Hey Minnows, Just Keep Swimming
So you've been on Steemit a few weeks, and you've put a good bit of time into posts. You've dug deep, researched, fact-checked, and proof-read but for some reason it isn't paying off. You've only accumulated a few followers and made a few cents. Every day you anxiously refresh your blog, hoping it will be the day one of your post takes off and skyrockets you to Steemit fame. Except it doesn't happen, and you're left with bitter disappointment and the question of where your post went wrong. Don't worry, you're not alone. It happens to all of us.
Being a minnow can be frustrating, and having your hard work go unnoticed can be disheartening. Having such little power to commend another's job well done can also be discouraging. Seeing others' posts taking off while your thoroughly researched essay sit lonely and unnoticed can be so disappointing. Clambering your way up in reputation and steem power can definitely be laborious. But in your quest to become noticed and rewarded, you might often fail to recognize how you are growing.
Think back to before you joined Steemit. How often did you really reflect to think about the issues that were important enough to write about? Did you snap pictures of your day just to share with others? How regularly did you heavily research topics that interested you in order to educate others? How often did you share your poems, stories, or essays? Steemit has given us a way and a drive to dig deep and figure out what speaks to us loudly enough to write about. Recently I found myself pouting about only making a few cents on an article I spent hours writing when I realized I probably would have never even bothered fact-checking and sharing it with others had I not been motivated by Steemit. This site is helping us learn more and more about our world and ourselves because we have to comb our brains to figure out what to write about and how to summarize ourselves in a few paragraphs. It has become such a cathartic experience for many to just sit down and write. You may not be earning thousands of dollars quite yet, but you are probably learning so much about yourself along the way. And I think that is really important.
So don't get discouraged and quit. You are an important part of this virtual ecosystem. Keep writing. Keep researching. Keep reflecting on what is important enough to you to eloquently share with others.
"It's not about the destination. It's about the journey."
It is disheartening but with every new post comes a little extra hope
Yep! That definitely helps with the motivation to keep posting :)
I know that feeling only to well You never know the next post might be the one for both of us. Good luck
You are echoing my sentiments exactly @pseudopoise. I can't remember the last time I looked up the correct use of grammar, or how to properly format in markdown, or even blogged for that matter.
I think Steemit has made us all "step up our game". Steemit is very competitive so everyone has to do their absolute best. This is why I believe content on Steemit will be much better than other social media sites, because it is incentivized.
Nice post and I dig the quote at the end!
Thank you! Yeah, it feels good to exercise my writing skills again. I've said it before, but brain hasn't felt this active since college. It's nice :)
Agreed. I caught two whales out of over 500 posts so far... Ugh! Article today I spent over 2 hours on. I think it's just a matter of getting good content consistently to be able to take advantage of whales. But in the meantime, aren't we all much better bloggers than we were before we started?
Oh, upvoted and following !
My normal day job is as a columnist for an on-line company. I used to think I could predict which article would take off and which wouldn't. I am consistently reminded that I have absolutely no consistent way to predict which articles will do well and which won't.
Some of my most thoughtful and well researched pieces would get a couple hundred views. Some of my most shallow pieces that I was honestly not to proud to publish would end up garnering over 1 million views.
At the end of the day, you have control over the volume of what you produce, and the quality of it. Everything else is up to the little gnomes hiding in the Internet. Don't bother trying to figure on how they work. Just focus on what you have control of.
Haha I love that. The little gnomes. But yeah, you're right. It's funny how things work out like that.
I blog about my kids and so my son is sitting on my lap while I'm reading this and he's all mumbly and cute and says "LOOK! FISH." :D
Just saying, motivation is a good driver to keep at it too!
Mama may be the smallest minnow of them all, but for your sake, I'mma gonna keep on posting!
Hahaha cute.
And yes, good motivation is key to being successful. :)
The biggest challenge is trying to have realistic expectations. It's super disheartening when you put so much work in a post and don't even get an upvote, but everything takes work, effort, and time usually. :)
I agree! Being patient and consistent is definitely important.
i have been learning more from replying than i have from preparing my posts. maybe i'm doing it wrong, but that is how i've made money so far. not a lot i admit, but that is not why i am here. i have had more inspiration in a week here than in a decade of the meat space, land of the blind. i'm not even quitting. thank you.
That's awesome though! Comments are so important on Steemit because they are valuable feedback. People often forget that.
Well it's been a rough week for me with some success and I agree, success is possible if you have the ambition to go all the way to the finish line. Be ambitious people, and you will succeed!
Hope your week gets better soon. :) Best of luck to you!
Thanks, good luck to you as well!
Just want to say that I love your attitude and I'm glad you continue to stick with it and inspire others as you try to find your own way. You're talented and I have little doubt you will be a success. Good luck!
Oh geez thanks, tombstone! And thanks for all your upvotes. I really appreciate the kind words!
Great attitude. Keep trying and you will at least get followers and people reading your posts. That is more important than making a quick buck.
Also think back to the fact that you would have gotten zero dollars for the posts on other social media networks.
Compared to that even pennies are a big improvement and you could potentially be part of the future of social media.
If Steemit becomes the next Facebook or even something a fraction of that size then minnows could one day grow to be giant whales.
Exactly! That's a great way to think about it. :)
Indeedily doodily!