Hi, I'm Meredith Loughran. I made it past my first 30 days on Steemit! Here are my observations and thoughts.

It's been 30+ days since I've found Steemit...and I still love the site.

Snapchat selfie working from my temporary "office"

Today marks my 33rd day on #Steemit and I just wanted to share my experiences and thoughts on the platform.

My very first post was an #IntroduceYourself where I shared my excitement about coming here to write with the potential to earn money and build a new audience for my writing.
I had a less-than-stellar response from the #community - but I'll get back to that in a moment.

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First, I want to give a shout-out to my friend across the pond, Sarah @phoenixmaid - I hold her solely responsible for bringing me in. She's got a heart of gold, so much on her plate, and yet she is so giving of her time and knowledge. She is one of the most humble, selfless, authentic, and artistic people I know, so if you don't follow her yet, please do!

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You see, Sarah and I met nearly three years ago on a now-defunct site called Bubblews and in that time period there have been a string of 'pay for content' sites that have come and gone. There was one thing they've all had in common: No Sustainability = NO FUTURE

There have been plenty of sites that I was invited to write on to earn points, credits, or cash, but as a former small business owner and also a former middle-management corporate prisoner, I could plainly see the writing on the wall. None of them had a business plan, any transparency, or a plan for longevity. They relied heavily on the investors to launch them and the community aspect to sustain them, but kept us all completely in the dark about earnings and payouts. Many of us were abandoned by those sites with money seized from our accounts to settle their debt. I was one of the lucky ones. At least I had the foresight to save the bulk of my quality content and evergreen posts before they shut down. I could live with losing a few bucks.

Well, long story short, I signed up for Steemit with the thought that I'd write one or two posts just to mark a piece of territory, then go on my merry way before I invested too much time, thought, and content to a site that was doomed to failure.

Then I read the whitepapers and knew Steemit was different.

Events in my life these past 30 days

When Sarah introduced me to Steemit, I was technically homeless. I was living in a motel for two weeks waiting for my next house to be available. I can't say that it was a bad experience: we had TV, wifi, and a pool, but living out of a suitcase in one room with my husband, Aspie adult son, 2 dogs and 4 ferrets has its challenges! On the plus side of things, I'd lost about 5 pounds because I limited my consumption of microwaveable food.

When we finally had access to our new home, we set about getting the utilities and internet transferred...

• Electricity - no problem.
• Internet...it seems no one wants to service the area.

Can you believe to this day I still don't have internet at my house? As a freelancer this poses a big problem! Not one to let obstacles get in my way, I've made sure my laptop has a full charge and have squatted in the parking lots of my local Lowe's and Walmart for wifi as I work out of my car. Joygasm!

People who have parked next to me see me working on my computer when they go in to shop, and see me still when they come out. On more than one occasion have I heard, "I knew she'd still be there" followed by (stage whisper) "she must be homeless."

When I was younger, this probably would have bothered me to the point of tears. Now I just laugh it off and I'm kind of looking forward to the day when someone feels bad enough for me to bring me a sandwich or something. Wouldn't that be a riot?

I'll take a turkey & cheese with all the fixin's and hold the mayo - thank you very much!

Sadly, I've started smoking again...after 22 years of quitting. There is no excuse for this beyond simple boredom.

As a Florida transplant due to my husband's job transfer, I am also 1200 miles away from two of my sons. In the last 30 days, they called to tell me they were joining the armed services. My middle son is currently doing a lot of PT (physical training) and will go to Marine Corps boot camp in January. My youngest son is joining the Air Force - but they won't take him until he gains weight. LOL Apparently you have to be at least 125 pounds. He is about 5'10" and currently 119 pounds! WHAT?!?! I don't think I've been 119 pounds since I was in junior high. Well, we don't call him "bone boy" for nothing.

Trying to be a good mama, I've been sending up care packages of brownies and homemade cookies to help him out...but I'd much prefer sending him some of the spare weight on my fat body.

