Fuck being advertiser-friendly. That shit is overrated.

That's really the problem with this website. Everyone is trying to say what they think other people want to hear. It's all a giant popularity contest made even worse by the fact that money is at stake.

Fine. I get it. You don't want to ruffle any feathers and risk not getting upvotes. Or worse, getting flagged.

But I personally believe that this giant circle-jerk is what's is holding back this website from exploding. Has nothing to do with payouts, rewards, centralization of SP or any of that bullshit that people just can't help themselves from complaining about.

It is 100% based on the fact that people are not properly incentivized to create original, thought-provoking content that may not be advertiser-friendly.

And instead of this being yet another, "Someone should do something!" post, I'm going to tell you what I - The Golden Boy Of Steemit, He Who Everyone Loves To Hate, World-Record Holder In Total Steemit Groupies, The Pepper To The Salty Circle Jerkers, Undisputed King Of The Trending Page, His Embarrassingly-Handsome Excellency And #1 Ranked In Modesty @YallaPapi - am going to do about it.

The Kingmaker Writing Contest

Allegedly there are heaps of high quality writers and content creators on here. I haven't seen very many.

Shit, I rarely even read anything that's been spellchecked on this dumpster fire of a website. But apparently these people are out there, and these poor souls aren't getting the attention they deserve because of people like Big Bad @YallaPapi who is taking .115% of the reward pool by buying upvotes for his weekly posts.

But you know what? I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. So here's what I'm going to do:

From now on, all of the profits from my #sharkschool posts (beginning with #6, the most recent one) will go to a curation fund that is dedicated to highlighting EXCEPTIONAL authors who write articles according to certain specifications.

The winner of the contest will receive enough paid upvotes to hit the Trending page "above the fold." This means that when you click on the Trending tab, their post will be clearly visible (if not the top ranked post). Expect the total amount of upvotes purchased to be around $200 SBD per winner.

They will also earn a special distinction in upcoming #sharkschool posts in the signature linking to previous posts.

Here are the guidelines for the posts:

Spelling and grammar-checked
Properly formatted with headers, images, etc
Easy to read (use paragraphs motherfucker)
About an interesting topic that has not been beaten to death on this site before
States an OPINION about something. No news articles or history lessons unless they are an editorial
Must be at least 1500 words in length (excluding links to previous work, your signature, etc)
Deadline for submission is the 1st of every month. Contest winners (if any) are announced on the 15th of every month

As you can see, it's fairly straightforward. If you think these guidelines are wrong, I don't give a shit. This is what I want to see and I am spending my own money so you can go fuck yourself if you don't agree.

This platform needs more content that is like mine. NOT THE ABRASIVE TONE, but longform articles that elicit actual opinions and facilitate engagement.

The content needs to be so good that it makes people forget that they are here for the money.

Furthermore, you do not need to officially enter this competition in order to participate. Of course it's better if you send submissions directly, but I will be snooping around looking for high quality content on my own. You are also encouraged to send me other people's content that you think is good. You can tag me, #sharkschool, email it, whatever.

I know there are a lot of people who openly disagree with my methods and would not enter the contest simply because they don't like me. I don't want them to be excluded from the contest just because of that. If you are one of those people and you write something that I find amazing, I will put you on the Trending page.

There are no "back-scratching" elements to this contest either. You do not have to join the Discord, leave a link to the email list, or even mention me. Obviously it may help your visibility if you do so, but you can circumvent this by emailing your article to me directly.

This contest is open to anyone who does not have the means to reliably hit the Trending page with each post. For example, user @lexiconical is probably the most well-rounded author I've seen on here, but I won't consider him for the contest because he already has the means to work the system.

#SharkSchool Discord mods are also prohibited from competing.

How to become a King

Write a post according to the guidelines above
Send submissions to yalla.papi@gmail.com
Paste your submission into the body of the email. Attachments will not be opened
If you have already posted the content, email me a link or send it to me via Discord (content must be less than 3.5 days old to comply with @GrumpyCat's rules)

Don't bother sending me anything if it doesn't match the guidelines. I will give it a cursory glance and only read it if I see that it fits the criteria.

