You make your own luck (and free Steem Power delegations)
Pushy, or someone who's been in the right place at the right time, are not words I would use to describe hardly any events in my life so far, but there have been a couple of exceptions...
source
Towards the end of last year, I put out a couple of posts that can probably be described as 'keen delegation requests':
We can never have enough curators of good content on this platform.
The struggle between showing my face to the 100k+ SP holders, and giving votes out to the content I enjoy (and sometimes don't even enjoy but I respect the time/effort/quality) is real.
I need to 'look up' to get noticed and not make my efforts financially fruitless, and I need to look down to try to pull people up, keep them engaged, and wanting to stay around a while.
https://steemit.com/@abh12345/another-call-for-responsible-steem-power-delegation
I've publicly and privately offered to 'do your curation for you' and give back to the delegator ALL the curation rewards for the week. No, this sum will not match 100 Steem a day, and more likely be 75% less than that.
The rewards will come down the line, when the price of STEEM is 10$ and the community is thriving - when every piece of OK / good / excellent / awesome work is rewarded in a some way, and new users hit the ground running with incentives to keep them on-board, and improving their writing with every post.
When I look back on these posts I do cringe a little. A little bit persuasive, maybe a bit too forceful, plenty of spelling mistakes, and average formatting, but my heart was in the right place, you know? (and not a bad call on $10 STEEM either!).
I tried, offered data to show I wasn't abusing my tiny vote, and offered payment and data each week - all for the purpose of having a bit more 'welly' behind my vote when curating.
This all happened prior to Steemfest 2 in early November. And then shortly after the event, I noticed in the comments of a post, that some cool dude called @fulltimegeek had delegated 5000 Steem Power out to 3 accounts.
Now's my chance I thought!
And that was it!
Cheeky? Yes. But not totally off topic, not too 'beggy' sounding, and at least I had a little bit of evidence to back up my request. 5000 SP more than doubled my total at the time, and it was a huge confidence boost - I could spread my vote much further, and give out encouragement on the way.
Then the Stewards of Gondor program really took off. @fulltimegeek handed out 360,000 (ALL) his Steem Power to a group of us, we reported in each week, and adjustments were made as he saw fit.
Between the bunch of us, we were hitting some amazing stats:
10000 Unique Steemians landed with a vote was something like a 3rd of the active accounts at the time, and there was a point where I thought we were part of the reason for the rise in price at the beginning of this year! ha!
Passing the baton of engagement and goodwill
Now, the Stewards of Gondor program is no longer active, but it was a great time, a pleasure to be a part of, and maybe most importantly, set a precedent for me in how I wanted to go forward.
It was still using the Bid-bots, keeping my eye on the Minnowbooster and SmartSteem delegation rates, etc, but what I was a part of was much more fulfilling than 'promoting' my own posts, or giving my stake out for someone else to do the same.
As an aside, check out what happens when you use Bid-bots and don't build up your community organically - @adonisabril. Amazing photos, boosted the sh1t out of his work when he joined, stopped doing that a month or two ago, and was back at $1 a post afterwards - hasn't posted in 17 days. It's not the way forward!
Anyway, as others from the SOG program did too, I started out with a delegation plan which is based around engagement and the statistics taken from the SOG manifest. The Sunday just gone was the 20th week in a row that this has taken place, and in almost all those weeks', some of the best performers have received a small delegation.
Twenty weeks has given me time to tweak the numbers, and plenty of time to get to know the keen engagers - these people are who I call my community. Their accounts aren't large, but what they do each week is awesome.
Self-voting is at an absolute minimum, they aren't delegating out to Bid-bots, and they write a hell of a lot of comments each week. If we had more of these people, this place would be rocking, I am certain of that. When I delegate out and gift some STEEM prizes (thanks mainly to @carlgnash and @paulag) each week, I just wish I could give them more.
This week though, my wish came true... sorta!
Because 9 days ago, @krnel published this post:
Niiice, I thought - let's see what 20 weeks of data can do!
I should have sent him the link to the post in hindsight :D
He's not stated this was a factor in his choices, but today @krnel has kindly delegated Steem Power to the majority of the people in the image above, as well as myself, and a host of other lucky Steemians who put in a request on his post last week.
By the way, @krnel is also witness, who is not keen on Bots, and clearly has a good vision for this place. I've read recently that asking for votes is considered 'abuse', and so i'll just drop this link here and move on :) https://steemit.com/~witnesses
The point I'm trying to make is that there are still some people around who are willing to share their votes and their Steem Power in an attempt to pay-it-forward, and bring more abundance to the platform.
Yes, it may be an uphill battle, and many accounts have long gone down a different path, but if you want to stand any chance of this sort of thing happening, my opinion is that you've got to be 'doing it right', right now, and each week until the next opportunity arises - I don't remember seeing free delegations going out recently to anyone not sharing their vote, or delegating out to Bots for excessive profit.
