For the last 2 months I have been posting on Steemit and learned a lot about what it takes to be successful. In this essay I explain some of the lessons I have learned from the hundreds of hours I have spent on this platform and in the Steem community.
But first let me say, most of my earnings have come from capital appreciation, i.e. the Steem Power I have earned has gone up in value. In the long run investing in the future is the only way to make big money. Steemit not only facilitates our transition from mere consumers to active producers, but also allows us to transition from being workers to being investors, giving us a stake in the project we are working for and helping to make successful.
I still cringe when I remember the fundraising of Oculus, where they crowdfunded 2 million dollars from everyday people, and then Oculus was bought up by Facebook for 2 billion dollars, and the crowd was left with their perks, t-shirts and an alpha product, instead of getting a stake in the success of the company. Steemit changes this. If Steemit is someday worth billions of dollars like Facebook is now, we will all have a stake in its success, just by working and earning Steem Power.
With that being said, here are the five most important things I have learned so far:
1. Write About What You Know
There is a lot of content passing through Steem now, and it’s hard to know whether to cater to the topics that get upvoted or to stay on your own path. I recommend writing about what you know. For each post that succeeds with a generic topic there are hundreds that never get upvoted, so whereas most successful posts are in that category, the most unsuccessful ones are as well.
Personally I write a lot about crypto, since that is a hobby of mine and I am involved in a company called BitSpace. But my education is in philosophy, and much of my interests are in spirituality, so I have also been writing a lot about that. By writing about issues that you know and are passionate about you create actual value instead of trying to copy someone else.
2. Be Open and Honest
It is important to be open and honest. It is often easy to hide things from oneself and be dishonest, but in one way or another it will shine through, and people can sense it. It is therefore best to be completely transparent and write in the light of your inner truth.
In my introduction post I tried to sum up my life story as it relates to how I reached the point of joining Steemit. Just by being honest about your journey people will learn a lot and realize how it is to have an entirely different perspective, and how it is to take what is maybe a completely different path in life.
3. Be Creative and Original
To get noticed it is important to break with the trend, not fitting into the pattern of all the other posts. If you can produce something of value that is still creative and original, you have a chance to make it big. Most people follow the template set by other successful posts, and dare not take a chance on a new concept. I would urge you to find your inner creativity, and think completely from scratch with how you can provide value in a post.
In the beginning I tried to be creative and original with the format and type of content I posted. To some extent, Steemit was like a new game, and everyone was learning the rules and how to do new things. For instance, I posted a post on How to do gambling, Prediction Markets, and Charity on Steemit. I also created a post called Top Wanted Features for Steem. Both of these use the self-referential nature of Steemit to create value by the interplay of post and comments.
Also think about how your interests may combine into original content suited for Steemit. For instance, while cryptocurrency related content tends to do well on Steemit, my education is in philosophy and my interests are in spirituality, so I created a post that combined all three elements in Decentralize Your Self! that sees links between decentralization in crypto and ego-death in spirituality.
4. Experiment and Iterate
Try out new things and figure out what works. On Steemit, you get instant feedback from votes and comments, so you need to learn and adapt according to how the audience responds to you content. For instance, most of the time, posting a link with little or no text gets no upvotes, and you may notice the more time you spend on a post and the more original content it contains, the easier it is to get upvoted.
For each of my successful posts I have five that have failed. It is not easy to predict in advance what will get really popular, so just keep posting, keep trying, and adjust your strategy underway. Persistence and passion is the key to be successful at anything.
5. Start Right Now!
Finally, I would advice anyone trying to make it big on Steem to start right now. As I said in the introduction, Steem Power is an investment in the future, and the earlier you get in, and the more successful the platform is, the more you get for your investment. In addition, as the competition heats up it will be more difficult to get noticed and establish a presence.
This means that you shouldn’t save your best content for last. It also means don’t let perfectionism be the enemy of your productivity. The post-payouts are still topping from last weeks increase in Steem price, so get to it, this is still a golden opportunity!
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