I am not going to lie, sometimes, even I have some trouble with this.
Many new members get frustrated by their payouts. Some might be unreasonable or unrealistic. Simply dropping a link or quote as a post does not qualify as a good enough post to upvote. Besides that, getting your post seen here is hard, especially when you're just starting out. Without a big amount of followers, your chances of getting big upvotes are small, even if you post a good article (though it does happen).
The understandable frustration comes when people pump out good articles, but always get passed by unnoticed. A look at the Hot list gets you frustrated sometimes, because honestly, some do not deserve such a large payout if you go strictly by quality. Looking at the thousands people make on Trending is even more frustrating and I advice you to just skip that list completely if you're feeling down about your payouts. It is a goal most of us will never reach.
People advice newbies to read the Trending articles and take them as an example for how to write their own blogs, but honestly, you don't need Trending for that. There are plenty of examples all around Steemit. Just a fancy layout and the best lines out there won't get you on Trending, so let's not give people too much false hope.
Some new people have done very well here. They make good articles and, more importantly, get noticed by the right people. It is just not something you should expect, simply because you write articles here. I am not even saying this to new members only, but also to the older members. If you enjoy your time here, great! Keep on going. Besides that, most of us actually do want to reach Trending sometimes, but realistically speaking, that is never going to happen. It's a space for a few lucky ones, who share it with contributors to the platform (like app-makers). If we can't be happy with reaching the second page of Hot from time to time, we'll be burned out by Steemit pretty quickly.
The randomness of Steemit is that your post has to get noticed in the New feed, has to get resteemed by a high standing member or has to get picked up by a whale. If that does not happen, your followers give you your payout of a few bucks. Is this not the case for you yet, then I advice you to start interacting more on this platform to build up your following.
This is the spot that most of us are in and it is a spot that is hard to get out of. If you came here, looking for advice on this, I'm sorry. I don't know what you should do to get out of this particular spot. You'll have to stick around for the nice community (which it is) and for your love of your blogging and your subjects. Not for the riches of Trending.
But hey, if Steem keeps rising, even our small payout will amount to a decent savings account!
I am the perfect example of mediocrity on this platform. I've been here for half a year. Everything you see in my wallet today has been earned by blogging and interacting with the community. This is an attainable goal. This is what I can advice you to aim for by posting many good articles and comments (no begging for votes or followers, please). I get payouts of around 2-3 many times, but I get 20-30 aswell sometimes. I think that's a realistic goal for most good content creators here. Don't feel down, thinking you deserve more. You might, but that's not how Steemit's randomness works.
My best advice: try not to get too down about a bad payout on a post you worked hard on. You probably hit that Post button, right before ten others did aswell and people just missed your post.
Personal frustrations
Now to air some of my own frustrations. I don't usually do this, but hey, everyone deserves to vent sometimes, right? I've been here for half a year now. I've had some decent payouts (though nowhere near even $100 yet). I've worked my butt off to be active on here and I try to give our new members some attention. I feel most of my posts have a decent quality (not all) and I'm trying to have some decent conversations through comments. I promote my posts solely in public places (Steemit.chat, Discord), because I know how annoying it is to receive comments like "Can you please upvote me [link]".
I don't know how to reach Trending. This seems far out of reach for me. I don't think I will ever get there. It makes me a little bit sad sometimes, but I'll survive. I'm not sure what else I need to do (besides what I'm already doing) to get my posts noticed more. To reach the top of Hot sometimes (that looks like a more realistic goal to be honest). I don't think I have enough high standing, rich Steemy friends for that.
I'm not rich myself either, so I'm working my way up slowly. I can't invest anything. This means I won't ever be more than what I am now. A not early enough early adopter who has to hope someone notices her post once she hits that Post button.
It happens sometimes! It is just very random. A few examples:
My Guild Wars tutorials were not that well received. Fair enough, I can imagine not a lot of people play, so who cares enough to even click, right? But then the updates post is one of the biggest paying posts that ever happen for me.
My good morning posts are another wild shot. They usually receive a couple of bucks, but a few days ago, I got this huge payout on one of them. I always try to make them interesting by my writing, so I'm not sure what triggers this, other than complete randomness.
My photography posts. This is where I can't help but feel frustrated with the randomness sometimes. Seeing many very mediocre pictures earn hundreds, while some of my own very best pictures get a few bucks. I am not someone who is easily impressed by herself. I do not boast about myself a lot, but some of my very best pictures are definitely wall-worthy, while this same cannot always be said about the pictures that earn hundreds. These pictures are my pride and it hurts when they are passed by.
Don't get me wrong! I'm happy for the ones that get up to 20-40 payout. I really am very thankful for the people who notice and like them. The frustration is about the ones that don't get noticed at all. By now though, I know enough about Steemit to know that I can make the best picture in the world and it would still not reach the Trending page.
I don't want to pursue a friendship with a whale, simply to get big upvotes. That seems insincere. I know that would be the easiest way to go, but I have my pride. I'll have to keep playing with the randomness.
The perfect examples of randomness
I am not a new person. I have a following of over 800 now. Even that can't get a picture like this noticed enough to reach Hot. Either my taste in photography is very different to that of most others (I'm starting to feel this might be the case), or this is the perfect example of Steemit's randomness. It can't just be the fact that I am asleep while the US is awake, right?
1 hour in, and only around $1 payout.
So to every new member who gets frustrated by their low payouts: You're not alone, but it is not about you personally. The complete randomness of Steemit just does not care much about your post's quality. You're sure to not get high payouts if you post crap, but good quality does not automatically equal good payouts. You need to work for your following and after that, hope for the best.
On the upside: We do have a very nice community and being here does allow you to practice your writing skills. Also, every bit of Steem is more than what you get when writing on Facebook or a free blog. So embrace the randomness, get frustrated sometimes, but move past it and build up good relationships. Because honestly, even though I get frustrated by the randomness sometimes, I still love being here.
Thanks for stopping by! If you've enjoy this article, try my other sites:
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My own image used as a header for my blog posts.
As always, these pictures are made and owned by me and are not to be used without my permission. If you would like to use them in any way, please contact me or visit my Deviantart or Photography shop for a purchase.