So what will I be doing with the extra 3000 Steem Power I have this week?
Exactly the same as last week of course!
Searching for the people doing their bit, and looking for the content which is worthy of some support.
Thank you @krnel - have a great holiday, and thank you to everyone who hasn't pressed the self-destruct button yet.
Cheers!
Asher @abh12345
If you liked this post and are seeking new witnesses to support, I share a witness called @steemcommunity
Hi @abh12345! Congratulations on the delegation and on getting so many from the Leagues "seen." I think Steemit does potentially have a big future, and thanks to people like you, we can create that future.
Let's face it, the idea of a decentralized social content platform is pretty new, so nobody's here with a bunch pf previous wisdom and experience.
We're now two years in, and something that's not specific to Steemit — but perhaps is common to startups in the broader sense — is that we are entering a "changing of the guard" stage. The founders and early investors are gradually going to give way to more "day-to-day operators."
A lot of people shed tears when @dan left Steemit for greener pastures. But Dan isn't a "nuts and bolts guy," he's a "mad genius" who invents things and then goes on and invents other things. Similarly "Builders" (aka, many of the earliest people here) aren't "maintainers." That manifests in what many currently see as a tendency by the "old guard" to want to just build apps and SMTs and what have you, while caring relatively little about the community and content and such. Again, it's not really their original gig.
Something to keep in mind here is that perhaps things move more slowly with Steemit because we come from a world where we are accustomed to an organizational structure where there is a "they" who take the lead. Here, there is no "they;" WE are the "they."
The evolution of Steemit is slowly happening and we can see it (for example) through the recent and current rise in what we might call "community based" witnesses. That is, witnesses whose focus is — like your own — deeply engaged in creating a content and community oriented platform for the long run.
This isn't to say that ALL the originators of Steemit are "bad!" For example, you have amazing people like @fulltimegeek and @krnel whose visions extend well beyond "Well, we built it... now what?"
@krnel, in particular, has rallied against bots and automation, against "circle jerks," and FOR community and quality content almost since the beginning; often making a lot of enemies (among the Old Guard) in the process.
We have the capacity to shape this platform. Sure, it may seem daunting when we don't arrive here with 500,000SP in pocket... but consider the influence of a "community witness" (or a whole group of them) each backed by the votes of 10,000 well-informed minnows rather than 50 whales! Which means grassroots education and rallying around the importance of witnesses and voting... from the ground up. Posts outlining just who ARE the "community oriented" witnesses, pumped through on a regular basis... there's no "taking over" by pushing others out of the way, but simply by growing bigger than them.
Sorry, went a bit overboard here... but this was a very encouraging post!
=^..^=
Well what a sound message to read as my last one of the day :D
Thank you very much for the kind words of support and encouragement! I shall hold onto the thoughts generated from the last paragraph, which is worth quoting in case anyone else skips by in future.
Cheers!
I took an interest in @krnel right before I won some of his delegation because he pumps out quality posts that are very in line with what I am sharing. I will check out @fulltimegeek as well. I’d love to know more about some of the first generation of people fighting the good fight at steemit!
The fulltimegeek is a legend to me!
I still believe that Steemit has a big future.
I don't know when this future will arrive... But sure... Will arrive...
... We will now need the support of this community because our success is related to this community...
@fulltimegeek has done a great job for this community... And no one can deny this... also @wwf is doing a great job with.Stewards of Terra Mater...
Now our turn to continuing the work
Now we need to increase the quality of content, interact with other people's ideas, support newcomers, build friendly relationships and different groups...
In order to support Steemit... It doesn't matter that you have a strong or weak account... Anyone can support this community with the possibilities it possesses... Posting good content and commenting on others that's also is a support
thank you @abh12345
Thank you @yahoub, very good of you to mention @wwf as I know he's really doing great things with his resources.
I'm the same as you with the positive outlook, even if some of my posting does as 'difficult' questions at times.
FTG really set the ball moving late last year, I hear from many who were not part of the team speak of how it encouraged them to keep with it and made them see what great things could be done here.
Thanks for your comments (and the W proxy I see - I'll do my best)
I may not get over here much due to spring pulling me away, it was great to hear of the delegation. You are also delegating a lot of your steem as well and I think that is the most perfect way of leading by example. Bravo to you Asher for all the work that you continue to do. Keep rocking the steem platform with the waves that you send out my friend. By building strong communities we can overcome any of the problems we may face. Paying it forward may sound counter intuitive but it is the way to ensure prosperity comes to everyone. Steem on my friend. You rock!
