Come to Give, Not Take: The Power of Reciprocity

in #psychology8 years ago

With this mindset, I went from being a newbie to swimming with whales in a few weeks:

I'm not anyone special. I haven't founded any successful bitcoin companies, I don't have thousands of Youtube followers, nor do I have a widely-read newsletter. I'm just your average Jo...rdan who stumbled upon Steemit and was intrigued by the concept.

A couple of days after signing up, I went over to Amazon looking for a book about the site. I bought Steemit 101, written by Tom Janowicz @donkeypong, and devoured it immediately.

It was full of great information, but one section in the book stood out; it read:

“I would suggest anyone who’s looking to increase his influence and reputation to join the Slack channel of Steemit (replaced by Steemit Chat after publishing). Then create connections while following the best tip I’ve ever heard on how to get what you want:

If you can help enough people get what they want, you can get anything you want.

Don’t go on the Slack Channel to get but to give. Give as much of whatever people on the Slack channel needs and you will never be chasing after votes.”

I took that advice to heart, and the hunt was on for ways to do just that. The first opportunity that arose was a post from @ned. He asked for help writing the Steemit FAQ, and I volunteered to put it together. Many hours of work later, the final draft is nearly complete.

Another time, I replied to a thread about a potential Steemit improvement. One of Steemit’s largest whales responded to that comment, saying he thought the same thing for a long time. I had previously written a blog post on the topic that got lost in the Steemit abyss. After his comment, it occurred to me that someone of his clout would likely get traction posting it and therefore encourage action by Steemit developers. I told him he could repost it for this reason, no strings attached. Maybe it was because our visions aligned, or maybe it was because of this gesture, but this is how I started swimming with whales. (A.k.a. my first whale follower.)

Throughout the next couple weeks, I continuously offered help in instances where I could hopefully add value: commenting on posts, suggesting improvements, contributing to projects, answering questions, etc.

Even though I've only had time to write half a dozen blog posts since discovering Steemit a month ago, I managed to garner nearly 150 followers (5 of whom are whales.) All because I came to give, not take.

If you're a frustrated minnow who has been struggling to gain traction through simply writing blog posts, maybe it's time to consider a new approach? Consider asking what you can do for others and expect nothing in return. I think you'll be overwhelmed with the support you ultimately​ receive. The power of reciprocity is real - On Steemit and in real life.

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
~Zig Zigler

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Great post my friend.
That's the right attitude and thanks for sharing it.
STEEMIT 101 sounds like a great read, and good idea picking it up and reading it. I've done a lot of learning the hard way, but I've been learning.

Keep it up! Papa approves your message!

Thank you. Steemit 101 is a quick and easy read with tons of valuable information. A few minor things need updating due to the constant changes at Steemit, but I'd recommend it for sure!

Great sentiment :-). Excellent.

Helping others is always a great thing. Great job :)

I appreciated your work in the first step of compiling the FAQ. Your Q&As in Ned's post contributed a lot to the project!

I'm glad it was helpful :)

“Give and it will be given to you in good measure, pressed down and overflowing, they shall cast into your lap. For with what measure you measure it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

Very nicely put together article; the next time someone asks me for help in Chat, I'm going to point them to this post first, you've laid out a nice blueprint here. :-)

Cg

Thanks, that means a lot to me.

Good job @shenanigator! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and positivity. I am going to take that advice as well!

Glad to hear! I think the more people who take this advice, the stronger the Steemit community will become.

This is great, and I wish I could say I followed this advice as thoroughly as you have.

In other news, with the new voting power change coming in, my voting power article is about to go out of date and I'm going to have to post a revised version soon. Between that and a major real-life deadline that's coming in the next few weeks for me, I probably won't have time to write a curation rewards post for some time. You should talk to @burnin, he's been digging through the code for these issues and seems to have a pretty good handle on this stuff.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for the revised version and get ahold of @burnin.

What a fine post. I just came back to it, after bookmarking it one month ago.

I spent most of my first month on Steemit creating and posting various content, without getting much reward. I truly enjoy the content creation, but after one month, I realized that I should be doing more. More curating, more upvoting, more commenting, and more learning about what it takes to build a successful Steemit community – a community that breeds further success.

So, over the past few days, I've been throttling back my content-creation activities, and focusing more on upvoting and commenting. And upon re-reading this post, I realize that I can do so much more in terms of support.

Thanks for this post – twice! By taking the advice herein, I believe my next month will be as good as my first month, and maybe even better.

More curating, more upvoting, more commenting, and more learning

Oh gosh, there always is so much more that we can do, but unfortunately there is not always enough time to do all those things. Today is my first day on Steemit, I am browsing the how-to posts, the comments, and debating if I have enough time to be a Steemit member...

