Eric and I know each other from Altucher's group. We share similar interests. Unlike me, Eric is one of the top writers on this platform. He delivers strong inspiration on a daily basis. And it pays of, quite nicely I would say. Have a look at his blog for that matter. Or you could just monitor the trending page. He's always there.
Eric is not one of the early adopters. He was actually kindof late in joining steemit; I came later.
I thought it would be nice to ask him a few questions about his evolution, as well as his future direction with regards to this platform. It would be great if we could all learn and adapt his strategies to our own progress. So, let the interrogation begin...
Eric Vance Walton - Q&A
1. Hi Eric, can you please give me a bit of a background of who you are and what you do?
I’m forty-five years old and was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. I moved to Minnesota in 1995 and have lived in the Twin Cities ever since. I’ve been writing professionally almost half of my life while working a day job in the financial/insurance sector. My hobbies are restoring and riding vintage English bikes, meditation/yoga, and international travel.
Over the past twenty-two years I’ve published eight books in different genres (poetry, children’s books, a book on writing, and dystopian fiction). My life-long goal has always been to write full-time and be a digital nomad, traveling the world and writing about my experiences. Thanks to Steemit I’m closer than ever to achieving this goal!
2. How did you hear about the platform? Were you hesitant to join at first or did you jump right in?
@stellabelle introduced me to Steemit in mid-June of this year. She was already one of the top contributors. I had tried to sign up then but there was a glitch with the registration process and I waited a few weeks before pursuing it again. I wrote my first post on July 5th (which I will forever refer to as “my Independence Day”).
I didn’t really understand Steemit at all when I first joined. Like many others, my biggest question was, “Where does the money come from?” I was so jaded from being in the writing business and struggling so long that actually getting paid well for my work was a foreign concept. After learning more about cryptocurrency and how it worked I was convinced that Steemit was indeed the real deal and an incredible opportunity for creative folks especially.
3. Eric, can you please describe your first 2-3 weeks of using Steemit? What were the topics you wrote about? What was most challenging for you in the beginning?
When I began writing there were decent payouts for your first “introduceyourself” post. This instantly hooked me in and got me posting at least once per day. It wasn’t as much about the money as it was the freedom the money could provide. As I said before, my goal was to be able to write full-time and I saw this as a major way to accomplish that goal. I decided to “go hard” and wrote about everything: meditation; writing craft; humor; fiction; poetry; motivational posts…I was all over the board in terms of topics.
4. How much time it took until you started seeing results? Have you, at any particular time, wanted to quit and forget all about it? If so, why? What kept you going?
It took me about three weeks and thirty-plus posts to really get traction and start making decent money. I got very frustrated just a few days before my writing was discovered on the platform. I actually almost quit then. I was pouring so much energy into this and only seeing pennies per day in upvotes. One individual in particular, @mctiller, gave me the encouragement I needed to keep going. It was only a few days after this that I started taking off.
5. This is the juicy part. Eric, what is your strategy about writing?
- How long does it take to write a post?
I post twice per day and I dedicate at least 4 hours per day to my Steemit writing.
- When do you do your writing (time of the day)?
I still have to work a day job so I prepare my posts in the evenings. I get them formatted and add pictures in Google Docs and then can upload them from my iPhone when I post.
- Do you do a lot of editing?
I edit as I’m posting.
- Do you use a lot of images in your posts?
I typically use 2-3 photos in a 1,000 word post.
- Do you use the markdown language?
Yes, I still use markdown, that’s another thing I had to learn. I’ve noticed some members on Steemit now have an interface that allows them to format without markdown. I suppose this will be rolled out to all members eventually.
- What do you do after publishing a post? Do you promote it in a way or another?
First, I get butterflies each time I hit “post”. After those subside I typically will share the link on my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
6. What are some suggestions that you can make for first time users of the platform?
- What should we write about?
Write about what you’re passionate about. Readers can feel this and they connect with it. It’s best to infuse personal feelings and emotion into whatever it is you’re writing about.
- Should we focus on writing posts or on commenting? Curating?
All three. This is the great thing about Steemit, it encourages and rewards people for their engagement.
- What should we do in moments of frustration?
It’s easy to let envy creep in when you see others making serious money and you’re posting away for pennies. Remember, before this platform social media paid nothing for the same content. Be patient, focus on producing quality content, leave thoughtful comments on other’s work and success will eventually come. You must find your “lane” and brand yourself here.
7. Are there any tools and strategies that you can suggest to first-time writers or to established writers that could improve their writing?
Yes, for beginners, learn the mechanics first. Read Stephen King’s book, “On Writing”. Once you’re established find your own unique writer’s voice and start to figure out the genre you really connect with and enjoy writing about.
Also, don’t just try to emulate/copy other successful writers on Steemit. These people have “found their lane” and you must find yours. It’s okay to learn from these other successful people but you can never follow their exact blueprint and expect success. You must be unique and forge your own way.
8. What is it that you don't like about Steemit and what would you suggest as improvement of the platform?
My largest pet peeve was the inability to see who was following you. They solved this with one of the last updates. Also, I hope the more user-friendly interface is rolled out to everyone so markdown is no longer needed. We spend a ton of time generating links to our photos and it would be really nice to eliminate this step and be able to upload pictures directly.
@cristi: I use imgsafe.org, for now.
9. What are your future goals/direction?
First off, I’ll always be grateful for the success I found here and the support I’ve received from the Steemit community. I never dreamed I would be one of the top earners on Steemit. I will forever be the platform’s greatest advocate.
A few days ago I decided to release my previously published debut novel, Alarm Clock Dawn (@ericvancewalton/alarm-clock-dawn-an-original-novel-part-1) on Steemit for free in installments. People are telling me I’m the first author to do this on the platform. I’m super excited about this. I’m hard at work writing the sequel to Alarm Clock Dawn entitled, “Truth Is Stranger” now. It should be completed in mid-2017.
My goal with my Steemit earnings is to pay off outstanding debt, save two years’ worth of my current salary, and then start living my dream and writing full-time. I’m kind of feeling like Andy Dufresne from my all-time favorite film, “The Shawshank Redemption”. With each Steemit post I’m tunneling my way closer to my own personal freedom!
Thanks so much for the chance to do this Q & A, Cristi! Best of luck in all you do!
Ending thoughts
You'd think Eric's steemit success came overnight. Yes, it's called overnight success after 22 years of writing almost on a daily basis...
What I take away from his story is that I should focus on consistency. But this is tricky, because you have to force yourself through the constant daily struggle of being unappreciated and under the radar.
So, it is consistency no matter what. If you can do this, by simple statistics alone, you'll reach your goal eventually.
Please make sure to follow @ericvancewalton to get his daily dose of inspiration
To stay in touch with me, follow @cristi
Images via @ericvancewalton
Cristi Vlad, Self-Experimenter and Author