The Minnow Dilemma

I’m closing in on my 2nd full week on Steemit and I’ve discovered that as a Minnow I’m conflicted with how I want to proceed with my account and posts. I feel like I’m at a crossroads and I’m left with two choices. Pursue this endeavor as a financial opportunity, using my time spent to increase profitability or to to get lost in the community aspect and focus on meeting new people and making enjoyable connections.

Looking at the financial opportunity and the ways to achieve it. I’m discovering that when I make a post it quickly gets buried no matter how much time I spend on it and how well written it is. Initially I get upvotes and great responses, but in a matter of minutes no one would be able to find it. I can’t even find it without clicking on my page.

To boost my posts I’m using upvote on Discord and Randowhale. This makes my posts at least worth something. I’m focused on this though. I don’t want to post except once every 12 hours because otherwise I would not be able to upvote my post.

When I’m not posting I’m going to the introduceyourself topic and meeting as many new Steemers as possible so that my follower list will grow, but deep down I’m wondering how many of those people will be gone in a week. I’m joining Facebook groups with a goal of making money. I’m upvoting and relying on accounts of the big dogs. I am seeing results, but very slowly and I know I won’t be able to continue using this platform at this pace. I keep thinking, once the honeymoon of this wonderful new platform wears off will I really want to keep doing all this knowing that someone who makes a $10,000 investment is lightyears ahead of me, even if the person can’t write content to save a life

This leads me to the second road. Enjoying this platform as a unique social network and making connections with people I share interests with and not worrying about the financial aspect. I love creating content. My main image for this post I created using a vector program from scratch last night and loved every minute of it. There is no way my potential 99 cent profit from this post is worth the time it took financially, but the creative outlet was worth way more to me.

My first attempt trying to chat on the Discord channel to meet new people and try and increase my follower list did not feel very welcoming. I went into the general channel and it felt like I sat at the lunch table with all the cool kids at the high school. Last night I read a post about writing and I discovered the #fiction-workshop channel. I logged in and typed, “Just stopped to say hello.” I was expecting the same experience as before, but this time was different. I was immediately greated by @rhondak, who welcomed me to the channel, let me know where all the resources were, and made me feel like I had been in the group for months. Everyone else there was just as welcoming. Thank you @mk40 and @stitchybitch and everyone else in the channel. I was also introduced to a writing contest with a 5 SBD prize (Maybe I can have my cake and eat it too).

https://steemit.com/contest/@rhondak/msp-fiction-workshop-50-word-challenge-story-starter

My best moments so far on Steemit revolved around the things I enjoy. I love baseball and there is Fanduel league every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. First place is $5 SBD. I won last week and promptly received my prize.

https://steemit.com/sports/@fantasy.sports/daily-fantasy-baseball-contest-for-7-7-2017-free-to-play-usd5-sbd-to-the-winner-plus-potential-usd5-sbd-bonus-fan-duel

I’ve truly enjoyed creating content. I’ve spent extra time making sure all my images look great and are error free. I feel like I’m learning new skills and learning about the new world of cryptocurrency. I believe I finally know my way around here. There are still things I don’t know much about like delagation, hard forks, and vests, but I’ve come a long way in two weeks.

Already I’m thinking of the financial aspect of this post. Should I create more images? It’s been 12 hour, I can upvote. I have enough in my account for @randowhale. What should I do next? Do I write part two of my post about Google’s tool to help analyze cryptocurrency?

https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@legosnjoysticks/analyze-cryptocurrency-with-an-awesome-feature-of-google-sheets-part-1

Maybe I should just post this and leave it alone. Reply to the 5 people who get to see my post and comment before it vanishes to the Steemit abyss. I noticed that some of the curators, who are looking for great content are choosing posts with reward values under a dollar. My posts would be excluded and the only reason they are worth more is because of boosters.

The struggle is real. I know I am not alone. The light side is pulling me and I’m closer and closer each day to abandoning my hopes of making it big on Steemit in favor of just enjoying a great social network with some truly great people, but alas there is that voice in my head telling me to boost and not worry about more pictures because that will take time. That I should get this post out there and then try and promote it as much as possible. There is a voice telling me to tag this for visibility and exposure. I’m conflicted as all minnows are. What will be the outcome of minnow delimma?

If you read this far, I’m impressed and thank you. Please upvote if you enjoyed this post and if you are interested in more content like this follow me @legosnjoysticks.

