The Business of Steemit

With the rise in the price of Steem I see many people claim that they want to be “pro”, “make it my job” , “it’s a business to me” and many more in the same vain. But, what does it mean to have Steemit your business? Here are few thoughts from someone that actually runs a business for the last 15 years.

First and foremost, if you want to have Steemit as your business , you have to treat it as a business. Not as a hobby, not as a sidekick, but as a serious and legitimate business, which could be and it is for many people. There are many things you have to know, many things you have to take care of. And when you put the effort, rewards will come.

Consistency

You don’t go to your business whenever you want. You have it open every day. Same is your Steemit blog. You have to post on a regular basis and never miss a day. Whether it’s actually every day , 5 days a week , once a week , you have to stick to the schedule. This way you educate your audience to expect content from you and they are happy when you deliver. But not only that, you have to be overly active in the platform. Answer all your comments, comment on other people’s posts and upvote. Participating in Steemit has to be part of your daily routine. Sometimes, you may not feel like it. But, this is what separates men from boys, amateurs from professionals. Pros, just show up. They show up whether they like it or not, they show when they’re bored, tired, unmotivated. Some of the things we do may become mundane, repeated. And yet, these are the actions that bring us the greatest results in the long run.

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Product

Your product is your posts and they have to be great. It could be text , photos , videos and whatever it is, it has to great and attention catching. Just like the products of any business. If you sell crappy products, you will be out of business fast. If you just copy/paste a video from Youtube and write a sentence, guess how many upvotes you will receive. Yes, none. And don’t whine “that steemit thing doesn’t work” . It’s not Steemit that doesn’t work it’s you that don’t work. And some of you maybe new or inexperienced or blog for the very first time. It’s all right. Everybody has to start from somewhere. Accept the fact that your first attempts will suck and obsess to improve. Improve your writing, your video technique your post formatting. If you become better day by day people will notice and reward you for your effort. And ask. If you don’t know something, don’t be afraid to ask. Somebody will answer you, some will guide you, somebody will help. You won’t get any help if you don’t ask for it. Let me reassure you that people help more than you may expect. I have received help from places I couldn’t even imagine, I am grateful for that and in my turn, I help whoever I can, whenever I can.

Patience

In Steemit, just like in any other business you won’t show up and suddenly the money will pour. You will have to wait for your business to mature and be known to the world. You may have seen posts earning hundreds of dollars. These are from seasoned veterans with huge audience. Your posts won’t be like that. Even if you are lucky to get a couple of whale votes, your posts for the most part, will earn next to nothing in the beginning. You have to be patient, build an audience , build an interesting blog and then you will start to see rewards. It may take few months, even a whole year or more. It depends on your skills and effort. But, it takes time, there’s no way around that. Once, a famous comedian said that it takes twenty years to become an overnight success. These high earners, have produced countless hours of videos, have written tenths of thousands of words, to earn what they earn. They have put the time and effort, they were patient and now they reap the benefits that they deserve.

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Know your numbers

My last point is the most “businessy” point. But, I think it’s the most important and this is why I put it last. You don’t have a business if you don’t know your numbers. Your metrics are the compass that will safely guide you to your goals. Keep track of everything you do. How much you earn by each post , how much you earn each day , how many views you have , comments , followers. The more data you have the more educated decisions you can make. You will know your averages, your best performers, your mistakes. Knowing your numbers will help you make projections to the future or try different scenarios on different situations. You will know when it is time to reinvest , when it is time to take profit, what is the balance between increasing your Steem Power and make a monthly payout. These are equally important variables. Your Steem Power has to increase over time and you have to pay yourself for the work you do. You’re a pro after all. Keeping track of your posts and rewards will help determine that balance and adjust it if the actual results are better or worse. In business you want some things to be predictable and cash flow is one of them.

Have fun

Ok, I said the previous would be last point, but I don’t want to leave you on a serious note. And this is because I believe that business is fun and Steemit could be the most fun of businesses. In the end, you blog about what you like and interact with other people and you get paid for doing that. What can be more fun than that? Yes, I wrote that you have to be serious and obsess, but don’t be too serious or too obsessed. Have fun, be playful , try new things , experiment. Some might work, some might not. It’s all right, as we say in NLP “No failure, only feedback”. Do it again and you might hit a jackpot. And don’t forget we’re dealing with people and people like a surprise here and there, a good laugh now and then. Spreadsheets are good but smiles are even better so let’s make Steemit our business and have all the fun we can during the process.

Enjoy and Steem On !!!

And until we all have fun businesses,
Be healthy , smile and Steem !