The Formula of Failure: "But I Thought it was Going to Be EASIER Than This!"
I suppose I've pretty much always been interested in variations of "independence" and "freedom" as those relate to life and finding ways to work (aka "earn a living") outside the conventional mainstream of life.
California poppy
When I was a little kid, I seldom harbored dreams of becoming "an astronaut" or becoming "a banker" or something like that. Instead, I thought it would be super cool if I could gather mushrooms, or find wild berries, or even rocks on the beach and sell them... so I could have food and things.
It was a simplistic and innocent view of the world-- yet it is an inner desire that has followed me through all my adult life, even if I have never managed to become very successful at any of these things.
One of the things that was also quite clear-- and continues to be-- is that "making it" tends to be the result of "grinding it out," not just a lucky moment. That nine-year old boy understood that he'd need to gather those mushrooms year after year after year.
I am always amazed at just how many people with great ideas miss that particular aspect of planning their grand schemes.
Initial Fanfare and Enthusiasm
Camellia bud
I watch a lot of projects "come to market" with great fanfare and enthusiasm... and they DO, indeed, have lots of promise. I look at them, examine the idea, and think to myself "Yes, this really has some potential!"
I even think to myself "Yeah, I want to be part of that!"
And then I watch as many of them quietly disappear... the "shine" seems to wear off as the originators and developers of the idea discover that it is actually a lot of work to make something successful.
But here's the thing-- a lot of the time, the projects themselves are still good... it's just that a bunch of people who are running the show had this notion that "success" should be easier than it actually is.
Truth be known, great success from nothing is an extreme rarity.
The Misleading Highlight Reel
But the thing is, we hear about these instant successes-- because they are newsworthy-- and then we start taking for granted that a business (or project) success happens like that.
Branches in silhouette
By extension, many draw the mistaken conclusion that they have either failed-- or their idea was "no good"-- because their version of reality doesn't measure up.
Personal observations and hands-on experience tells me that this simply isn't so.
There are lots and lots of "good" ideas out there-- even a few "great" ones-- that end up going nowhere simply because their developers had expectations that success would come fairly easily and quickly... and wouldn't require relentless grinding and repetitive work to come to fruition.
And yet?
Many successful businesses we see today are more the result of a very determined stick-to-it-iveness than having a brilliant and revolutionary idea. The people left holding the fat bank bag are the ones that stuck with something, rather than abandoning it when the going got hard.
Steemit: Stick to What You're Doing!
As a very tiny localized example, I have done pretty well here on Steemit with this blog not because I expected some magic "it" to happen, or because I "got lucky" with the right Whale upvotes at the right time, or because I am on @blocktrades' upvote "short list"... but because I relentlessly posted content I hoped would be of some interest with people and then socially interacted with the site.
Something peaceful at the end of the road...
Because, after all, this is a social content platform... is it not?
Frankly, I think Steemit is an awesome idea, and it has a huge amount of potential. And I say that even after nine months of doing this gig.
But this is not a gimmicky get-rich-quick scheme.
That said, I occasionally get a little worried that there's a subtext here in our community that the "bloom has come off the rose" for some of the keepers of Steemit, at least to a small extent... with DDoS attacks, fraud, invasion of automated gimmickry and other things... WHICH ARE PERFECTLY NORMAL GROWING PAINS!!! on a project of this scope.
It's a beautiful idea, but if anyone thought this was just going to be smooth sailing and non-stop crypto profits all the way to a beach in Costa Rica, THINK AGAIN!
The real work is only just beginning... Steemit has many years ahead, and they will be filled with challenges!
I realize I have rambled a bit here... which is what my Sunday blog posts often end up being.
What do YOU think? Do we tend to hear about "instant successes" and forget that most long term success takes a lot more to realize? Have you ever started a business? Was it harder than you thought it would be? What are your expectations with Steemit? Does it seem "harder than you thought it would be?" Or do you feel fortunate to be here, period? If not-- to paraphrase our own prolific @barrydutton-- "how's your Facebook Wallet?" Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20171022 17:06 PDT
Hey man, I had to finish a blog and have a shower but pulled up this notification as I left the computer.
You are too kind to me my man. You always have been but that is your hallmark, one of them anyways.
I am honestly really tired of the politics and problems here, the latest flagging of my posts really showed me the heart.... I have worked so hard, tried to be kind to people, helped them, and still get badgered and flagged despite my best efforts.
I hope you will find me and stay in touch. I would like that.
Thanks for stopping by, Barry-- and for the kind words! I've been here a little less, as of late-- wonky Internet connection (they are laying high capacity fiber optic cables in our neighborhood) combined with Steemit being a bit rough and bumpy has been a recipe for frustration.
Things seem to be working a little more smoothly today, to trying to catch up.
