OUR MISSION
Myself and my son are on a mission to spread the word about Steemit. We will be visiting beaches on the California coast and engaging with as many people as possible. Networking online is great but it's also beneficial to go out and get in amongst the public. "Face to Face has it's Place".
It is important as a community we all try to contribute, even if it is in a small way, every little bit helps. Talking with the public is not difficult if you have confidence and believe in what your are showing them. I believe in the steemit platform and i know in time it will be the superior force in social media,.
Promo Swag
Steemit looks good on both black and white so i decided to go with black as it seems no one was promoting this look. I have had experience in design and printing so was able to do that myself. I used some steem dollars i received to have some t-shirts and hats made for myself and my son. I also had 100 business style cards printed for handing out to people we talk with.
Walking to Venice Beach
On our first mission we visited Venice beach. We couldn't find a park close by so had to park on the corner of Ocean and 28th st, which is a very long walk to the beach front. That turned out ok, because walking through streets in Venice can be a great way to see local art.
The people
Venice beach is full with all races,cultures, ages the works, you can find just about anybody from any walk of life walking the boardwork or working the tourists,lol. The power of steemit embraces everyone so Venice is a perfect place to SPREAD THE WORD AND UNLEASH THE STEEMIT BIBLE UPON THE CHOSEN.
We needed to get some sun glasses for Jay so i stopped at the first store on the boardwalk that sold kids sized sun glasses (he liked the green Minecraft ones) . I took the opportunity to talk about steemit with the store owners, and they both loved the idea , so much so i spent nearly an hour talking and showing them what steemit was all about. I don't think i have ever seen anyone take so many notes while i was talking about something. That was a clear indication that spreading the word for steemit would be more fun than i thought.
Showing a person is one thing. That person remembering everything is another thing.
I learnt instantly from that first encounter that having a pre printed overview with help links for steemit would have been a huge advantage.
The Peddlers
When walking on the Venice beach boardwalk you will always have the local hustlers approach and try to give you a music disk for some tips. These guys are cool i dig what they do, they have to make money like all of us, so i always let them run their spiel and then counter it with a short statement that will act as a counter hook(compels them to ask more about the statement). As soon as i mentioned steemit was free to join and you can make money from posting voting and commenting i got swarmed. So much so they gave me free cd's and didn't even ask for a tip, so that's the power of steemit right there, they were tranced by the steemit platform and i could see the wheels turning in there eyes. I hope to see them on steemit soon.
Sorry for the bad quality photo, the guy taking them took 4 but none were in focus:(
Curious Bystanders
We met many people and everyone was so eager and excited about steemit. We also had a few people approach and ask what the logos represented on our t-shirts and hats. People on the beach are generally in a chilled out mood, and tourist attractions like Venice always has people inquisitive about anything they see, it is almost like they are expecting to be dazzled. This makes Venice beach the perfect spot for showing off steemit swagger.
This wonderful couple were actually taking photos of Jiovanii making the steemit logo when i spoke with them.
RedSkinThundaCat
While taking photos of Jiovanii painting the steemit logo i met Zhooniya Ogitchida a native american indian and aspiring music artist. He was captivated with the whole idea of steemit and actually wanted a selfie with me to use on his future steemit post when he signs up. Hows that for forward thinking! his steemit handle will be @redskinthundacat when he joins up.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY!
The highlight of the day was meeting Jiovanni (guy who graffitied the steem logo)and Curek (guy with mowhawk). These two guys are working together traveling around the world and creating some kickass Graffiti. I was blessed they happen to be at Venice beach creating art the same time i was. I approached Jiovanni and told him bro you should be on Steemit!. He quickly replied by asking what steemit was?. I explained all the benefits of steemit and how it was a new platform on the blockchain (used bitcoin as a reference to explain the blockchain) for bloggers and all types of artists and creators and how bloggers get paid to post vote and comment. He told me he has been waiting for something like steemit to come along. I could see the incredible fire in his eyes and so the conversation went deep and many stories were told about the past and how himself and Curek came to be we they are now.
I will get back to talking about Jiovanii in a minute. But first a little about Curek
This is Curek. This guy has a very inspirational story but i don't want to tell it , i think that should be told by the man himself when he lands on steemit. What i will tell you is he had a mishap (a huge mishap of epic proportions) and lost his leg.
