Talking to Skeptics: Maybe the Tooth Fairy Accepts Bitcoin!
Although I am by no means a pressure-type sales person, I do mention Steemit to most people I know to be active bloggers or who create content for social media.
Steemit Has Lots of Potential!
Personally, I believe Steemit has the potential to become a model for the future of social content sites... but-- as I am sure many of you know-- most other people are far more skeptical.
Blooming Thistle
I have already written about dealing with people who think Steemit "must be a scam."
This time, I want to take a moment to talk about the skeptics who dismiss cryptocurrencies (and by extension Steem/Steemit) with words like... "Oh, come on! That's not a real thing-- it's like Monopoly money!"
The title of this post was borrowed-- quite literally-- from someone I connected with recently who stated "Thinking that virtual crypto money stuff is REAL is kinda like saying you believe the Tooth Fairy is real!"
Wait... what?
The Tooth Fairy isn't REAL???
Whaaaaa....?
What is this particular angle of skepticism about?
The woman I was talking to would probably have taken me more seriously if I'd actually had some physical Steem "gold coins" I could have shown her. Clearly her mistrust-- as well as the mistrust of others we may encounter who throw up similar objections-- had to do with not believing that something could be "real" if there were no physical representation of it.
White Clover in bloom
This in one of the more difficult "breeds" of skeptics I encounter.
And-- believe it or not-- maybe I can't ENTIRELY blame her.
Let's face it, when we go to cryptocurrency web sites, the imagery used is not a bunch of numbers and symbols representing the blockchain... it's usually what? A bunch of gold and silver coins. It's deeply ingrained in our culture that "money"-- currency-- has some kind of physical manifestation. Even if you lived in 19th century East Africa, there were physical cowrie shells used where cowries were money.
Whether we think it's worth something or not, when we hold that piece of paper with a picture of Ben Franklin on it, we know (or believe) we "have" a hundred dollars. It's a thing.
One challenge in "selling" the idea of cryptocurrency is getting past the block that we have "nothing."
Yellow apple on the beach
Paradoxically Speaking...
Regardless of whether we constantly engage in online banking, pay with a debit card and use web commerce that's nothing but a bunch of quickly moving numbers on a screen... we have still been conditioned to believe that SOMEwhere there's a (intrinsically valueless) piece of paper with a picture of Ben Franklin and the number "100" on it to somehow represent what we just did.
Breaking Through the Resistance
In "another life," I spent years and years designing and writing copy for sales brochures and letters.
One of the main keys to creating a successful sales letter is tweaking the words to where you best break through people's "resistance." Sometimes you just move the words around, or try a couple of different words... and it can make all the difference in the world.
Red salvia in our garden
And one of the most successful ways to achieve this breakthrough is through allowing someone to "self discover," rather than pound them over the head with a bunch of facts and figures.
There's no set formula for this... and often best thing is to simply say "Yes, that really DOES seem like imaginary money. So what would it take to make it REAL for you?" and then go from there, adapting your approach as you go. Remember, just because you know there's something "real" there doesn't mean anyone else does, even with persuasion.
So be prepared for the outcome that the other person still thinks we're are playing with Monopoly money, here on Steemit.
In the meantime, maybe we should consider minting some pretty golden Steem coins... so the Tooth Fairy can leave them!
How about YOU? What kind of skepticism have you encountered when telling people about Steemit? Have you been told that Steem is not "real money?" Have people said that to you about cryptocurrencies, in general? What-- if anything-- have you said to successfully persuade them otherwise? Do you sometimes wish you had some actual Steem "coins" to show people? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- start the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Thanks for your very delightful article.
What I have come to understand is that the value of any currency, whether it has a physical representation or not, lies in the people who use it.
In discussing Steemit with an old friend, he has encourage me to "cash out" at least some of it just to verify that it is real. I personally have no doubt about its reality or that I could do that if I need to. However, I may go ahead and to that with a token amount simply as a means to persuade my friend. ;)
😄😇😄
I did this very thing. When discussing Steemit, people always said have you taken out real money? So I did just that. I wanted to prove to them and myself that it was real. It is and its not hard. I suggest setting up accounts several days in advance. I did SBD to Bittrex and sold for Bitcoin, then sent to Coinbase and sold for USD direct deposited into bank.