My Steemit numbers

I am so excited to share that I went from zero to 80 followers in 30 days!
My rank is currently 52.4 and I'm #1449 on SteemWhales.com
Between blogs and comments, I've got over 510 posts.

See? Working from my car might have slowed me down, but I'm still active!

My findings

While I'm a minnow working my way up the ranks, I've found that my blog posts are floundering as I still seek an audience with a little more coin power to their upvotes. Ah well. All good things take time.

I've also realized that my comments earn more when they are thought out and engaging.

*Here are some tips to build your following:

• Ask the author questions
• Engage with their readers
• Post a link to appropriate sites (in-house, external, or your own) which contributes to and enhances their content or message.

I'm big enough to admit that my ego is a little bruised as I generally put a lot of time and effort into my posts. They can take anywhere from 1 to 5 (or more) hours to write. But who am I to complain though? I'm still interacting and building a tribe. Sadly, while I work in my car, it's difficult to focus on research and news stories that I'd like to post - which leaves me with random thoughts, past experiences, and bits of fiction for your reading pleasure.

I am pretty happy that doing a Google search of my username merej99 showed some of my stories from Steemit appearing.

*Note: My stories from steemit appear but the search engine picks it up through Steemd.com

This is great news for content creators because the general public can actually see what Steemit users are putting forth.

What I need to learn

• I still don't know anything about cryptocurrency. I'm doing my best to educate myelf but it's a bit overwhelming.
• I think I have way too many digital wallets. Thank goodness they don't have anything in them. Wouldn't it be terrible if I had stupid amounts of money all over the place? :oP
• I have no idea how to convert the digital currency into cash - which I guess is a good thing right now because it seems STEEM value is bouncing around until it adjusts for market corrections. So, as I stated in a comment to , I'm treating my STEEM, SBD, and Steem Power like Monopoly money. I get to play with it while the market does its thing. I know it has value but it's "not real" until I figure out how to convert it...and what my husband doesn't know won't hurt him.

Final Thoughts

#Steemit is a social media platform topped with a digital currency bow. While newbies are getting frustrated and envious of others making a whole lot more money, many members fail to see the big picture: COMMUNITY BUILDING. This will lead to more followers, which will, by default, lead to more earnings.

I wrote a little Steemit poem that you may like: Kwitcherbitchin

People, you have to put the work into it and stop comparing yourself to others!

How about concentrating on your own content?
Make goals to increase your posts and followers. Make it a game to challenge yourself to the next level.

Stay humble

I hate to break it to you but... You're not all that. In fact, none of us are. It brings to mind something I told my kids when they were younger and wanted to snowboard without helmets.
I asked them, "Do you think you're better than Shawn White?"
They looked at me like I was crazy. "No. DUH!"
"Well even Shawn White wears safety gear - including a helmet."

Chances are that you are not the same caliber as Shawn White of snowboarding, or Stephen King of fiction, or Joel Olsteen of ministry, or Takoshi of digital currency, or the Rembrandt of art...or @stellabelle, the #1 ranked member of Steemit.

You get where I'm going with this?
Stop comparing yourself to others. Learn from them and better yourself. On the flip side of that, you can become a mentor to those who come after you. Blaze your own trail and stop bellyaching.

Sadly, many of my content creator friends will not give this site a nanosecond of a chance because they've been burnt by other sites. That's kind of sad...and truly their loss, but I've managed to pull at least one friend in: @irenepsmith and I'm working on getting my husband @triplep active. They've both got great stories in them!

If I didn't have faith in the long-term of this site, I probably would have quit within the first week. Seeing my actual numbers means I'm growing here...even from a ridiculously hot and uncomfortable car.

My writing has never been more truthful and raw - or ridiculous. I've found a safe haven for my thoughts and I'll be on the lookout for quality people who believe in the vision of Steemit.

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Follow me for short stories, fiction, researched articles, recipes, and more.

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Meredith Loughran blogs at ScribblingBandits.com | Follow her on Twitter & SnapChat or LinkedIn

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Come see what I've been writing! Visit my blog page