When the Good Times Roll on STEEM - My Response to @slobberchops

Today I saw a post by @slobberchops talking about the current sad times of low steem prices and asking:

If you have personally experienced, ‘What it’s like on the way up’, then drop me a comment.

I started to write a reply, but then it got too long, so here is a post instead.

TLDR: If you are on STEEM as a blogger - BLOG! Take advantage of everything here and be flexible. Go with what works and stop what doesn't. Don't dwell in the past - prepare for the future.

My STEEM Story

I got here in June 2017, and sort of bumbled around learning how to post and interact until Mid-Nov 2017 when my friend and the person who sucked me in here, @jerrybanfield, offered anyone the chance to get on a list he created.

Jerry had brought in a huge number of struggling content creators like me to STEEM, and saw mny of us were kind of stuck. He decided to give a good "no questions asked" upvote for up to 5 posts a day if you got on his list. His message to us little guys was to throw everything we could think of out there so we could see what would stick. Blog, blog, blog!

So from that time on, I worked like crazy to get those posts done each day on the 2 blogs I had at the time. My goal was 4 posts a day for each of them, and I rarely dropped below 3. This meant that I was posting like hell at the exact right time to catch those big numbers in Dec 2017 - Mar 2018.

A few days after Christmas, the bid-bots appeared and started up with no limits. Thanks to Jerry's "How To" posts and encouragements, I got onto those bots as one of the first users.

I had six or seven posts a day, and I was botting them as high as I could get them with incredible returns for months. I could take a post with $2 rewards in the first hour, and get it up over $20 by the time is paid out for just a couple of SBD.

This was a true windfall if I could just keep working.

For months, I was posting, commenting and botting until I dropped off to sleep each night and then got up to do it again each morning.

Sometime in Dec I gave up 80% of what else I was doing to generate income at the time including one-on-one weight loss coaching, marketing my Amazon books, and hosting affiliate sales programs. I was working maybe 18 hours a day on STEEM and pretty much still do that today.

The amount of money I got out of here in the first 3-5 months of 2018 paid for my SE Asian life of poverty for most of that year. I was taking money out every few days and thrilled with my good fortune.

Then the price tanked

Yet still I mostly live of of this money today, even with the lower price. Keep in mind I have very low expenses in Malaysia and a long list of things to spend money on if I had more. And now I have 3 blogs instead of 2 and another one coming up within the next 4 weeks.

I am not sh%t posting on my blogs. Each is targeted to it's own niche and I strive to add value here with my posts. On this blog I write minnow tips and you can see them at the bottom of this post. I passionately believe we need more small people to succeed here and do everything I can to make that happen.

Today I no longer use the bid-bots. Now I use dApps that pay with upvotes, have people who auto-vote me, lease delegated sp, enter contests and challenges, and do all kinds of other strategies I have learned. You can see a lot of detail about the steps I take now in my minnow tips below.

When prices are very low, my life is much harder, and as they rise, I do better. I take money out weekly no matter what, eat cheap, and do my best.

I do not read much about people who are sad and leaving STEEM, people worried about curation splits, people worried about Ned and the gang, or any other Negative Nancy STEEM News. Instead I work with vibrant people trying to succeed in places like @tasteem, @freewritehouse, @dpoll and on and on we go.

I consider myself a vanguard in the mainstreaming of crypto and blockchain as I help set the standard about how to live a life breaking free of fiat. I am a proud user of STEEM to live on and I am not the only one here doing so.

One Example

Many people whine and cry about why we do not have a sustainable system of Universal Basic Income so that all people in the world can live stress-free lives with financial support.

I have several streams of UBI that pay me in various crypto coins including over 500 SBI shares on my 3 blogs. I never even heard of this before coming to STEEM and now it is part of my life and survival.

Helping people with my vote

Another comment from @slobberchops post resonated with me today.

I want to witness what it is like to give someone $2 without it costing me anything. That’s a powerful gift to have. Some people live off less than that for a day.

At one point in February 2018, my vote was about $1.50. It was awesome! I was voting all kinds of comments and posts from new people and it did feel great to be able to help others like that. but let me tell you what is happening with my 6 cent vote right now for @fitinfun.

A few weeks ago, I developed a list I keep updating that has good people under 55 rep on it. They are trying and getting small rewards, so I go in a few times a week when I have a good power level and go vote for as many of their posts as I can.

So now, I been appearing on a list published by @boddhisattva each week that lists the TOP 200 effective Steemit curators who are actively support newcomers (with reputation below 55) for the last week. I am number 178 this last week.

I find this to be absolutely amazing. I have not even got 3000 sp, yet I am on this list. It's wonderful to look forward and back to better times, but I do not neglect the difference I can make right now.

In Conclusion

The good times on STEEM were great. Today I am building for the future while counting my blessings for what I have now. I believe in STEEM and do what I can to help us grow regardless of price.

= =

Minnow Tips!

My Newest Minnow Tips Updates:

General Ideas of how to do better on STEEM
Places to comment for Upvotes and More Goodies
Who will upvote my posts when I am new on STEEM?
How Can I Solve My Low RC Problem on STEEM?
Using @dustsweeper on STEEM
Enter contests on STEEM and win!
Do your replies fast with with SteemReply
You should be freewriting if you are a blogger

Here is my last big minnow tips post before the update if you struggle here at steem.

These tips can help you even if you are not new.
Monday Minnow Tips for Everyone from @fitinfun

Contents of the Above Post

What should I do EACH DAY on STEEM with low power?

What to do with your STEEM

Are you shooting blanks with your votes?

Should you use an autovoter?

Join qurator

Do not post to nowhere

Why bother to comment?

How and Why to use kryptonia

How to get Upvotes

For Twitter Users

How and Why to lease delegated sp

Curation Trails

Using Discord

= =

dApp Reviews

All recommended!
ginabot
esteem
Share2Steem with Twitter Tips

Tasteem Restaurant Reviews dApp before I used it
Tasteem Restaurant Reviews dApp with tips to do better

And here is an update on @fitinfunfood. I just started this blog in Jan 2019, so you can find out what I am doing to grow my new baby here:
fitinfunfood Update Post

More about using SBI:

https://steemit.com/esteem/@fitinfun/my-steembasicincome-update-spoiler-i-love-sbi

Great post from @brittandjosie, with all kinds of help for new people. Definitely worth clicking every link!

Hey Have You Met!

Please Help Me Keep Helping at STEEM

Please follow my blogs:

@fitinfun
@fitinfunfood
@bxlphabet is my son's blog, and I am so grateful he has returned.

We all post on Busy most days, where their upvote for us is based on the collective SP of our followers. We all follow back, because we love you. This is the power of STEEM.

Put my blogs on your curation trail

@fitinfun
@fitinfunfood
@bxlphabet

I login to magic-dice daily and roll one time. Is this giving me luck and good fortune? Join me and try for yourself!
https://magic-dice.com/?ref=fitinfun

= =

How is your journey to better health going?

Is your fitness equipment out handy? Are you on a "diet?" Soon we will be in Bathing Suit Season. Are you ready?

I lost "Half My Size" eight years ago by using natural methods. No tricks, just doing a bit better every day. I started on October 10 one year, and did not give up. Four years later, on October 5th, there I was - thin and healthy for the first time in my life. You can do it too!

This is Sharon @fitinfun. I am posting:

• Healthy Food Ideas on @fitinfunfood

• Motivation Minnow Tips and Everything Else on @fitinfun

• @bxlphabet is posting Southern California, dpolls and song lyrics.

Please follow along or contact me directly if you would like some individual help with weight loss and health. Anyone can do this if I did.