Do not pander to me either. I don't want to read posts about how @yallapapi is the sexiest man alive or how #sharkschool can cure cancer. I am vain but I'm not stupid. Write something original that would hold its own on a website that takes itself seriously.

Finally, I will be promoting this contest off of Steemit as well.

There are literally thousands of hungry authors out there who are capable of producing quality content and have no idea that Steemit even exists.

What do you think their reaction will be when they hear that there is an ongoing writing contest that will not only reward them with hundreds of dollars in crypto, but ALSO get them massive exposure for their work?

#SharkSchool University

So a many of you know, there is a Discord chat for #sharkschool where we get together and do Discord chat things. One of my mods, @flashfiction, suggested that we create a school for users who are looking for additional help and are willing to pay for it.

I'm admittedly going to blatantly copy what @steemschools is doing with some minor modifications. @Dobartim has done an excellent job structuring their program. Join his Discord here.

(No, he's not paying me to mention him. We've never spoken.)

Here's how it's going to work:

Teachers sign up to teach a class based around a certain topic
Once approved, they are given a voice channel in the Discord group to teach their class
Profit is split equally between the affiliate, teacher and #sharkschool
Classes can be about any topic (preferably content creation and online marketing, but any topic is fine)
Classes can be held in any language
Teachers can choose to charge per class/course or with a monthly subscription fee
Teachers are in charge of promoting their own classes, though there will be an affiliate program
Approved teachers may use the #sharkschool brand to promote themselves
All approved classes will receive a link and a mention in all upcoming #sharkschool posts

Now let's talk about payment:

1/3 goes to the affiliate
1/3 goes to the teacher
1/3 goes to #sharkschool

If you are the teacher of the class and you also bring the student to the school, then you get 2/3 of whatever you decide to charge. These are the official payouts from #sharkschool, but aspiring teachers are recommended to come up with their own incentives for affiliates.

For example, you could offer the first month's subscription fee as a commission for each new user referred. Or half of the first month's fee. Or a free membership to your VIP mentoring group. Whatever. Get creative.

Thinking of teaching a class but no idea where to start? Here are some ideas to get the juices flowing:

Create a PDF and give it away for free to expose people to your brand and create interest in your class
Search for related posts in your niche on Steemit and leave a comment promoting your course
Insert a paragraph or two about your class at the bottom of all your Steemit posts
Find related subreddits and offer your course/PDF
Find related Facebook groups and offer your course/PDF
Submit a short video to dtube introducing yourself and the purpose of your course. Promote it accordingly
Collaborate with another Steemit user in your niche and team up to split the work involved
Create a group in your niche where everyone submits a different lesson every week
Reach out to an expert in your niche and offer to schedule a class for them to promote their brand. You promote the class, they teach it, and you split the profits
Start a course that hosts different experts in a given niche every week
Interview small business owners/digital nomads every week in your niche with questions generated from your audience
Offer a webinar that walks users through a specific process via screenshare

Just came up with those off the top of my head. I don't care what you want to teach as long as it's not something that will put me on an FBI watchlist.

Omniloquent Publishing

A few years ago I was living in Berlin and decided to make a go of becoming a full-time author. My plan was to self-publish books to Amazon and live off the income.

Back then, the big money maker was in writing erotica short stories. So I'd sit there and write 3-5k words a day of text-based pornography, eventually giving up after about 50 stories.

I did make a little money, but my strategy was short sighted. I wasn't trying to make a name for myself as an author. I was just trying to capitalize on an impulsive market.

Had I been a little smarter, I would have put more effort into building my brand and building a fan base. Not just selling fantasies to bored housewives who wanted something to read before taking a warm bath.

Still, over the course of a few months I learned a lot about self publishing on Amazon. I know how to format the books with Calibre. I know how to design a cover. And I know how to promote the book so it gets enough exposure to be profitable.

