How a minnow reached #1 on Trending, and what we can learn from it

Last weekend, an article I wrote unexpectedly made it to #1 on the Steemit Trending page. Here's how it happened. 

A majority of posts I submitted in the first two weeks were mostly overlooked. The lack of a financial reward didn't bother me - as a blogger for over a decade, I'm conditioned to not expect that anyway. But it was disappointing to see no feedback and engage in no discussion. I was left wondering if anyone had read my writing at all. 

After a while, I reflected on what was happening. It was obvious - being a nascent platform, there simply isn't a vast diversity of users. What brought me to the internet in the first place was the opportunity to discuss niche subjects - the kind few if any of your real life friends would be interested in. 

Of course, if I tried to figure out what was trending and emulate it, it would never lead to good writing. So I picked up more general themes which I was interested in, but at the same time would have the opportunity at greater visibility. 

Enough rambling - on to the journey of this post. It'll also be a great example for how well the changes introduced with Hard Fork 12 are working. 

A Rough Start

For me, this was definitely just another post. I had made posts before that I was just as proud of and had worked on just as hard. My approach is simple - to write, post and move on. 

Half an hour on, I started getting some good feedback, but there were only a few upvotes. I was ready to move on, and was convinced it would be yet another overlooked post. 

A huge shout out to the folks at Steemit.chat! Many of you were the earliest voters. You guys were right. Thank you for supporting me, this wouldn't have happened without you. 

Some Signs of Life 

A couple of hours later, I came back to find two influential Steemers had upvoted the post. It shot up to $500. However, it stayed there for the next few hours. 

Moreover, I was disappointed by the lack of comments. I was really hoping it would generate some good discussion, but it simply wasn't happening. 

I went to bed that night with the post lost into the void at the same $500. No more comments were coming in. With just a few hours to go till Payout, that seemed like it. 

Hitting the Trending Page

I was wrong, again. The next morning, I was surprised to find a whole slew of comments and upvotes rolling in overnight. I looked at what happened - it drew a lot of attention right at payout time. My guess is an influential Steemer was watching the "Payout time" page, which a) extended the payout time by a couple of hours and b) finally propelled it to the Trending page. 

The Explosion 

This was not my first time on the Trending page - indeed, one of my earlier posts made it to the top 15 or so. However, once it was there, it never gained much further traction. 

This was different. Things start getting interesting on the Trending page. Comments steadily started streaming in, and I started enjoying myself - there was a fair amount of discussions. Upvotes were, of course, streaming in. 

It Just Wouldn't Die

At $2,500 generated, this was far and away my most popular post. The extended payout time was finally approaching, and I was prepared to call it a success. 

By sheer chance, this second payout time period co-incided with the peak at Catchawhale.com (neat little app!). Moments before payout time, once again, there was a massive swing of upvoting. The quadratic function started kicking in. 

It was up to $4,000, and in the Top 5. 

The next payout period arrived, and once again, it just wouldn't die! This time, it rocketed up past $9,000 and up to #1. It was truly surreal seeing it all play out. 

Curators 

My hats off to the top curators - I know it's tough to curate so much content, but keeping an eye out at the Payout time and the subsequent time extension page does give the posts a last chance. I do see many great posts that hit nearly 100 upvotes, but never Trend - including some of my own. They are popular, but never catches the eyes of Whales or Dolphins. It would be great if there was an "Upvotes" page alongside "Payout Time" which goes purely by number of upvotes. It'll be another tool to give curators a better chance at discovering good content. I bet this will sort itself out as the site grows and there are thousands of influential curators. 

A Second Chance

Thanks to the popularity of this post, a couple of Steemers looked through some of my older posts. One of them actually came before this post, and was paid out with less than half a dollar. 

It is now Trending in the Top 5 after being dead and buried. I bet this would never have happened were it not for a later post hitting the front page. 

I still have many articles that have been overlooked, but this is a really reassuring sign. 

Passing it On

I guess I have just graduated from the minnow class. Looking to the future, I instantly invested every SBD earned into Steem Power. I'm still a little fish, and it may not be much, but I'll be looking closely as much as possible and upvoting/commenting on great content from new members. 

TL;DR

- Keep writing. Keep posting.
- Pick topics you enjoy that have a wide appeal.
- It's not over till the post is paid out.
- Further, don't give up if a post that you are really proud of is overlooked, has been paid out and had entered the void. It may yet be resurrected.
- Once a good post hits the Trending page, it can go really, really big.
- Hard Fork 12 is a huge success! It really is giving a greater voice to many of us who were being overlooked. There are many quirks, of course, but I'm sure they will be fixed.
- Never be driven by popularity or money. Write because you enjoy it. Stop writing and take a break the moment you are frustrated.

A Shameless Plug

Thank you for reading! Deep apologies for this shameless plug, but I thought I'd give it a shot, seeing how good posts can always be rediscovered. :) Like I mentioned, I have a few posts that might be worth a read - do feel free to check my profile. Specifically, my last two posts. One of which is about how our World is getting better all the time; the other is an on-going thriller story which I feel is my best work yet.