The Initiative
Being a steemian for almost 3 months now, I can honestly say I have become a huge fan of this great community. Having attended the London Steemit meetup just last month and now with the upcoming Steemfest, “virtual” friends can now become “lifelong” friends. What a positive thing that is, all thanks to Steemit!
So, the only way the momentum can keep going is by continuing to spread the word and expanding on an already great foundation which has been built. The promotional campaigns from various members of Steemit so far have been extraordinary, from organising global meetups all the way to advertising via flyers and cakes.
I was so inspired by these great ideas that I began thinking of ways I could also contribute. Steemit being a primarily technologically based concept, the audience being reached out to is, I feel, quite a critical factor to consider.
I attended the fantastic EGX (Eurogamer Expo) event about two years ago with a colleague of mine so given the fact that it was coming up again at the end of September, this would be a perfect place to run a promotional project of my own. Highlights of the show include showcasing the latest games and technologies for 2017 so should attract like-minded individuals who would be more inclined to listen to new and upcoming initiatives such as Steemit.
I was also thinking apart from talking to people, what other ways could be most effective for people to actually remember the name "Steemit"? I came up with the Steemit-branded USB stick. Reasons for my choice are as follows:
1) A very useful, portable device that people could easily attach to a keychain and carry with them on a daily basis.
2) Increase brand awareness as there is a much higher chance of others being exposed to the Steemit brand name and its associated logo.
3) It’s something people are more likely to keep with them for a long time and not throw away or discard shortly afterwards.
I ordered a pack of 24 customized Steemit USB drives online. Ten days later, they all arrived in a small, square package through the post. Upon opening the box, each USB stick was individually wrapped in a sealed little plastic bag. I was very happy to find the logo and lettering nicely printed on each stick giving them all a very slick, professional look. Everything was working out great!
The Event
This year’s EGX was held at the famous Birmingham, NEC. The event attracted a huge crowd of people totalling almost 80,000. The show itself was amazing featuring the latest games coming out next year as well as brand new technologies. What really stood out for me was the amount of VR booths on display. One showcased the all new Nosulus Rift where you can actually “smell” the environment you are in whilst wearing a VR headset! Whatever next?
So, down to business. The first step was to find a location where people are a little bit more spread out and accessible to chat to about Steemit. I found the perfect place next to a small cafeteria where everybody seemed more relaxed and the atmosphere less hectic. I have never done anything like this before so was quite intimidated at first. I scanned the area and saw two girls casually walking by. So I tried to politely get their attention. They immediately smiled and turned out to be very friendly indeed. The initial nerves were disappearing fast. I explained that I was here to promote a new social networking platform called Steemit where you can actually earn money for blogging and I’m distributing free Steemit USB sticks in order to promote and spread the message about this great new website. The girls were unbelievably chatty and we ended up talking about Steemit for a good 10 minutes.
After that ice breaker, I started gaining confidence and talking to more people and the USB’s started flying. Individuals who I approached actually called their friends over to join the discussion and find out more information about Steemit. But for every single person, I took the time to explain the concept as best I could and asked them if they had any questions. The main one was how do they receive the money to which I responded that Steemit distributes digital tokens, which are in effect money. Knowing I couldn’t start a deep conversation about the world of crypto given the time constraints, I suggested they check out the site for themselves, see how the system works and browse through some articles. I would be available via e-mail to guide them further should they wish to proceed.
Given how most people were primarily there for the event itself, I was surprised at the levels of genuine interest in the concept of Steemit and how they wanted to know more. I actually ended up having one particular conversation with a young gentleman from Hong Kong for over 40 minutes about Steemit and his involvement in social media. He runs a YouTube channel with over 9000 subscribers so far and was so enthusiastic that he took down my e-mail address too so his friends might contact me directly for further information. After approximately three and a half hours later, the last Steemit USB stick had been handed out.
I was exhausted however very satisfied that the whole process went as smoothly as it did. I tried to talk to as many people as I could and took photos with everyone that I handed out the USB sticks to. One girl turned out to be really shy about having her photo taken so I told her it was fine and just took down her email instead.
So, 23 potential users photographed, 24 e-mails received. Not perfect, but all in all was very happy with the outcome of my Steemit promotional plan so far.
The Follow-Up
Exhausted after a long day, I returned home with two diary pages full of e-mails and a whole bunch of great memories.
I e-mailed each person on the list, formally introducing them to Steemit and also included my username should they wish to contact me when they access the website. I also mentioned in the e-mail that for every new member that signed up, I would give 3 steem as a token of appreciation for taking the time to try it out and enjoy all the benefits Steemit has to offer.
Steemit is currently very young and in its infancy as we are all aware of. It needs all the exposure and advertising it can get to flourish and meet the expectations we all know it is capable of achieving. I hope that my humble efforts add to helping reach our common goal and build upon the already exceptional foundations we have to work with. So one day, Steemit will become a household name in its own right and the social media platform of choice.