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Hey dude! I came across this post just now from a google Steemit search. Awesome!! You touch on some really good points. You got a follower here. I also wonder a variety of things on here, but i too have come to a decision, to just keep givin'er. If anything its a new way for me to express myself :D Cheers and hope this was a good boost pal :D

Thank you @diggerdugg. I need to use the Google Steemit search more. I'm having trouble finding those great posts. There is so much to go through. For some reason I never really got into the other social networks, so this is a fantastic outlet for expressing. I've always loved writing, and after joining Steemit I started writing fiction again, and for just that reason this has been a huge success! Thanks for the follow!

I would just post and enjoy it and see where it takes you. You would be surprised after a month or two

Thank you for the advice! I think that is what I intend to do.

This only the 2nd post I've read as I'm new to Steemit. The content really gave me something to think about. Thanks for a very thought provoking article.

Your welcome! Thanks for taking the time to replay. Check out this post as this is more about my experience as a new minnow.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@legosnjoysticks/what-i-accomplished-and-learned-today-on-steemit-and-the-roadblocks-i-faced
Good luck on Steemit. I followed you and look forward to your future posts!

I would focus on making good content. You are way ahead of me on this and I've been doing it for about a week and a half. If you have good content the number of follwers will increase over time.

I've seen some folks get $200-300 on an intro blog post but then their following posts have been in the 1 cent, 10 cent range. So, it really comes down to content I think. If you are doing it just for the money I have a feeling it will be like watching water come to a boil. I'm taking the long run approach to this and looking at the community building process.

Thank you for the post!! I've gone thru the same thing where I thought a decent post got nothing. But it's on there for future readers that potentially become new followers. Keep it up! I've liked the posts I've seen so far.

Thanks for the response. I've had more free time than usual so I've really put an effort into figuring things out and spending quality time on my posts.

I agree with the analogy of water coming to a boil. I'm really enjoying meeting people and I really believe this is a platform that will grow. I remember when I was one of the first people using Twitter and Instagram and people thought those platforms were stupid in two years time, they were all using them.

That's wild, $200-300 on an intro post!? Hey content is king, can't argue with that. It's all about the value.

To reap a harvest you must first till the soil, then plant the seed, water it and wait patiently for the growth. You've already tilled the soil, and planted the seed, now you just need to keep doing some good watering and wait. Keep making quality posts, keep engaging, and the rest will happen. It's frustrating, but, like all great things in life, it takes patience. Either way it's great networking and getting to know how this all works in the crypto world. UpVoted and Resteeemed 👍

Great advice! I'm really enjoying my time here, so I'm not too concerned about the financial aspect. I've entered a few contests, which I have never done on a social media platform before and I'm having fun creating. Thank you for the upvote and resteem. I was going to follow you but realized I already am.

I think you hit the nail on its head with this post. Paradoxically enough, in order to become successful on Steem (including the financial success), one has to be focused not on money, but on the community and building genuine relationships. Then the whole experience will become much more enjoyable, rewarding, meaningful and sustainable in the long-term. The money then will come as an added bonus…

I'm totally enjoying the discord channel. I found my place and it is great! I think this is an amazing platform. I really see someday everyone I know using it once it becomes user friendly. It may take a while though. There is no way I could see sustainability trying to just make money on here. Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it.

Also been here abut 2 weeks. Its hard to keep up with a constant flow of quality posting. The points you brought up are good and something we have all thought about. Following you

Thank you! I'm starting to find some curators who are taking their time to find good posts. I'm trying to follow as many of them as possible and connect with the authors of quality content.

This post has received a sweet gift of Dank Amps in the flavor of 12.50 % upvote from @lovejuice thanks to: @legosnjoysticks. Vote for Aggroed!

I used to have no problem self-voting until people started to accuse me of being a money grabber. I was like...I'm earning barely 4 bucks even with the self-voting, lol.

I feel your pain.

My self vote is only worth a penny, so I don't really see it having much of a factor right now.

No, I mean using Randowhale or Minnowbooster.

I think those are great resources to get started and to get some exposure. I wouldn't worry about what people say. As minnows it is very depressing to put so much effort in a post and see that no one has even looked at it.

I'm here for almost 2 weeks as well so I feel like I'm looking in a mirror reading this post.

I chose to enjoy myself, meet cool people and not really focus much on the financial aspect of all of it. If something ever comes of it, great, otherwise I'm at least having fun and learning stuff.

I think that is the direction I'm heading!

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