'm happy with my growth I've experienced thus far.
So I set up my first curation trail yesterday as I was experimenting with steemauto and couldn't help but feel like the service is probably making it even tougher for new users to get noticed. Is that a pretty accurate assessment? Is there a consensus across the platform about automating everything to no end? Every time I read a post I realize I have so much to learn still.
Don’t beat yourself up too much. At least you’ve started now. :)
I manually vote and won’t ever automate my votes. The main reason for that is so I only vote for stuff that I like and support the people who deserve my support.
Curation trails and automated voting can lead to less engagement. But you do get people who use them and still go through and read their favourite author’s posts.
But they do make it easy to stop reading content. Which is why I don’t use them.
It's not like I had the free time to begin when I first joined anyway so I've already moved past it.
I think I like the idea of manually voting as well that way each post is getting vetted honestly. I can see a place for auto voting if you will be away from the computer for a few days and would like to support your favorite creators.
I'll have to reassess my steemauto votes. Thanks for the response!
Hi
Great post @mazzle. Such an easy read.
The problem I see is that steemit is full of people who want to be noticed. And not that many who actually want to read, comment and reward others.
It's very unbalanced right now.
I believe it's going to get even harder once steemit will get more popularity. Wouldn't you think so? Right now it's still not so bad because "competition" is very low.
Once again. Great and positive post!
Obviously upvoted with 100% VP :)
Yours
Piotr
Thanks mate, much appreciated. I do agree that not enough of the active users take the time to curate the content that they enjoy.
Personally though, that's how I've gained a lot of followers, simply by engaging with other users on the platform.
One of the other replies to this post actually mentions that we barely have any users who are solely here to curate good quality content. I think if there was an incentive to purely curate content then that would be a positive change for the platform.
I think curation posts can work as this... The curator, instead of posting actual posts, make a list of the posts they curated and their opinion on each post. Most of curators already doing this right now.
Of course as I wrote this comment I noticed many problems in the idea... But it's written so....
Im sorry for such a late reply @mazzle
Just finally had a chance to catch up with comments.
Thank you again for your constant support.
Yours, Piotr
I came here because I saw a comment from you in the publication of another person who had a publication in the trend category, in which you said that the publication was unworthy of belonging to that category.
I just want to make something clear, most writers in Steemit have no education, do not respond to the comments made by those who read their publications. I do not want ascending votes, but when I take the trouble to read someone's post, and comment, I do it with great enthusiasm, only to wait for an answer that will never come.
I had not taken into consideration what you say about having good content and then commenting, if you currently review my publications you will not find anything really interesting, however, I do not comment to gain followers, my interest is merely to share ideas, and the only thing I expect when I comment is an answer.
I regret if I commented in this publication, according to the protocol, too late, although I do not find sense to that seven-day rule, interesting information deserves a reading even if it has already passed much longer than that.
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with commenting on old posts. I check my reply feed daily so I’ll always see them. Personally, I find it disrespectful when people don’t reply.
It’s also not the end of the world if you don’t have great content but comment often. You’ll still benefit. And your comments come across as genuine which will mean a lot to those who read them.
Hopefully, you start to recognise which authors are likely to respond to your comments.
Keep creating content! And keep commenting too. :)
Thanks buddy!
These are definitely good pieces of advice.
Perhaps one of the challenges we face is that a lot of people come here with inflated expectations about "how easy" it will be to "make a lot of money."
I think another is a "marketing problem." I never encounter Steemit anywhere outside the community, talked about as a CONTENT site, only as a place to make money. Which suggests that very few readers are likely to come this way.
Bright Blessings!
I've seen those videos that claim you can make a truck tonne of money here. It's a shame that people see those.
It will take some work to shift the focus on the content here rather than the ability to make money. Making money here will always be an attractive part of the platform but it shouldn't be the biggest part.
You're not the first to highlight that perhaps we don't have enough readers here and I think that is the absolute truth.
Thanks for stopping by. :)
Very informative post ! It will take time and eventually you will get rewarded for your efforts, Just do what you love - creating great posts.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thanks mate, glad you liked it. :)
Nailed it, muzzle :)
Muzzle :P
Great advice! I connected with you on that very same beer contest post and followed as well.
There are a whole host of people who are rooting through the spam and the bots for real people to support and interact with.
When STEEM runs up again, the work you do now will get rewarded and the connections you will make will be that much more valuable.
All very good points. The Beer Saturday crew are a great bunch. I was really pleased to see your entry this week. :)