Upvoting Bots And ROI | Investment on Steemit Defined

This is a post about a user's real investment on Steemit, and not about the intricacies of how to use upvoting bots. I see this topic a lot being discussed over comments on Steemit and on Discord which questions the ROI after using upvoting bots. In fact I received this question in my last post from a Steemit user - on a post that was on a completely different topic.

So firstly for those who may be unaware, what are upvoting bots? Let me give you an example of one of the bots called Randowhale since it is one of the oldest in the business. It is a bot that has been programmed to upvote a post when the user sends a certain amount of SBD. All bots have a minimum amount that needs to be sent in order for it to disburse the upvote. There are two types of bots - one that upvotes your posts immediately and others that vots only every 2.5 hours.

But let's get to the point about return on investment that users keep talking about. Well, in my experience on Steemit, upvoting bots are purely a supplement to your blogging and participation efforts on Steemit. I use upvoting bots on most of my posts, but I do know that investment and ROI are long term parameters for me as a user of Steemit.

Let me give you a piece of bad news, as blunt as it may seem. If you are on Steemit only to use upvoting bots and expect an amazing ROI, this may not be the right place for you. I think that needs to be made clear to any Steemit user who uses upvote bots and those who expect long term success using only the bots may be in for a disappointment.

Let us look at how Steemit is defined on Wikipedia as it is a place I respect very much for giving the most accurate definitions and the best factual details. This is what it says about Steemit.

Steemit is a blogging and social networking website on top of the Steem circlechain database. The Steem blockchain produces Steem and Steem Dollars which are tradeable tokens users obtain for posting, discovering, and commenting on interesting content.Steemit, Inc is a privately held company based in New York City and headquartered in Virginia.

Three things stand out in the definition as you read the first two sentences.

Blogging platform.
Social networking website
Steemit blockchain

First and foremost it is a blogging platform. Which means that if you want to make the best out of it you must learn to be a good blogger. A good blogger creates good content often consisting of text and images,not just images or a few lines of text. Each blog post talks about something educating or entertaining the reader in some way or the other. It could be a short story or an interesting experience that will interest the reader.

When I scroll down the Steemit feed I see several posts that have only an image or a few lines of text. That is not a blog post, but it is a missed opportunity. If the same post had contained something really interesting it could have raised the credibility of the Steemit user. Hence, if you want to be a good blogger learn to create a good blog post.

Secondly it is a social networking platform like others like Facebook. Interaction with others in the form of relevant comments and upvotes is necessary as a form of participation.

Thirdly, all the content that you publish is stored on the blockchain forever. Whether you have a few lines of text, or meaningful blog posts it will be there for posterity. Which one you would choose to be remembered by is entirely up to you - my advice is to store away content that you will remember fondly instead of making you wince when you loo at it some years ahead in the future.

If you keep these points in mind and grow as a blogger the ROI will follow. Blogging regularly and participating is the investment that you make with the time that is needed for it. The return on the investment comes to you in the form of a higher reputation score, an SBD payout and an increase in Steem Power.

Would you please upvote and resteem this post so that it can reach others too? Also do follow me for more interesting posts.