But that doesnt stop him from carrying on with his passion to color the cities with Graffiti. I was inspired myself listening to some of the things he has been through and had to overcome. I am very excited for Curek to join steemit and dazzle and shock us with his creative content.
Back to Jiovanii and the Steemit logo
So while i was speaking to him and showing him my cards with the steemit logo, i said to him , wouldn't it be cool to paint a steemit logo on the wall and get some exposure for steemit and yourself?. He was all for it and said lets find a better spot to do this.
So we walked over the other side of the wall and found a perfect spot on the concrete cone to start.
I could see immediately Gio had been doing this for a long time and has killer graffiti skillz.
Jay is not camera shy and wants to be in every photo
Adding the black to give it that alternative look
An artist should always admire there own work.
And the final result . I really like the black dark look. The beauty of the steemit logo it can look great on white and black.
I would like to thank Jiovanii for creating the first steemit logo on Venice beach and i am very excited to have him here on steemit.
What was learned from our first steemit mission.
- Print steemit overview pages to hand out to people.
- Write down peoples names you meet. (you would be surprised how easy it is to forget names,lol)
- Make sure to carry a good stock of promotional cards.
- Take advantage of any promotion opportunities that present themselves (Jiovanii painting steem logos all over the world)
- Try to park close to the destination
- Always use sunscreen (i should have known better,lol)
I found the steemit cards i had made were very popular and everyone took more than their fair share for all the friends.
One of the most important things i learned was be 100% prepared to show the person the website and provide any information they need fast. People by nature are normally quite impatient with any type of presentation, so it is good practise to have everything ready at your finger tips. Having a hard copy of the information they can take home i think is key in this situation.
And to conclude - Apart from getting burnt like a lobster and getting a bit lost trying to find the car on the way back, the whole day was definitely one to remember. Not only did we meet some really cool people and get the word spread about steemit, i was also able to spend more time with my son and he learn't more social skills. So all in all it was a very productive and educating day at Venice Beach.
Be sure to check out Jiovanii @tdk835. He hasn't posted yet but he and Curek are on their way to steemit soon:)
Things you can do to contribute to the steemit community
- If you see content you think is copied or stolen (plagiarized) let the Steemit Abuse Team know. If you havent already create an account with the Steem Rocket Chat.
- Upvote quality content.
- If your going to comment leave a comment that has some substance.
- Let new users know of the great info and tools available for steemit
- If you want to try and promote you might like to try this method by @thedashguy
- If you want to get involved on a larger scale you may consider becoming a liason like i have for the @steemdrive and organize a billboard in your local town or city. More information can be found Here or alternativly you can contact TheCryptoDrive on Steem Chat
- Use all your networking force to bring new users to steemit, Facebook,Twitter,Instagram and all social media platforms bring all your friends.
- And don't forget to tell your Mom! You would be surprised what hidden gems they have locked away inside those minds of experience.
- You can always do what i have and get some steemit swag made up and hit the streets to spread the word.
Here are some examples of Steemians promoting Steemit
@guerrint Face to face on the street @guerrint/steemit-in-the-streets-tara-gets-interviews-and-reactions-from-people-who-ve-never-seen-steemit
@steemdrive Worldwide Billboard exposure. @steemdrive/sa-s-city-of-durban-to-be-engulfed-by-steem-the-world-to-follow
@b0y2k Pimping out his Motocross race gear @b0y2k/the-first-ever-steemit-and-crypto-currency-race-team
@lehard Bringing steemians together to promote @lehard/become-a-hero-of-reality-show-and-go-around-the-world-with-steemit
@steempower Creating web presence @steempower/happy-to-announce-steemit-advertisement-on-the-header-of-dashpaymagazine-com-30-day-term
@hitmeasap Bringing social media contacts to steemit @hitmeasap/steemit-i-will-tell-500-000-people-about-you-and-this-will-make-me-go-big
@artist1989 Help on creating your own steemit merch @artist1989/custom-steem-and-steemit-art-and-instructions-on-how-to-create-your-very-own-steem-steemit-gear-t-shirts-coffee-mugs-etc
There are many more steemians helping spread the word, i just wanted to show some of the variations to give you ideas.
The most important thing is we tell the world about steemit.
For anyone that wants the design i made for the buisness cards + the basic steemit logo i have you can download the zip/rar file HERE I used the font "Myriad pro Regular" on the buisness cards. I hope that helps