I understand @wwf, and have the same feelings - it's tough to manage your time across the network, and with life away from the screen. We can but do our best :)
You also deserve much credit for the community work you have undertaken, and I strongly believe in what you say when talking about paying it forward being the way to provide prosperity to all.
Thank you for finding the time to provide encouragement today :)
Thank YOU for leading by example.
I will check out your witness. Any other underrated witness? I’d like to put together a list and campaign to get them into the top 50
Congratulations, Asher! I know you will use your delegation wisely. @fulltimegeek has been such an inspiration to the steemit community. @wwf is also having great success with his Stewards of Terra Mater. Seemit is a great place to be. I see nothing but growth in the future.
Thank you very much!
FTG has been on another level hasn't he - leading the way!
@wwf has taken the baton in style, as have many from the program, and I completely agree that steady growth is what lies ahead :)
you continue to amaze me! 🙌👏👏👏 well done Asher !! So happy to hear about all the awesome delegations 😊
Thank you @amariespeaks! :D
I hope things are good on your side of the Blockchain!
things are great, busy in real life at the moment so been spotty on the blockchain but I'll be back in full force soon! Hope everything is good with you too :)
Interesting read. I realise that I still have no idea what I'm doing here. But I'm growing my audience organically by attempting to create interesting content.
Oh and I've thrown a few dollars of my own in as well because I believe in the concept. I figure if my vote is worth more then I'm more likely to be noticed as well?
Best of luck for curating this week!
The learning curve is pretty big to be fair, but it sounds like you've started off on the right foot.
I would say if you can, invest a little as yes, a bigger vote is noticed - it's what everyone wants a few of!
Cheers!
When I read about things like this, I refuse to lose hope in the system. This is really beautiful and successful. Let me specially seize this opportunity to thank @fullimegeek and @krnel for being the pillars many steemians can comfortably lean.
Although I'm not among the beneficiaries of the SP delegation, but I'm looking forward to luckily receiving some someday as it will be very useful and helpful to me and the community in many ways especially in advancing my steem powered project tagged PRODUCTS OF HELP INITIATIVE, a project that focuses on providing educational support to children in the rural communities of Nigeria.
Well done @abh12345, you just inspired many of us as well as give us hope through this post, that hardwork can never be ignored forever. I'm going straight out to offer witness votes to @steemcommunity, @krnel and @fulltimegeek if they're all on the list
Thank you for the kind words @joshuaetim :D
FTG and Krnel are showing those around them a different path, and they deserve much credit. I'm trying to walk in their footsteps - it feels like the best way forward :)
@steemcommunity and @krnel are witnesses, thank you :D
You're welcome, I've voted them already
Cheers!!
Thank you very much! :D
I think this is my all time favorite post of yours Ash! Not being a numbers girl (no surprise to you:), I love that this one shows me who you are as a person; or I should say, how you've 'grown' as a person here. I laughed with,
haha, but don't we all cringe a bit from our past? :) and then to see how you had a paradigm shift of sorts and realized that
Your Curation Leagues is something that shows to your beliefs in the importance of genuine engagement, but more important to me, how you really feel about all of us involved.
This warmed my heart, and I must say, my community would be lacking without you in it!
I too have been very fortunate to have been delegated to by yourself of course, but myself and the @asapers team also received delegation from @krnel too! Pretty exciting stuff :) Like you, I'll not change a thing this week and keep doing what I'm doing...engaging and paying it all forward!
Cheers :)
:D
Thank you! Sometimes when you are writing a post and press that button, you do wonder how your contribution will be received, so I'm really happy you enjoyed this one!
Such is the way the system is built, it's often hard (OK, pretty impossible) to find key information/points from the past and so digging into this and surfacing it for your newer viewers is a good way of filling in some history I think.
Engagement is key for community building, and I think being involved in a community will help the whole move forward quicker, together.
The time as a SOG certainly showed me that, and so this is what my plan has been this year. I'm super happy with how it as gone, and I think we can only go from strength to strength as time passes.
Cheers!
What a great use case for the engagement league data! Glad it worked out for several of the most engaging users, and for you of course :) Congratulations!
Thank you! I was much more prepared than last November and it worked a treat it seems, thanks to the kindness of @krnel :D
Always great seeing a witness use there influences to enable others in such a way. I do have a couple of open witness slots and some I should really get around to removing at some point. As such I’ll look more into it the one mentioned over the weekend when I have time for that.
Ah bidbots. I kind of laughed the other day when one of my followers bought me one to show support. It was at least kind of them and all that but dang it!
It's a little time consuming to do the full research job. here's the list :) https://steemian.info/witnesses
As for the last statement, I see a time where that will not be allowed, or a least an option for the poster to say 'no to bots', which will gain them a listing on a community style trending page (and so someone else can't de-list them by pretending to be kind, if you know what I mean!)