Meet a whale with @jamesmovic...episode3

Wow!!, guess what friends? Its the third episode of meet a whale...incase you dont know what its all about, "Meet a Whale" is the first of its kind, founded by me and comes up every Sunday. It's an interview with a whale, or a geriatric steemian in which I ask Steem-related questions from which newbies might benefit. Be sure to look for the post each week and learn about the platform!.. Guess what friends ? I invited @d-pend to be Our guest for today, which means today is gonna be fun filled.

Meet@ d-pend a whale, founder of the 100days poetry contest and also a good friend.

@jamesmovic - Who introduced you to Steemit?

@d-pend - Actually, it's a bit hazy to reflect back on how I found out about it. I had invested into Bitcoin & Ethereum for about a year and a
half and suddenly everything was taking off in April & May of last year. I kept seeing people mention something called "Steemit" in different cryptocurrency-themed discord groups i was in and finally went to the site to request an account, just for fun.

I wasn't really that interested in it because at that point I wasn't all that active on social media. The next morning my account had been approved! I felt the pull to post a poem even though I hadn't written poetry for quite a while. For anyone who is curious, here's that very first poem: my first Steemit post. https://steemit.com/poetry/@d-pend/hello-steemit-world

@jamesmovic - What triggered you to organise the 100 days poetry contest and how do you think newbies might benefit from the steemit school?

@d-pend Continuing from the above answer, when I came to Steemit Iset the simple intention to post every day after that first poem. I would post either a poem, a philosophy/motivation article, a cooking article, etc. I challenged myself in a very similar way to the challenge I have now extended to the Steemit community. I saw massive benefits in my creative & personal growth in general, and poetry writing ability specifically when I took the challenge myself, so I wanted to give that little push to others to encourage them to try it out as well. Newbies can benefit from our STEEM schools in so many ways, not only regarding cryptocurrency and Steemit/STEEM specifically, but by learning about how to cultivate basic skills to achieve success in life that are often not taught in our society. This includes taking responsibility of all aspects of our life (escaping victim mentality) which results in radical self-empowerment when carried to its natural conclusion. We find that financial, personal, philosophical, and spiritual success arenot exclusive but are intimately intertwined.

@jamesmovic - Is an individual allowed to have two accounts,and if so can they be linked?

@d-pend - An individual is allowed only one free account (gift from Steemit Inc. with delegation.) If one wishes to create more accounts outside that, it is reccomended to use
https://anon.steem.network/ to do so, which requires 5 STEEM to open a new account. This could be a dedicated account for a witness,, building a bot, a community project like
@steemitschool or @steemitpoetry, etc. Using third party tools, accounts can be somewhat "linked" through curation trails,automation, etc. but they will always be totally independent on
the fundamental level, with their own private keys to keep track of.

@jamesmovic - Which do you think is better, the 50/50% power up or the 100% power up option?

@d-pend - I would recommend the 50/50 power up option because of the present and future potential of SBD to rise in value given its low
supply. Moreover, when SBD is at a high price in USD$ value,one can make up to 5 or 6 more times on a post! In that case the best strategy is to build up SBD and buy STEEM with it to
power up when there is a favorable ratio in the internal market or on exchanges like Bittrex.

@jamesmovic - Do you think commenting on other blogger's posts (I.e whales, dolphins) helps in getting noticed?

@d-pend - Absolutely, but the comments must stand out!

Be creative,genuine,heartfelt,thorough... provide value! Speak to the heartof the blogger, don't just respond to the text of their post. It also helps to borrow some delegated SP from @minnowbooster or @blocktrades so your name will be higher up on the upvote list.As people say "money talks." A combination of investing into STEEM if you are able to and being consistently engaged with the people you click with on Steemit will lead you to success in the long run.

@jamesmovic - What do you think might be the cause of low views on one's post? Is it as a result of wrong tags?

@d-pend - There are many causes, and yes, incorrect/unpopular tags can be part of it. I'd recommend at least two "main" tags such as writing, blog, poetry, photography, art, etc. (generic & popular tags.) The rest can be "special" tags that are less popular. The biggest cause of low views is lack of consistent engagement with other bloggers. Make 50, 100 meaningful comments daily! If you still don't have views I will be very surprised. Also, power
up your account as soon as you can. Get to 100 SP, then 500, then 1000, then 5000. Set big goals and go after them ferociously! Get rid of negative mentalities that keep you in a Low position and you will inevitably rise, no matter if it takes 5 years.

@jamesmovic - Does powering down affect one in any way?

@d-pend - Yes, powering down does several things. First, it shows to some people (including me) that you do not really believe in the future potential of STEEM and are just out to make a quick buck, or you are desperate and seeing Steemit as a job. Steemit is not a job, no matter what anyone says! It is a new paradigm that can potentially replace jobs. It is possible for STEEM to rise to $100 USD and more, depending how widespread adoption is and how well the apps for the blockchain are developed. I do not recommend powering down at this juncture.

Also, it can be wise to power down and sell a bit of STEEM for fiat currency when the price in USD goes very high. I wish I had done that in December when STEEM was hitting $8 or $9 because now I could have bought a lot more STEEM back at $1.50. It's hard to predict what the market will do, though, and I'm not really a trader, more of a long term holder. However,It's a personal decision.

@jamesmovic - Is their any way the blockchain can be accessed apart from Steemit?

@d-pend - Oh, yes. However, I am not a programmer/developer so I can't explain how it works. Basically anyone can program endless ways to pull information from the STEEM blockchain and display it in any manner of their choosing. That's why we have so many DApps popping up such as;

@dtube,@dsound,@dlive,@dmania, @utopiaio, etc. as well as @steemfollower,@steemengine, and numberless others.

Steemit is nothing at all, actually! It is just a way to display information from the STEEM blockchain.The true essence of value lies in the blockchain itself, and the applications/websites that access this information help bring it to the public.

@jamesmovic - How do I recognise a post that has been flagged by cheetah?

@d-pend - You will see a comment on the post, as well as flags by@cheetah, @blacklist, etc. Keep in mind that this can be a mistake, as well. Even our beloved @dobartim was on the cheetah blacklist in the beginning and I had to go to Steemit.chat to petition them to remove him! Help people by explaining them the detriments of not properly citing their sources and plagiarism in general.

@jamesmovic - Do you have any advice you are willing to give to newbies who are feeling sad due to low upvotes?

@d-pend - Much of my answers above address this question a bit. Set goals, work hard, and don't give up. Invest in Steem Power if you can. Don't expect overnight success. Work 10 times, 100 times harder than everyone else. Post and comment every single day without excuses. Change your attitude towards life in general. Trust in yourself, trust in life! Find your niche, you are valuable and unique!

@jamesmovic - What is your impression about this interview and do you have any advice to give in making it better?

@d-pend - I quite enjoyed answering these questions! The only advice would be to hone the questions in to each specific interviewee a bit more. For instance, more philosophical questions for that type of blogger, more technical questions for programmers, etc.

@jamesmovic - thanks for honouring my invite

@d-pend - my pleasure.

I want to say a very big thanks to my previous guests @pharesim and @ehiboss.

You can send me your steem related questions via discord @jamesmovic, via whatsapp@+2348141693587, and via gmail @ [email protected]

You can also join my whatsapp group to learn more about steemit for free.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/I28fEttLZCj2yrC2JjFNlz.

Till next sunday...love you all.