The best thing about publishing on Amazon is that once you create the asset, it stays there forever. Write it once and get paid for the rest of your life. That said, I haven't looked at my KDP account in years, but if I put the work into promoting those sex books then I'm sure I could turn that into an extra few hundred bucks per month.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. I'm creating a publishing company that will use Amazon's self-publishing service to promote collaborative works based around various topics.

Here's how this will work:

We choose a topic for the book (crypto, self improvement, productivity, whatever)
Authors contribute at least one chapter each to the book
The book is edited and formatted for Amazon
The book is published to Amazon in both ebook and paperback format (both possible via Amazon's KDP program)
Content does not need to be unique, but you must own the rights to it (i.e. I can submit one of my Steemit posts even though it's already public info)
Each book will have a Lead Author who is responsible for vetting authors and collecting content for the book
Authors may include a link to their website, social media profiles, Steemit blog, whatever
Assuming equal contributions, authors are paid an equal portion of the profits over time (i.e.10 authors = 1/10 each)
Authors are all encouraged to promote the book to their own audience. 10x promotion = 10x exposure
A portion of the #sharkschool profits will be set aside to promoting the book through paid ads
Approved submissions will be posted from a separate Steemit account and receive a special mention in my signature

So let's talk promotion for a second.

For those of you who don't know, Amazon has a program called KDP Select. Without getting into too much detail, they allow authors to give their book away for free for 5 days every 3 months. The more free downloads a book gets, the higher it gets pushed up the Top 100 page. The higher the book is listed, the more likely it is that it will be downloaded/purchased.

The trick to promoting a book on Amazon is getting as many free downloads as possible during these free days. The more exposure the book gets, the highest it gets pushed on the list and the longer it stays there. That means more sales.

There are paid services that promote your book to massive lists of people who are looking for free book downloads. A portion of the proceeds from #sharkschool initiatives will go towards these services.

Please note that this is not a get rich quick scheme by any means. Amazon takes 60 days to pay out on sales of that month. So if you sell a book in January, you don't get paid until April.

Here are some of the niches I'd like to publish in:

Erotica/Romance
Science fiction
Fantasy
Self-improvement/motivation
Finance
How to books
Anything else that makes money. I'm open to suggestions.

If you want to be a Lead Author or contribute something, email me at yalla.papi@gmail.com or send me a message on Discord. Include the following:

Steemit username
Do you want to be a Lead Author? If so, include a book proposal
Topics you are comfortable writing about
How you can contribute to marketing the book once it's published
Your plan for finding authors who want to contribute chapters to the book
Anything else I need to know

Why am I doing this?

Money? Obviously.

Utilizing other people's time and energy to promote my own brand? Yup.

Endearing people to me for offering them the opportunity to earn more money from the content they create? Sure why not.

But to tell you the truth, the real reason I'm doing this is my disgust at the sense of entitlement that pervades this platform.

I'm baffled by the fact that people feel they deserve to make money from unedited, soulless, unironically sad low-effort posts and comments. They bury their heads in the sand, ignore the fact that capitalism is what makes the world go round, and can't shut the fuck up about what "should" happen. What "someone" should do.

Fuck that shit. There is no "someone." There is no "should." There is only YOU and what you are or are not going to do to change things. And crying like a little bitch does not count.

What have you done other than complain? What initiative have you started? Who have you reached out to? How have you contributed to the community you claim to love so much other than circle-jerking each other's shit posts into oblivion? What group have you started? Who have you brought together to make a change for the better?

Believe it or not, I'm not doing this because I have an overinflated ego. I'm actually a very modest and nice person in real life. But I ham it up on here because being on this website makes me feel like Mugatu in Zoolander when he points out that all of Derek's looks are the same.

People think that if you just add the word "blockchain" or "crypto" to something, then all the rules fly out the window and everyone is automatically guaranteed to make millions of dollars for doing nothing.

I'm doing this to show you that if you want to make it happen for yourself, you need be 10x more proactive than you are right now. You need to create programs and bring people together. You need to make engaging content that people enjoy reading all the way to the end, even if they have the attention span of a goldfish.

