An Educative Session with @papa-pepper... Wild-man... Encourager... Homesteader...Deep Thinker...Come To Papa.. Part One
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Today on The Rainmakers we have an educative session with community builder @papa-pepper, who have been a source of support and encouragement to a lot of Steemians, I have had encounters with him and i must say that heis a very humble Man and has taken time out of his busy schedule to grant this interview.
Ladies and Gentlemen, i give you @papa-pepper
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Ogochukwu: What is your name and where do you come from?
Papa-Pepper: I was born in Wisconsin and lived most of my life there. I am the oldest of three boys, and lived in Wisconsin for most of my life. I did live in New Orleans, LA for a bit prior to Hurricane Katrina and moved down to Arkansas in the recent years.
Ogochukwu: How did you learn about Steemit?
Papa-Pepper: I have known the user @noganoo for almost 20 years now. He first told me about steemit and eventually convinced me to get started blogging on steemit. Obviously, I am very grateful that he encouraged me to finally start on steemit.
Ogochukwu: What is the greatest lesson you have learnt on Steemit?
Papa-Pepper: I think the greatest lesson is that learning new things and investing in the unknown can pay off huge. I knew very little about the internet prior to joining steemit and I knew nothing about blogging or cryptocurrency. Amazingly, I have actually made more on steemit in my free time in the past 10 months than I did at my job, so trying new things and learning new stuff can pay off if you work hard at it.
Ogochukwu: What are your thoughts about the three growth related priorities proposed by the Steem Team led by @andrarchy? (communities, Effortless Onboarding, Mobile Application)
Papa-Pepper: Honestly, the “communities” kind of scare me. I post about all sorts of things all the time, so I have no idea where I would actually fit in. In the platform as a whole I have done very well, but I have no real idea how communities would even work. I know a lot of people really think that moving into communities is key for our growth so I’m not trying to bad mouth the idea, I’m just saying I have no clue where I will fit into that type of platform.
As far as word of mouth marketing and growth, it seems that people are currently joining in droves. I’m picking up a huge number of followers every day, so I know that new people are joining. I think that it will just take time, but we are heading in the right direction.
As far as the Mobile App goes, I know that a lot of people are really looking forward to it. I don’t have any real issues operating off my phone right now, but if people are excited about the app, I can’t wait to see them get what they want.
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Ogochukwu: You are someone who love the outdoors what inspired this passion?
Papa-Pepper: Growing up I was always fascinated by bugs and other animals. I would spend a lot of time outdoors in the woods and swamps. I have always enjoyed being out in creation and I have a great appreciation and respect for the creatures.
Ogochukwu: How did you come about the username @papa-pepper?
Papa-Pepper: I invented a poker game called “Pepper Poker” some years back. Basically, we play Texas Hold’em with peppers instead of poker chips, and any time someone folds or loses, they have to eat all the peppers that they bet. As a pepper growing and general “hot-head” when it comes to peppers, once Pepper Poker started, I became “Papa Pepper.”
Ogochukwu: How do you structure your days between the Farm and other responsibilities?
Papa-Pepper: At the moment, I am doing lawn maintenance for a job. Since the businesses that I cut are all over the state of Missouri, I often leave for two or three days at a time. This is hard, but I’m trying to do everything that I can to be able to build a home for my family without going into debt, which means no mortgage and no loans. My life right is basically preparing the land for us to be able to homestead on it. I’ve got lots of things going on at once, but when I am home, I’m working on projects with the @little-peppers and @mama-pepper in between steemit posts. ;-) My main responsibility is loving my wife and raising my children, so everything else right now is done in an attempt to raise the necessary funds so that I can be at home with my family and earn a living from home.
Ogochukwu: Where and how do you work best?
Papa-Pepper: If it steemit that we are calling the “work” here, it doesn’t matter. I’ve posted from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma so far. (Only 44 more states and I’ll have blogged from all 50 of them! LOL.) Many times I at home, or in hotel rooms, or travelling 70 miles per hour down the highway. Making posts and creating content is kind of second nature for me. The only hard part is the twisting and turning roads in the Ozarks, as trying to stare at the computer screen in the truck while I’m riding can make me motion sick.
Ogochukwu: What tools do you find indispensable for accomplishing your tasks?
Papa-Pepper: For steemit, mostly I just use MS Word and MS Paint on the computer. I use my Canon VIXIA HF500 to take my photos, but the digital screen is malfunctioning, so I’ll have to purchase a new camera to continue. The other web sites that I use are uploading to YouTube and making original GIFs at gifmaker.me. At home, it is mostly hand tools or a chainsaw, to work the land. I am also using animals to clear land for me right now.
Ogochukwu: What would you have done differently on Steemit if you knew then what you know now?
Papa-Pepper: I would have signed up as soon as I heard about it. It was probably around a month or so after I first heard about it before the intro post was done. For the most part though, I was a pretty quick learner and have interacted well, so I do not really have any big mistakes or regrets that I wish I could change or do differently.
Ogochukwu: How do you think is the best way to market Steem/Steemit?
Papa-Pepper: I think that the more steemians that share their stories about joining steemit and making something for it, the more people will join. Since the platform is worldwide and bridges the majority of normal boundaries that exist, marketing through traditional advertising or some other means would be more difficult. If we continue to talk about it, it’ll continue to grow. That, and getting it listed on more trading sites.
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Thank you all for reading, this second part of this interview will be posted on Wednesday.
In what way has @papa-pepper been an inspiration and support to you,let us know in the comment section below.
In watching ADVICE FROM PAPA - A VIDEO SERIES TO HELP NEWER USERS ON STEEMIT , Papa tells of starting at zero, with almost no computer skills, and joining steemit last July.
Now by this May, he's made more than he did at his job, Wow! That's inspirational and encouraging to me.
Papa'a support comes from educating through his helpful advice for newbies video series.
His support is greatly appreciated when I joined the Steem Pocalypse Survival Game. l met a new friend when @clayboyn became my teammate and we began to fantasize and go wide with a kind of subplot story line; all while following and choosing the options presented in the game. Papa's supportive reply was "you guys are hilarious".
My motivation was to draw others in to check it out and join in the next round. By whatever the reasons, many more joined round 2.
Papa is always a 'scroll down to see todays post'type guy.
Full marks for getting off his bum and working for what he wants, rather than sitting back and holding his hand out for donations.
His friendly way of helping newbies to steemit is an example to us all.
Absolutely true @len.george
Thanks for reading and putting down what you feel in your heart
@ogochukwu
"build a home for my family without going into debt, which means no mortgage and no loans" is what I love the most. Super awesome guy for newbs as well
Thank you very much for appreciating that.
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Very interesting, thanks for posting - Voted and following!