So, you just learned about this new great place on the internet (or should I say, "on the blockchain") where you can get paid for writing valuable content. The place is called Steemit and some of the people contributing here are making far more than just a living.

How can you be like them? How can you actually create some predictable revenue from this place? How can you convert your writing skills into money, easier and faster than on the "traditional" social media platforms?

Alas, there is no easy answer to these questions.

But there is some hope.

In this article I'll try to sketch two of the most common strategies I spotted since I joined Steemit, more than a year ago.

But first things first. Let's see what are the prerequisites of actually being able to perform here.

• first, you should take some time to learn how the platform works. There is a very steep learning curve, and, before bitching about it, be grateful: it's this difficulty that keeps regular spammers and freeloaders away.

• second, you should set up a reasonable time window for measuring your efforts. Any decent traditional content platform expectation starts with a "few months". Same goes for Steemit.

• third, you should be consistent. But ready to change if something goes wrong. I know. It's not easy.

I'm going to use an analogy with hunting. I don't know how familiar are you with these concepts, but hopefully you'll understand as we go along.

The Scorer Strategy: "One Lucky Shot" - a.k.a. "Whale Hunting"

Have you ever seen how felines are hunting? They are on the watch for hours, waiting for the perfect moment, slowly getting closer, until the prey is within the reach of one fantastic leap (or a short, but explosive race, no longer than a few seconds). I'm sure you've seen that, if not in the wild, at least with your cat, while watching birds or mice.

Alas, the felines are not always successful. Their strategy, which I will call "the lucky shot" is failing more often than not. If there's the slightest fault in calculating the jump, or the distance, the prey will simply escape. And that's because felines, although incredibly fast, are not resilient at all. Even cheetah, the fastest feline in the world, can't sustain maximum speed for more than a few minutes. And then is game over, the watch must start again.

On Steemit this strategy might be translated like this: spending long hours identifying the most valuable stakeholders, (also known as "whales"), understanding their likes and dislikes, learning their schedule and habits and then, once you get to know them a little better, go for the kill: publish a post, or a series of posts and expect to get a huge upvote, probably in the hundreds of dollars.

This strategy has the same chances as the felines's "one lucky shot" strategy described above. I mean, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. "Whale hunting" is a risky game. It has a lot of uncertainty priced in and it's very unpredictable. Yes, the payout is huge - most of the times - but there's no guarantee you will get that payout.

So, the chances I give to this strategy are "unlikely to moderate".

The Hustler Strategy: "Persistence Hunting" - a.k.a. "There's No Shortcut, Just Write"

By now you have realized that my preferred strategy is not "the one lucky shot" and, indeed, you're right. My preferred strategy has a lot in common with "persistence hunting".

I'm almost 100% certain you never heard about "persistence hunting" before, so I'll try to briefly describe it: when humans were barely walking on two feet, something extraordinary happened to them: at some point, they started to sweat. They started to regulate their body temperature by eliminating liquids (and a lot of minerals, but that's another story). Humans are the only mammals that sweat, if you didn't know that. Humans, because of their increased number of sweat glands, are the best at thermoregulation across the entire mammal spectrum. And the implications of this difference were huge: humans were able to delay overheating for hours or days, whereas any other mammal couldn't.

As such, humans were able to perform a fantastic feast: pursuit a much faster prey, like an antelope, for hours or days, at a slower, but consistent pace, until that antelope will fall dead simply by overheating. These hunts were incredibly boring and exhausting. But they were almost always successful.

On Steemit, this strategy is translated by: there's no shortcut, or lucky shot, just write. Sometimes - most of the times - you'll only make pennies (if any). But as long as you keep writing, these pennies will add up. And also your follower numbers will increase. And your reputation will go up. And, at some point, you'll realize your writing got better.

And all this will create a virtuous cycle in which you'll slowly, but steadily advance.

Whatever Rocks Your Boat

While I'm a firm supporter of the "persistence hunting" strategy, I do think the right mingling skills and a bit of good karma will give you the "one lucky shot" you're waiting for. You may even become friends with a whale (or a group of whales) and then things will be easier.

But I'm just saying this "lucky shot" is a bit more unpredictable - as the word "luck" in it implies, obviously.

So, my pick is "persistence hunting".

But, hey, whatever rocks your boat.

Steem on!

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I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.

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