Fuck crypto. There are no shortcuts. People who got rich from Bitcoin et al did so because they bought drugs on the internet back before anyone knew what Bitcoin even was. The gold rush is over. You have no chance to replicate that, so stop trying. Do yourself a favor and give up on that dream, because it's never going to happen.

But what you CAN do is something that has been working for the entire history of human civilization: work continuously on growing a business that generates profit from day 1. Nothing happens in this world without hustlers who get out there every day and make moves to build their own empire.

Does it always work? Nope. Shit, maybe none of the things that I listed in here will ever happen. Maybe tomorrow Steemit will disappear and #sharkschool will fade into obscurity. But as long as you are going to try, then you might as well do it right.

Furthermore, you'll also notice that the things I listed above all incorporate promotion on sites outside of the Steem ecosystem. That's because in order to grow, this place needs new blood. Every day it's the same old shit rehashed over and over again.

There is no actual content anymore. It's just posts about how the system is fucked or ads promoting some fucking billboard company. Seriously what the fuck? Who is going to find that link outside Steemit, read it and then be like, "Wow this is so interesting, let me see what else is on here?" Nobody.

No disrespect to them, whoever they are. I understand we all gotta eat. But nobody watches TV for the commercials. They watch for the shows. We want to fall in love with the characters and hate the bad guys. We want to see Walter White get away with selling meth and killing people even though we know he's not going to. We don't watch because we like chicken.

Can't get enough of your love

Everything I've written about these initiatives is designed to entice non-Steemit users to come and give the platform a try.

Who wouldn't want to create an account on here and paste some of their best work for a chance to win $500? Who wouldn't submit something they've already written to an anthology for a percentage of the profits? What writer doesn't want thousands of people to read work they are proud of?

Yes, I will hopefully make a little money in the process, but so what? Nobody on here isn't doing it for the money. Even the people who claim to want to remove upvote bots to "level the playing field" (lol) ostensibly want to do that so new users and/or "high quality" content creators will have a chance to EARN MORE MONEY.

Offering massive rewards is how you get people here and earn a chance to keep them. Not with nonsensical posts about why STEEM will moon by 2019 or the latest news from some Steemit convention.

Tempt them with money and MAYBE they'll see the same value in it that the rest of us do. Create incentives for them to participate in and properly reward them, just like I am doing. And incentivize YOURSELF by paying yourself out of your profits.

Or don't.

Actually yeah, fuck all that. Just keep complaining about how the system is fucked instead of actually doing something to improve it. Hey I know, why don't you start a crusade to flag all Trending posts that use paid upvote bots, but then use it as an excuse to cherrypick your downvotes for authors who threaten your control over the platform?

Don't pay attention to whether or not the author put any time into writing the post either. Does the level of quality of the piece relative to the rest of the content on the site matter? Nah. Who cares about that?

LOL. You guys are so short-sighted it's not even funny. You don't see the big picture.

Fuck the reward pool. 2% of accounts control 95% of all the SP on this site anyway and they're not even active accounts. You want to pander to them so you can fight over scraps? Go ahead.

Meanwhile, I'll be coming up with ideas like these to grow the platform, encourage people to create better content, and put some money in my pocket while doing it. All while keeping my dignity in tact, staying out of the circle-jerk, and writing about whatever the fuck I want. And there's literally no reason that you can't do the same.

Up to you.

Other than the reward pool, what are some other ways to use Steemit to make some money?

Let me know in a comment!

Want more #sharkschool?

Sign up for the newsletter: Right here baby.

Join the Discord channel: https://discord.gg/56Pnrwc

IMPORTANT: Do you want to get more involved in one of the above initiatives? Hit me up on Discord @yallapapi#1970 or email me at yalla.papi@gmail.com and let me know how you want to contribute.

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Follow, resteem and smash dat mf like button...

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Then show a brother some love and resteem that shit.

Introducing The Kingmaker Writing Contest, #SharkSchool University, And Omniloquent Publishing - Three #SharkSchool Initiatives That Incentivize Steemit Users To Step Their Game Up