There's plenty to do, but it's very interesting and rewarding. "Rewarding" in the sense of accomplishment, and also (potentially) in the sense of $ rewards.

Certain long-time Steemians are making some decent money on Steemit, but don't expect to get rich overnight, or even to get rich. Those who are making good coin have spent a lot of time and effort already. Some of them have years of online experience, and they brought their subscribers along to Steemit.

Best of luck, and Full Steem Ahead.

p.s. I suggest you "make enough time to be a Steemian."

For those of us who have to start from scratch, it can be and probably will be a bit of a slog. At first, you will find that your posts barely get noticed, and that they make you a few cents or a few dollars at most.

At the beginning, you cannot reasonably expect anything more. But if you persist, if you diligently and consistently continue to create quality content, you will grow along with Steemit, and you will eventually find that you have succeeded along with Steemit.

Thank you for your kind, encouraging reply to my short comment.

I am not an online newbie though, far from it. I have been online, full-time marketer, for the last 3 plus years. But, recently I found myself liking crypto world more and more and liking marketing word less and less ;-) This is why I started venturing into completely new for me grounds, such as BitcoinTalk and now Steemit.

I noticed Steemit on Google, read few posts which ranked surprisingly high in searches and got interested… And I am thinking… maybe here my marketing experience could prove useful and maybe I will be able to learn new things and find new, interesting networks outside my usual networking one. And, of course, earn some Steem coins in the process.

I got somehow tired with the solo ads and traffic exchanges, (I own viral mailer and DLB site) and I would like to change my online activities to more challenging and interesting ones. Wish me luck :-)

OK ... good luck!

I tried to do some online business 10–15 years ago, but soon gave up. I aint a marketer, and did not enjoy it at all. And of course, that means that I had no success at it whatsoever.

Steemit is quite different. It's more of blogging platform, and some even refer to it as a "publishing venture." That means that whatever you want to publish, you can do so on Steemit, and probably find a readership / community.

Of course, "marketing" yourself and your posts can be said to play a part in any success you will have on Steemit, but it's a very different sort of marketing / promotion. One that I'm quite comfortable with. The way I like to describe it is by saying that it's more of a COMMUNITY than a network.

Below are a few points of advice re posting on Steemit.

  1. Longer posts are more lucrative than short posts. If you make a post of 20–30 paragraphs, it's more likely to earn rewards.
  2. Include some photos, images or graphs, to complement the text.
  3. Make sure the text and photos are formatted properly, so that your post looks attractive and appealing.

Hope this helps for now. Good luck, and Full Steem Ahead!

p.s. I'm also from Canada. Where's Wawa?

Nice, it looks like I have already made here a new friend :-)

I am not planning Full Steem ahead yet, but hopefully soon.

I have another obstacle, English is not my first lang, and as such, it takes me longer to write and I always question my style and my grammar, but I like challenges and all together, I love writing. Used to write quite good in my native language...

So, you are in Thailand, and you are originally from Canada. Nice! I like Thai people, my very first online friend and partner was a young, super talented Thai boy. Today he is a CEO of his own company in Bangkok and we are still in contact.

As to Wawa, it is in Northern Ontario, 230 km north of Sault Ste Marie. It is a picturesque, tinny town at the shores of Wawa Lake and Lake Superior. If it were not for our winters, it would be one of the nicest places in Canada ;-)

We are goose famous ;-)

Your English and your writing are fine. (As a teacher, writer, editor, I know quality writing when I read it, so trust me.)

Even though the English language is my specialty, I also take a long time to write an essay or an email or a Steemit post. I question my own style, because I want the reader to read it WITHOUT questioning or judging my style. Good writing is a craft, so if your writing takes a bit of time and effort, just realize that that means you are creating GOOD writing.

Looking at Google Maps, I realize that I drove thru Wawa in 1979, on my way back from a summer in Alberta. I made it another 300–400 miles down the Trans-Canada Hway, to Elliot Lake, where I got in a car accident and ended up unconscious in the hospital for a few days. I survived....

Thanks for the Canada Goose. Cheers

I am sorry it took me so long to reply to you, I had a home situation... Yes, Elliot Lake is not too far from Wawa and I will do my best to find you on Steemit chat :-)

Sorry, one more Wawa's giant goose picture, this one is special:

And... one more question. Is it OK to chat like that with each other, out of article context, in comments? I would hate to do something against Steemit etiquette.
I've read this post, but there are not much about commenting convos:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@thecryptofiend/the-complete-steemit-etiquette-guide-revision-2-0

Гарно сказано "прийшов щоб давати а не брати", такий шлях веде до успіху!

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