Yeah, I'll probably write that article, too... the more that information is published to help make it common knowledge, the better off we all are. In already have all the accounts and verifications, so I'll just plot steps from beginning to end.
Sometimes a "demonstration of the product at hand" is called for. I am seriously considering a post that very plainly documents the "journey" of 10 SBD from upvotes to payout, to sending it to Bittrex to exchanging it to BTC, transferring the BTC to Coinbase, exchanging BTC to USD, sending the USD to my PayPal and then using my PayPal debit card to buy a Pizza.
Which pretty much SHOULD dispel any notions that this is "Monopoly Money," but more likely will cause people to exclaim... "Oh, that's FAR to complicated!"
Hence... my previous article about people looking for the "easy button." :-D
That sounds like a great article! I remember a few years ago when Alma Sommer crossed the country spending nothing but Bitcoin...
Nothing like teaching by example! :D
"Teaching Examples" are great.
Steem/Steemit are revolutionary in the sense that we have this community attached. I know some people don't like so-called "app coins" but I think it would be a great addition to the Steemit environment to have our own marketplace... and maybe one of these days you can cross the country spending nothing but STEEM!
I did the same but did Coinbase to bank account. However, that takes a few days the first time to get the ACH set up.
People do wonder about our Steem tokens and whether they are real, meaning can they spend them like dollars. And they wonder where the money they are supposedly worth comes from.
But plenty of people have written articles here about things they have bought from their steemit earnings - cars, rent, coffee, food, etc.
I have personally helped several people convert steem into Bitcoin, then into cash. I speak from experience that if I do the process for them, they are happy when I put some $20 bills in their hands. Steem is as real as dollars, people!
Yup I completely agree with this Kenny-crane. As long as there is evidence that an exchange of goods ultimately occur through the use of Steem or any other cryptocurrency, that's what makes it real to me. You can only use monopoly money to buy fake property, fake houses, and fake hotels. But once someone realizes that they can convert the Steem to regular currency to purchase real goods, I don't think they'll still perceive it as fake any longer
It's just funny to me how the process of going to work, getting paid into your bank account via direct deposit and then getting groceries with money you never actually SEE is somehow more "real" than doing almost the same thing (+a couple of steps) with Steem tokens.
i agree! Some day, maybe soon, we'll be able to get cash back if we want it, at any Point Of Sale, while paying with Bitcoin or Steem with a pass of our phone in front of the checkout device. Time marches on, and you can't stop Progress!
I have had these same issues when talking to my coworkers (actually wrote my first post about this same thing). While I struggled through the opposite approach to you, beating them over the head with facts, they finally came around. I think I'll give your idea a try next time...maybe save me a headache or two.
The "kinder gentler" version seems to get me more mileage, but I think it's really something we need to adapt on a case-by-case basis. Tailor it to the individual who's listening.
I think you're right, different methods for different people, all while not being overly pushy.
How does the $4.98 or whatever value each post earns correlate into physical U.S. currency? Like roughly wat is the exchange rate?
Hi @lovewild, thanks for the comment!
Well assuming that my post ends up making "$4.98"-- actually, let's round it off to $5.00 for easier numbers-- I will end up with a payout at the end of 7 days. Of the $5.00 about $1.00-$1.25 will go to the "curators;" those being the people who upvoted and commented on my post. The remaining-- let's say $4.00-- ends up in my Steemit wallet as 50% Steem Power and 50% Steem Dollars. Steem Power and Steem dollars have different exchange rates, typically quoted relative to Bitcoin. Right at this moment Steem trades for about 1.03 USD and Steem Dollars for 1.55 USD
So 1.00 Steem = 1.03 USD? Thanks for explaining. That makes a lot more sense.
Well written article. How about actual stocks in crytpos for something different? Here is a bitcoin play to consider, up 43% since I penned the article in the link this morning. This Bitcoin mining related stock should go significantly higher . Would sincerely love to hear your input. I tried to warn people of the risks of this stock. That said, while pointing out the potential as well because these cryptos keep exploding higher, as there really are very few 'crypto stocks' out there, this may prove a unique opportunity.
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@motowngold/bitcoin-services-btsc-a-rare-bitcoin-stock-that-may-be-a-great-opportunity
nice post good topic
Thank you.
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