计划的形成
加入steemian这个平台已经将近3个月了，我已经成为了这个社交平台的忠实支持者。上个月刚刚参加了伦敦的Steemit聚会，而现在Steemfest又即将到来，“虚拟社交”朋友现在可以变成生活里的“终身”朋友，真是太棒了，这一切都归功于Steemit！
因此，要让Steemit这个好趋势一直发展下去唯一的途径就是通过不断扩大它的影响力。许多Steemit的成员非常努力积极地发动各种宣传工作，从发派传单，免费蛋糕到组织全球Steemit聚会等等。 我相当受鼓舞，也绞尽脑汁地想办法为这个平台贡献自己的一份力量。
Steemit是一个主要以技术为主的新概念，因此我觉得Steemit的观众会是一个相当关键的考虑因素。 两年前我和同事参加了欧洲游戏世博会，非常不错。
想到今年的欧洲游戏世博会将在这个月底举行，这简直就是我做宣传的最佳场所啊！展会亮点包括展示2017年最新的游戏和技术，应该会有很多志同道合的人愿意了解像Steemit这样的新平台。
我思索着，除了以交谈的方式宣传Steemit以外，还有什么更有效的法子能让人们记住这个平台呢？我想出了印有Steemit品牌标志的USB。主要原因是：
1）非常实用，携带方便，人们可以很轻易地把USB连接到钥匙串上 ，每日随身携带。
2）提高品牌知名度，让更多的人有机会看到，接触到Steemit的标志。
3）USB可以长期使用，人们通常不会扔掉。
我特别订购了24个印有Steemit字样和品牌标志的USB。10天以后，我收到了一个小包裹，里面的USB每个都独立包装在一个密封的小塑料袋。USB外形小巧精致，印刷非常专业，我对产品的效果非常满意！
欧洲游戏世博会
该展会在伯明翰NEC会展中心举办，吸引了将近8万人，展示着即将在明年推出的最新游戏，以及全新的技术。对我来说，展会的亮点是里面数量众多的VR(虚拟现实)的游戏摊位，其中展出的有新的Nosulus Rift，就是你戴着VR耳机玩游戏的同时能闻到相应的气味！
要开始我的Steemit宣传了，第一步首先是找到合适的位置。我在会展逛了一圈，选择了展会的边缘通道，此处有咖啡和食品店，经过那儿的人都显得比较轻松，容易交谈。 我从来没有干过这样的宣传活动，不禁有点儿紧张。我环视周围的人，看到迎面两个女孩儿有说有笑地走过来。机会来了，我很礼貌地迎了上去打招呼，她们也立刻向我微笑，显得非常友好。我最初的紧张顿时消失了。我解释说，我正在推广名为Steemit的新的社交媒体平台，在这里发表文章可以得到回报。我继续向她们宣传这个平台，并耐心地回答她们的各种疑问。这两位女孩子也非常健谈，我们聊了大概10分钟以后，她们拿着免费赠送的USB高兴地离开了。
在此之后，我信心大增，开始向更多的人做宣传并派发USB，有的人还把他的朋友都叫过来一起加入我们关于Steemit的交谈。我都尽我所能向每个人解释这个平台是什么以及如何运作等等，并回答各种疑问，其中提到最多的就是他们如何收到写文章赚来的钱。我回答Steemit使用数字货币，也就是钱。由于时间关系，我不能和他们深入讨论数字货币的世界，于是我建议他们回去以后在网上看看数字货币是如何操作并阅读相关的文章。如需要，我会通过邮件提供信息或帮助。
我原以为大部分来展会的人都为了玩玩新游戏而来的，想不到还是很多人对Steemit很感兴趣并愿意花时间了解更多。我与一位来自香港的男孩子聊了足足40分钟，在介绍完Steemit以后，他很主动地提及自己也参与其他社交媒体，如他经营着超过9000用户的YouTube频道。他对Steemit很感兴趣，并记下了我的邮件地址让他的朋友也可以和我直接联系以获取更多的信息。
大约3个半小时以后，我全部的Steemit USB都派发完了。虽然精疲力竭，但整个过程这么顺利，我很是很开心，很有成就感！我向尽可能多的人宣传Steemit这个平台，与每个赠送了USB的 “未来Steemit用户”拍了照片。一个女孩子因为还害羞，我就没有勉强她拍照了，但记下了邮件地址。
所以，在这儿我们有23位Steemit的“未来”用户，24个邮件地址。虽然这并不完美，但我对自己的这次Steemit宣传活动结果还是比较满意。
后续
经过漫长的一天回到伦敦，虽然我已是筋疲力尽了，但我却拥有一整天美好的回忆与整整两页纸的邮件地址。
我发了电子邮件给本子里的每一个人，正式向他们介绍Steemit，也包括我的用户名，方便
他们在访问Steemit网站时与我联系。 我在电子邮件里也提到，对于他们每一个新注册的成员，我会转发3个 STEEM到他们账户，用来感谢和鼓励他们尝试该网站。
我们都知道，目前Steemit还非常年轻，处于起步阶段。它需要所有的曝光机会及宣传才能得到蓬勃发展。我希望尽到自己的绵薄之力来帮助实现我们共同的目标。相信在不远的将来，Steemit将成为家喻户晓的社交媒体平台。