The Blue Print.
I am strictly shooting from the hip and speaking my thoughts after hearing the four hours long "State of Steem Forum" (a must listen for any Steem investor -
First off it's no secret that projects need to succeed in delivering on useful Dapps; these will create demand for Steem, creating the necessary natural buyers to balance the market against the natural sellers (witnesses, cashouts). Steem has been delivering on the Dapp part; it seems a new project pops up every week. As we have seen though, having a great Dapp is not enough. There was a reason Facebook was unprofitable for a large amount of its existence. The key is having high-quality Dapps that create demand for Steem.
Natural sellers will always sell and put downward pressure on the price of Steem. And for as long as Steem has no natural buyers, the token will be treated like a hot potato to new people and will only be cashed out.
Facebook did not become Facebook because a few rich people joined. Facebook has become what it is today because of the number of people use it on a daily basis.
-Facebook gets you in the door by being free and then charges for advertisement, games, they have an online market they take a cut from, etc.
Has anyone reading this played Final Fantasy 7?
The Golden Saucer in FF7 reminds me of Steem.
Source: https://bit.ly/2Blo7C8
You need GP (currency only usable at The Golden Saucer) to use any of the rides or to do anything in the place. Steem, like an amusement park, has lots of attractions, all that requires a little bit of Steem. The confusion comes in by not being upfront with people. I believe the first 1-10 Steem a new Steemian gets should be the easiest to obtain. Make it easy enough for an average person to earn the Steem, but hard enough that a bot could not. This can be anything from proof of caring (post on social media about the project, earn one Steem, etc.) - that is marketing that new people do to earn the Steem. Notice I said earn.
The Steem blockchain also needs easy onboarding, like @steemmonsters did, the ability to buy in with fiat easily. If Steem is like an amusement park, right now it has about 300 entrances, isolated rides and no one for the love of God can find the ticket counter to purchase emission. Telling a new person that wants to join the Steem blockchain in some way to: "go buy Steem on Binance" - is like telling someone who wants to play Putt-Putt golf to go get their golf club from the moon; it just ain't happening chief. If a small-time project like Steem Monsters can make onboarding onto Steem this easy, no excuses for anyone else. Steem is like a river filled with fish; it is up to the community to build the infrastructure that makes it easy to get resources from the river. Instead of having a dock with a fishing net we are forcing people to dive in the river and catch a fish with their bare hands.
Speaking of easy onboarding and small time projects, I give you the example of NLC. I invested in a project last year called NLC (No Limit Coin) - A game of skill crypto (fantasy sports, poker, epsorts) - and they have easy onboarding via PayPal/credit card, which auto buys up the ladder on an exchange. The player gets the coin in their wallet, and they play the games. The goal is for the future to have natural demand for the coin without the players knowing they are using crypto.
I have a vision for Steem, where a page that brings every Dapp on Steem together, sort of like a Steam for Steem Dapps. People can "buy in" with a certain amount of Steem to whichever Dapp they want. The onboarding is simple, PayPal or CC connected to a backend on an exchange. @blocktrades or any exchange can be used for this. People enter the "Steam of Steem" site, and they browse around. For Steem Monsters they need a 10$ starter pack. The point is more natural demand from average non-crypto people who just want to click buy from PayPal or what have you.
If you are a freemium Dapp, find ways to make revenue from the people using the website. Make sure to give new people the ability to earn Steem with a small task that brings value back to the Dapp, full circle. Reminder: Ads are not popular, but they will be if people were being paid to watch the ads. (cough... Brave model... cough)
I have been claiming accounts and am working with some developers behind the scenes trying to play around with the best way to onboard people. You don't always have to have all the answers, but a general direction. We have the compass, and we know we need to head north. Rephrase: We have the Dapps, and we see the need to monitze them. If we keep pushing the direction things will start to look familiar, and reassurance will return.
Dan, have you heard of @dstors? They are doing big things, combing crypto and eCommerce together in one platform which connects buyers and sellers. I just recently began supporting them via delegation because they are pioneering a new concept called dCommerce or decentralized commerce. Feel free to check them out 👍🏻 -Ken
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I have, and am a big fan. I just recently started a new business and would love to sell on dstors when the platform opens up.
The person that can make this 'App Store' for Steem - should be showered with STEEM.
I can see a profile page with all the Apps you've once bought, used, with profits you made per app, with statistics on powerup, all nicely gamified, and an invite link that gets family and friends to the 'easy onboard' page.
That would be pretty epic.
Especially the Paypal/CC integration is important. It's why I tend to suggest steemmonsters more easily and like 'oh try this out' than most other apps because I know it will take me a while to explain all the workings of getting the account, the wallet, powering up... Buying a pack of cards with paypal though: no-one questions me.
Yes, and why not 'buy in' on your blogging dApp so you immediately have a little SP? I see many people frustrated they start here and it takes months to earn their way to 10-30 STEEM, which is when RC limitations start to matter less. Why not 'ask' them to buy their way in from day 1? Would be a great learning experience too - people basically invested a little bit of money into something valuable. And it's an amount of money that is easily spend on Desktop games or 'Steam' (the one with an a) - so why not on here?
