Revenue streams and Steems

The world is changing rapidly in many ways but in my line of work, I see people who are unaware of just what this means for them. A lot of my work is with industrial manufacturers, an industry that is increasingly being encroached upon by automation and this is only going to speed up. They aren't the only industry that is going to suffer at the hands of efficiency though, it is likely to affect all of us.

As the automation rolls in, jobs losses increase as does the amount of part-time and contract positions. Well and truly are the days of 'job for life' gone for the majority. It has been happening for a long time already but many have moved into new industries but the jobs are not appearing as fast as they go. Rising unemployment is a major concern as in the way systems are currently set up, taxes cover a whole range of services like schooling, healthcare and social service for the unemployed themselves.

There is a tipping point though where the tax revenue is not enough to cover the costs and either taxes go up, or services go down. There are many influences at play but, all in all, this is the basic concept. We may wish things to be different but, they aren't likely to change very fast when bureaucrats are involved.

What I think people like my students should be looking to do is diversify their revenue streams now ad not wait until they are at the edge of unemployment. Very few are currently doing this past putting a little into their government controlled retirement plans. Many are not even doing much of that and nearly all seem unwilling to do anything extra.

This is where I am hoping that concepts like Steem can fill some gaps so that people are able to learn and invest at the same time. I have learned so much since being here and each day, I use it make small increases (hopefully) into various areas but, keep the majority of my holdings in Steem. The reason I do this is that Steem both has the potential to go up in price (and down) and while holding, I can use it to create more Steem through voting.

A Steem revenue stream that can work for me while at the same time, play, learn, create and explore other topics of interest and perhaps, chance upon other potential revenue opportunities such as freelance work or even contracted positions.

The need for supplementation of income is growing as job opportunities thin out. even in people who are in positions that are not currently under threat, as jobs disappear in other industries, competition for what is left ramps up accordingly. With so many vying for so few positions, things are going to get uncomfortable very fast.

Governments themselves should start encouraging people into seeking new revenue streams instead of punishing them for it. I have not take any crypto earning out because in Finland the tax is 35%. 35% on something they did not touch, did not help me with and did not even know was possible to do in this way. A broken system to be sure.

But, even if I have to pay that tax, this is a potential revenue stream that could give me breathing room in the future. If my company comes on very hard times, if I can't find work, if large and unexpected bills come up, this may be my saviour. It may mean that I need not require unemployment payments or have to take a loan from a bank with high fees to cover costs.

So, why is it so hard to get people involved, so hard to get people to invest in something that not only benefits them immediately but has the potential for ongoing return with no clear ceiling? Do you ever wonder why the platform grows so slowly?

Sure, there are a myriad problems that need to be sorted through but even in the crypto community, uptake is difficult. How come people are turning away from near free coins? How come they aren't buying into Steem that through curation can get decent yearly returns well above a normal diversified stock portfolio? Does it just seem to good to be true or is the investment too high?

Perhaps the people that come in expect much larger returns much faster than they are getting them. But, don't they (especially the crypto folk) see the future potential? Once upon a time bitcoins were worth pennies and people traded them and bought pizza and socks. Times have changed. Recently, 1 SBD got as high as $22 US.

It was very interesting to witness some attitude shifts on site and in chat. Those who a day earlier had been complaining about the value of their posts started complaining about how long it was to their next payout and started investigating how to get more posts out quickly in the hope the SBD pumps would last at least a week.

Questions increased too about the difference between SBD and Steem, how to get more engagement, ways to transfer, internal market or convert, what is pegging, how does curation work... the list goes on. Now, many of these questions were coming from people who have been here for months. It seems that the spike in price and opportunity gave them the taste of a new revenue stream, one they may have discounted earlier, as 'writing for an hour for a dollar or two'.

That hour became 20-40 dollars instead, and what this taste indicated to them was this was becoming real and they weren't taking it seriously enough. As a result, posting went up. Below is the chart from @penguinpablo's overview.

See the climb in the green the last few days? Do you know what that means? Competition. More people posting hoping for reward, as Steem (or SBD in this weird case) goes up in value, so does the competition for it. The people that are here now have access to a revenue stream that is going to likely be heavily competed for. That means an increasing value for every cent held up until today and for any earned tomorrow.

That dollar post may have a future value of 100 but to benefit from the fuure value, you must own some. Just like all of those people who claim to have had 1000s of Bitcoins, did they really sell them all? They didn't hold even 5 percent? 1 percent? Are they really willing to make that mistake again by selling out of one of the few coins with a proven and used application with more features on the way?

Who knows how it will go but potentially for those that invest themselves and hold some SP to continually earn, they will not only have a small revenue stream to call upon in times of need, they will have a retirement plan that outperforms even the best in the traditional markets.

Lately, I have been spending quite a bit of time thinking, talking and justifying my position here. I am not one to drink the cool-aid on trends, not one to be a fanboy or jump on bandwagons but, I am confident that this is the brightest opportunity that I personally have had in my lifetime so far and even though there are a lot of things that can go wrong, it is something I am willing to attempt with all of the energy I have to spare.

I love to work, I love trying to be useful, adding value, finding solutions. If I am unemployable in the future, I am going to have to fund myself so I can keep doing what I love and hopefully, I will have enough to fund others so they can do what they love too. Time will tell. How much time? SOON.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]