There was no instant success in my world growing up, so I learned to work for everything I have. I see the younger generation seems to think that they somehow deserve a lot of stuff, but I blame the education system for much of that.
Have I ever started a business? Oh yea... several. Was it harder than I expected? NOPE. Except for this last one, but that's because it is more than a simple proprietorship and the legal stuff is a real pain in the you know what.
As for Steemit: I had no idea what it even was when I got into it. It was more about curiosity than anything else. Then I did my introduction and royally botched it because I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I think I earned 35 cents and got all these lovely welcome messages. I figured all those people who said they were looking forward to see more of my posts actually meant it! I spent hours writing a nice article and nobody even looked at it. That was a big disappointment. Then I began digging in and spent some serious time reading and learning. I tried a few more posts and kept studying. It didn't take me too long to figure it out.
I still have high hopes for the platform but I'm really enjoying the ride. I met lots of interesting and kind people. Sometimes I get frustrated by things like now where the site is unstable, or by the amount of SPAM coming in lately, but overall I'm still addicted badly by the positive things this site has to offer.
Facebook wallet??? Don't have one of those! (Wink)
As much of anything, my recent frustrations are mostly related to site instability... and what it does to discourage people. Sure, we're still "in Beta" but certain fundamental kinks should really have been worked out by now.
My personal perception is that Steemit is slightly... hindered... by having a lot of developers, but not a lot of human factors people and designers onboard. Whereas someone tech savvy understand the implications of a "DDoS attack" the average social media user does not, and does not care, they just "want their stuff to work." It's that latter user Steemit needs to become more accommodating towards, if the platform is to ever grow much beyond a niche venue.
One of the best ways I have heard Steemit described is that it's a pay-it-forward "gift economy." Someone does something good for us, and then we do something good for someone else... leaving them a nice upvote and a meaningful comment.
Gee... I'm using steemitstage and STILL got an error message giving your reply to me an up-vote! I am having my doubts that this is a DDoS attack. There could well be some underlying problem that nobody is telling us about because they don't want to admit they botched it as far as scalability is concerned.
I agree with you that the general populace just want it to work and don't care about technical details. They also want (and expect) a simple user interface. Stinc's teaser announcement at this time of instability about a new logo has caused quite a stir and people are royally upset by the fact that the new logo gets more attention than the accessibility problem. That sort of negative publicity isn't doing the platform much good.
I've heard the term 'gift economy' used here several times and have used it myself. I believe that is the best way to describe the ideological philosophy behind this platform.
I'm one of those people that sticks with something until the bitter and bloody end. Sometimes long after I should have raised the white flag, I'm still battling entire armies. So, obviously, I have little patience with those who call it quits at the first sign of having to get up off the couch. I think someone will step forward and keep this going. I sure hope so. I'm so in love with so many people in this community. It truly fills up my heart to come on here.
I tend to fall into that same category... in business I have been known to pull "dead things" out of the fire and bring them back to life because I am too stubborn to let it go!
I think Steemit will persevere in the long run. The "whales" hold really large stakes in this platform and if the ongoing snenanigans cause the price of Steem to fall too much, they'll start making changes to protect their investments.
It takes a whole lot for me to let go of something. I'll be there in the final battle, sword at the ready.
Excellent post. I do feel, as a society, we're used to instant gratification and so give up early on a lot of things. But I also think people are afraid of throwing good money after bad, as it were. However, in the case of Steemit, we're still at the beginning, really. By the time YouTube became common, several people were already earning a living from it (back before it became much more commercialized and such. When it was just normal people with a camera and something to say, or who were funny). Now it's nearly impossible to break through there, and you need professional equipment and skills to do it! Average people can still be heard here, though, and be discovered, and upvoted via actual people's opinions. You're unlikely to be an instant viral star, yes. But I am earning faster here than I ever did on YouTube, and I'm still new. I'm grateful for Steemit!
As long as Steemit doesn't fall apart due to "short term profiteering," I think we have an amazing opportunity here. Let's face it, as soon as the price of Steem starts to rise again, we're all going to get more for our efforts... having been here for a while, I also remember blogging here when Steem was around 7 cents each, not close to a dollar. If we suddenly have ten dollar Steem... things suddenly become super attractive to everyone again.
With persistence and effort it's still possible to get good results here... and it's certainly a lot more profitable than YouTube and Google Adsense on blogs... for MOST people.
I am planning to start a new business of graphic designed printed tshirts. But sometimes I am afraid of putting my money into it, will I get orders and people love to order from my website?
Starting your own business is inherently risky... and there are seldom easy answers. For a T-shirt business, have you explored starting out by using a fulfillment service (Print to order) so you don't have to actually buy inventory? Your profits would be lower, but your financial risk would also be lower...
I am still managing all the pre-requisite things.