Ok, just reacting on what I read, thanks for sharing your thoughts, that Forum was a highlight of the week for me.
App Store. Underneath each app have text with the avg amount of Steem needed for a "good experience" would be cool.
Agreed. It can be difficult to bring new people to Steemit unless you're right there with them guiding them through the process. It's too complicated for most. Pretty much impossible to introduce new people to the platform long distance, unless they're really motivated. And if they're unfamiliar with crypto that makes it even harder. It's a crippling flaw that if addressed effectively could bring us from fringe status to mainstream. I'd like to see Steemit and the many awesome dapps associated with it become a force to be reckoned with in the social media realm.
Another issue that I think needs to be addressed is private messaging. Though I love discord, we Steemians use it way too much at the expense of Steemit and its dapps, making it look like there's not as much going on here as there really is. Maybe private message is impossible to do on the blockchain, but there's got to be a workaround.
Partiko is quickly becoming my favorite interface. Their points system is awesome, the layout is clean and intuitive. I wish they offered a desktop version, with private messaging, and easy onboarding. Maybe also with links on the profile page that say things like "upload a video" (takes you to dtube upload page), "upload an audio file" (takes you to d sound upload page), "make a meme" (takes you to Dmania), "crowdfund" ( takes you to Fundition), and so on. Maybe somehow using steemconnect so as to make the sign in process the same every time for every dapp and not confuse people. Something like that would make this platform so much more accessible and intuitive, and ultimately, usable. Everyone likes having it all right there laid out for them, instead of having to dig.
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I don't really understand the blockchain market. I joined Steemit because of a friend's invitation. I did it because my friend was suddenly rich at that time. But I joined when the blockchain market was no longer successful. but now I like to do it even though I don't have a high reputation and don't produce much steem. I like to post news through esteem and I am comfortable doing it. following the big ones like you , will make me getting a lot of knowledge about blockchain and I will keep to learn. Success for you.
Steemit is a great platform, very attractive to many people at first sight, as they pay to post and make valuable comments for their steemit colleagues. Unfortunately, there are users who, as you mentioned, because they do not have a correct instruction or guide during the whole process, have been disappointed with the platform, since they aspire to obtain higher income than what is currently obtained, due to the prices of Steem.
there are many users who do not know many of the benefits of steemit and the different ways in which we can evolve within the community to gain followers and at the same time increase revenues through appropriate publications and comments. This, among other things, is what has caused Steemit to generate disinterest in some users, after a certain time, because they did not see their established objectives fulfilled.
Steemit should look for mechanisms that allow users to identify themselves more easily and quickly with the platform, which will mean that, in the medium term, Facebook will not be spoken of as what Facebook is today. Steemit will be talked about as what will be in a short time, a great platform that everyone will want. use. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. A hug
Monetizing DApps is a great solution but still is a challenge if we cannot onboard and educate users accordingly. We are now at a great opportunity to do so as those who came for quick money are no longer here so we should emphasize the community aspect as DApps and their communities are built. This will also improve retention but the gateway(s) is needed fist. I have also been claiming accounts since HF20 and cannot wait for the development of communities like @steemonboarding to facilitate users starts and engagement. This will create the underlying value to build the foundation of the ecosystem.
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Money has to flow in two directions.. and I like how you say:
I agree.
There's also something equally important at play.
History and reputation. I wrote about it just recently, and one person said to me "it was a wakeup call" -- and I'm glad I was able to do that... much like you're giving people a "wakeup call" yourself.
I like this idea a lot.
You could easily categorize dapps on the screen so people don't have to guess what each one does.
Steemmonsters under "gaming"
Steepshot under "photography"
Actifit under "fitness"
Maybe a dapp that just shows you ads in order to earn small amounts of steem or steem power. Put that under "advertising". Also make that dapp capable of individual users making and paying other users to view their ad. Not just for companies to advertise.
So many possibilities!
I unfortunately wasn't able to listen to the big meeting that happened, but i'm seeing some great ideas being thrown around. Very exciting!!! 😊
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@theycallmedan, Yes, Steem should become the daily stuff for the people and for sure only more ways of effective access can turnup this picture for sure. And as you gave the example of Steemmonsters regarding easy accessibility and on boarding process, it's vital for any project for sure because, if gates are rigid at start then unfamiliar people will think to find the different gate.
And yes, if PayPal option will opened on Blocktrades or any for buy in Steem then that will going to boost Steem without any doubt for sure. And in my opinion whatever points you've bring forward are really practical and thinkable and sounding as, if action will implemented then step by step we will reach to the point of Expansion and Growth. And at the end of the day, more Dapps and more Projects with effective accessibility will bring more effectivity.
Keep up brother and stay blessed. 🙂
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I completely agree with all the points which you have mentioned hear and i really wish that all of us should come together and do whatever it takes to make this platform in demand so that in future we will get benefit both monetarily as well as socially.
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