Mistakes I see beginners make. You can avoid it!
I've been scrolling through the newsfeed for a big amount of time on Steemit since I want to curate more content. I've seen some good articles, some really bad and some that should be removed right away. What I've noticed is that some users are able to get a lot of audience very quickly and others find it very hard. The last group gets discouraged and keeps writing bad articles that won't get any upvotes or followers thus they stay in the same circle.
But hey, there is a path to success and it's proven since many before you have done it! Don't get discouraged, keep on going and you will grow as well! I will list some of the common 'mistakes' i've seen so far!
Voting on only top trending posts
People tend to upvote on the most trending topics. They are trending for a reason and that's probably because they are a good read. So keep on reading it but save your vote. Instead look for new and exciting content that is written with care. Some authors are probably not that famous and doesn't have many followers but if you're early with your upvote you get the most curation rewards and you can connect with them. When you connect with other authors that aren't famous yet, you'll grow together and when you reach the top you remember each other ;)
Commenting with follow for follow
A lot of people comment on post with 'Great post!! I'll follow you, can you follow me?'. These don't help! Instead read the post, leave a good and well written comment that speaks to the author and interact with each other. When your words are wise they will follow you as well ;). A good impressions is what you want to leave behind!
Not engaging with others
What is more important that posting and promoting? You guessed it! Engaging with others. You want to create a group of people around you by voting and leaving meaningful comments. Comments that say something about you as a person and shows your character.
A great tool to use: Steemit.chat
The steemit chat is an amazing tool that can help you with conversations with fellow steemians and engage! Besides that you can promote your posts in the designated channels and ask for help! Use it!!
Not being yourself and unique
Steemit is a wonderful place. You can express yourself anyway you want and nothing is too weird! While blogging and commenting you can find yourself and explore what you like to talk about. Just be yourself, be unique and brand yourself. Marketing is a powerful ally here. When you write authentic messages and blogs that represent yourself it will reflect on the rest of the people reading it.
Patience young grasshopper
Everything good takes a while. Have patience! When you start out you will earn pennies. Later on you will earn that ten times more! Build your reputation, start getting followers and build your own brand. People have to get to know you and trust in the value you provide. It's a process you have to endure and it's a marathon. Don't start of to quickly because you burn down all your energy.
Example time!
I started of too quick and didn't knew the value of posts. I really love Dogecoin and wanted to share it with others so I started a giveaway. These really didn't help to get quality followers and building reputation. So I started writing other stuff, more Tips and Tricks and that started to pay off way better! So it takes time to find yourself and how to use it.
See only the money money money and not the opportunitys
"Can I earn money by blogging?! Awesome!" Yes, it are exciting times when you can earn money by blogging. And you can cash out on the short term. But what are the opportunitys? Well cryptocurrency is becoming a hot thing and Steemit is in the middle of it! We are at the start of something amazing and investing in Steemit is the right horse to bet on. Be in it for the longrun!
It looks like tips on how to get more views/votes/followers on Steemit are going like honey at the moment. It just shows that the platform is experiencing a big growth and the percentage of the new comers is really huge at the moment.
I see this "beginning" stage for new members as a trial. Only the persistent ones will find their spot in the community.
Keep up the good work!
I totally agree. The amount of new users is insane. But I believe only 30% will stick around after a few months. If it gets too hard people will stop and like you said, the persistent ones find their spots ;)
Exactly! The promise of easy money by posting crap... irresistible to many. But with that influx of new users, we'll also get a bunch of great new content creators. 80/20 Rule maybe? Glad to RS this post to help make it easy for new users to find, so they'll have every chance of doing well. Thanks for posting it!
enjoyed reading your post!
Opportunities are what counts the most here! Nothing is as simple as it looks!
Hi! Such an inspiring article. I am totally new, like 2 hours of my account approved. I am much more on photography posting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
OK before I say any-more it's a good piece of work.
Not sure what your focus is though with this post? On the whole it would seem you're talking about users behaviour, and you give some excellent advice. Sadly I doubt many will heed it in their desperation to become millionaires via steemit overnight which any sane person can see is not going to happen. All this talk of attracting a whale is ridiculous, it's the age old Carrot & Stick story and rarely does the donkey get the carrot. No wonder certain sections of the Internet are accusing Steemit of being a Ponzi scheme.
You mentioned, but did not expand on, the quality of users work. There are those like you and I who clearly put a lot of work and love into their posts and yet receive very little reward for our efforts while I've seen some folks slap three childish animated gifs on their posts and it's been upvoted well beyond the $800 mark! I'm also starting to see people regurgitating YouTube videos onto Steemit too and people are upvoting those as well! There's just no justice in the world. :-(
Thanks for your reply and your time to write this. I did mention the quality of work and yes I totally agree that some of the Steemians around do get a very little reward for quality posts and some others gain lots of cash for absolutely nothing. I totally agree with you that there is no justice in that.
Example: In the NSFW catagory people are getting insane amounts of their pictures where they are half naked or naked. Honestly it's crap that you sell yourself out like that for money on this platform. I rather have some NSFW content like @nspart than that crap.
I do have to say that some of the Youtube video's are actually pretty good and I do learn from some. But making double money on that is also not fair. I'm doing some research at the moment for many improved points for Steemit since it's still in Beta and I hope it get's noticed when it's published.
For now I wish you lots of fun with blogging and I hope your rewards will increase overtime ;)
It wouldn't be so bad if the Youtube stuff was new, most of it is anywhere up to 10 years old and in some cases not even the property of the poster!
Having said that I'm in no position to criticise people using content from years ago as in my series "Seriously?" I am regurgitating content that I posted on the web years ago. In my defence I am trying to build that up and bring it right up to date so that all the new stuff I post will have a kind of historic platform.
One of the main issues with Steemit is the original members were not initially getting any rewards. Once those started to kick in they all had big payouts immediately elevating them to this so called whale status. Now that was cited as a reason to join Steemit so you can see why lots of opportunists have joined. Those are the ones I hope get disheartened and leave so that serious individuals like you and I can get on and build some value.
This is great advice and really helpful. I'm really trying to get somewhere with my blog, but I'm a newbie and you're right, it takes time to build a decent following.
Thanks, I'm happy its helpful! Try sticking to 2-3 subjects on what you really like and are passionated about! People that like those subjects will start following you because they can read that you're enthusiastic about it!
Great Post @rkrijgsman, your advice is spot on and I hope any newbies reading take it on board.
Thanks! I hope I can help a lot of people with sharing the knowledge I learn ;)
Why are you spending a lot of time looking to currate more content when you have 4 steem power and your vote is worth less than a cent, what is the point?
The point it that I want to build a network of great like-minded people. Even though a vote can be worth less than a cent. Discussions and talking is worth way more. If you only think about the money you are doing something wrong ;).
Good luck, you will soon realize steem is about benefiting the whales who give upvotes to themselves with people like you and me promoting the platform for cents so that new money comes in from newcomers/investors to keep the baloon inflated. Good luck though. You article is good and will reach like 15 people while someone who is a whale/supported by a whale would talk about her nails and get 2k.
It sounds to me like you're a bit salty that you're not earning as much as you'd like to. With only 127 posts, I imagine you haven't had time to find your place yet. Instead of nay saying, why not try to build yourself into one of those whales who benefits?
Excellent post - voted and resteeming
Thank you so much :)
Thanks for all your valuable information..appreciate it!