Debunking a Myth
As a data enthusiast, and with the aid of awesome tools like Power BI and Excel (as I can’t program to save my life, not even a tad bit of SQL) I know that the block-chain holds information that can easily be turned into actionable business insights.
So following on from my previous Steemit Database analysis, I have decided to gather more business intelligence and establish how well posts really do here on Steemit. How many posts get votes? How many posts don’t make a dime? How many post create real engagement via comments? What are the chances of having a ‘Successful’ post on Steemit?
If you are on Steemit because you think you can make a quick few pounds think again. If someone told you to join Steemit because they made money and you can too, it’s easy. Then think again.
Yes there have been people that have made considerable sums on Steemit, but I am hoping with this data we can debunk the myth that Steemit is an easy platform to succeed on with very little work….
I have taken the Comments posted table from the Steemit SQL held and managed by @arcange (thanks you rock) The dates for which I have analysed are 1 July 17 to 23 July 2017 at 22:08 GMT.
During this time there were 377,880 Blogs. This is the number of new articles or posts written, NOT Comments…..
What's the chances a post will actually create engagement, conversation & comments?
Over 123K blogs have no response at all. No comments, no feedback. Do keep in mind that included in these blogs are blogs made within a few seconds of the report, so many not have had a chance to get comments. I will run this report again 7 days after month end to see if there is much of a change.
Have a look at the table below. A considerable number of blogs have only 1 comment. I would how many of these comments are made by bots, such as minnowsupport or comments from Randowhale? This is something I would like to look at in a further analysis. I will try and include this in the month end report.
11 to 20 comments is where I would like to aim. I would consider myself successful on creating a content engaging post if I got this amount of comments. Where would you consider yourself successful? Let’s face it, blogs at this level are doing better than 90% of all blogs made.
What about Votes?
To some Votes would be the most important factors for success on Steemit. But I have some bad news for you. Based on the data taken, you have a bigger chance of being downvoted than you have of getting more than 500 votes. But hay, the news is not all that bad!
Have a look at the table below
It’s easy to see that the vast majority of posts have received between 2 and 10 votes.
Nice to see 13,297 really honest blogs where the creator did not self-vote.
I am finding myself now at about 51-100 votes per post. To be honest, I personally don’t count votes as a success factor here on Steemit. Why well because many people will vote without reading. There are trails you can follow that will auto vote for you based on other steemers votes. What votes do contribute for me is social proof. The more votes you see on a post, the more likely you are to read it right! Social proof is important, but in my little head, it is a contributing factor in success but not a measure.
Financial Success on Steemit
Those that are in Steemit for a quick quid, then this section is important to you.
Let me break the bad news to you. Less than 1% of blogs have a payout of more than $100. The number of blogs that have made nothing is the same as the number of posts that have made between $11 and $100. That’s nuts. And a whopping 256K blogs have only made between $1 - $2
Most of my blogs are now between $2 and $10. This places my blogs in the top 20%. My target for success is between $51- $100. Looks like I still have a lot of work to do.
What’s your target?
Conclusion
This analysis serves as a bench marking tool. I have not taken into consideration the correlation between no of votes, comments and payout. Nor have I discussed followers as a measure of success and correlation, which with traditional online marketing, is something I would track.
What I think from reading this analysis it is clear to see, with the majority of posts having less than 10 votes and less than a $1 payout, Steemit is not a get rich scheme.
Success, well that depends on your goal……I hope you will share them below
Interested in my other Analysis:
/@paulag/steemit-retention-problem-analysis-of-steemit-database