Hello Steemit Friends!
I don't know about you guys - but I find that I spend most of my Steemit time creating content, responding to comments, and keeping up with my feed of people I follow. It can be easy to get caught up in our own circles and forget to take the time to find and encourage new users.
Lately, I have been trying to find new up and coming users in my niche to support and encourage them. For me, that's music. Anyone who follows my blog knows that I am an avid member of the open mic community and regularly post music videos on Dtube.
I can still remember back to my first few posts and can distcintly remember those who took the the time to encourage me in the beginning. The funny thing is, most of those people are no longer active on the platform - but I still remember the impact of their kindness.
I would love to be part of other's "Steemit Story" and be able to have that kind of impact on someone. If you feel the same way, I hope this post encourages you to start finding and encouraging users in your own niche!
What Am I Looking For?
It can certainly take time to sift through the garbage to find a gem - but when you do, it is totally worth it. I often look through the introduceyourself, music and dtube tags to find new musicians.
Quality Content
I am looking for musicians that are posting quality music videos or sound recordings - whether it be covers or original work. That doesn't necessarily mean they need to have tons of expensive recording equipment - just that they are obviously putting some care into what they post.
Healthy Community Engagement
Once I have found someone with good content, then I look to see how they are engaging with the community so far. The beauty of the block chain, is that everything is pretty transparent. First, I look at their last few posts to see if they responding to comments on their posts, and seem appreciative for the support and engagement they are currently receiving. Second, I check their comment section to see if they are spamming user's posts, or seem to be genuinely engaging with other's content.
I Found Someone! Now What?
Once I find someone that fits the above criteria, I usually do four things.
Leave an Encouraging Comment
If you think they have great content - let them know that! Maybe tell them what you loved so much about it. I usually acknowledge that the first bit of time on Steemit can be really rough, but that if they keep posting great content like this, they are on a good track. Letting people know that they "have what it takes" is one of the most encouraging things you can say to someone.
Give Them a Vote
Often when I find these people, their posts are worth pennies. I am fortunate to have a certain amount of Steem Power that allows me to leave a nice vote on someones post. I have much less steem power than probably others reading this post - but it is still such a good feeling to be able to take someones post from pennies to a couple bucks. I remember the first time I had a post make more than a dollar... I definitely did a happy dance in my living room! It just feels so rewarding to be able to make someones day like that.
This point applies to everyone - regardless of Steem Power. Even if your vote is worth a penny, it's still an encouraging gesture to leave them a vote.
Let Them Know How They Can Get Plugged Into Your Niche
This is one of the most important points! It is great to stop by someones blog and leave them some encouragement - but the goal is to get them stoked to be here and encourage them to continue creating great content. The best way to do that is to help them get plugged in with people who have similar interests. That way they can start building relationships on the platform and maybe learn from others in their space.
For me, I always tell musicians about #openmic! I always send them links to the contest page and recommend they follow @luczypher for regular updates. It is really the perfect place to meet other musicians on the platform and to gain exposure for their music. Think about where communities form in your own niche. Is there a discord channel or tag that everyone uses? Maybe you can tell them the names of a few influencers in your niche and encourage them to follow and connect with those people.
Offer to Answer Their Questions
Getting started on Steemit can be a little intimidating and most new users would really appreciate having someone they can turn to for questions. Even if they don't take you up on it - they will feel really welcomed just because you offered. Of course, only offer if you are willing to respond and help!
Challenge to my Fellow Steemians!
Could you spend a little more time trying to find up and coming users in your niche and encourage them? Even if you committed a little time to this once or twice a week - you never know who you will impact!
If anyone has questions or thoughts, i'd love to hear them!
xo, Lea
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS
I've tried to get some community engagement going in the #fantasy tag to interact with other fantasy book admirers but alas its filled with with porn related posts or fantasy football.
Both fine topics, but not what I was looking for lol
Yes!! Fantasy is a huge inspiration in my work and I agree it’s really hard to find that community here!!
Well I am always up to talk about my favorites/discover something new. You show me a decent fantasy book post/discussion and i'll be happy to upvote it.
Haha I can see how that tag might get over run! What are some of your favorite fantasy books? I’m a big fan of the Wheel of a Time series and Terry Goodkind’s “Wizards first rule” series. Have you read either?
I have indeed read the entire Wheel of Time. All time favorites would probably be Kingkiller, almost anything by Brandon Sanderson, Malazan book of the fallen, classics like Lord of the rings, Game of Thrones, etc.. Really too many to name.
If you really enjoy Wheel of Time and like podcasts you should take a gander at these guys, probably my favorite fantasy book podcast out there. I've posted about them a few times on steemit and the various series they have covered so far. They did 1 or 2 podcasts on every book in WoT, most reading for the first time and giving their reactions after every book.
I think once steemit implements the communities feature it will go a long way to developing these little niche groups .
Ooh thanks for the podcast recommendation! I’m always looking for new podcasts and that one sounds really interesting.
I agree that we will start to see smaller niche communities develop as we onboard more members.
Let me know if you give it a listen and enjoy it. Didn't mean to threadjack your comments here but as it has been pointed out, its hard to connect like minded people here sometimes :)
Haha I don’t mind at all!! I’m glad to see you finding a few more people to connect with on a shared love of fantasy literature ... especially since your tag got overrun with porn and football. 😜
I refuse to be negative because in almost any context porn and football should be a positive thing.
Thanks for the tip on the podcast, I'll definitely have to check them out. You're right, the upcoming communities feature is going to really help people create/find their niches. I'm really looking forward to it.
I just started Bradndon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series. I haven't read his work yet but looking forward to it. I thought he did a great job finishing up for Jordan and the WoT series.
Stormlight is his first go at epic fantasy (other than finishing WoT) and if you don't mind large, unfinished series is a great read. I might recommend that you read Warbreaker at some point before reading Stormlight 2 or 3, as there is a little crossover and adds a little nice background (more so for stormlight 3). If you start to get into Sanderson you'll learn about the larger "Cosmere" and how everything is connected.
It definitely isn't required but if you are like me and love all the little nuanced references and easter eggs hidden in there then I would read it. Its a standalone and a fine read on its own. The same podcast also has a series for Stormlight, mistborn, and a few other series. I like the podcasts that are people sort of reading along with me or just reading a book and reviewing it. There just aren't that many out there, especially good ones.
I'll definitely pick up the Warbreaker next, thanks for letting me know.
This is a fabulous post. And a great reminder! Some of my own personal success has to do with getting occasionally noticed by others much larger than I. It gives a sense of belonging and satisfaction you don't get elsewhere. So good job pointing this out, and practicing what you preach! Keep up the great work.
Aww thanks @littlescribe! I’m so glad you found the post helpful. It’s so great to see you responding and helping other people in the comments of this post! You are awesome!
Exactly, we need to spend more time manually curating and supporting the newcomers to this platform
Preach. 😊 Thanks for the thoughtful response!
This is very good leadership @coruscate.. I can see you have quite the audience too!!! very good, I'm glad one of my friends directed me to your site as it has given me ideas of how I can help more newbies too!
Aww that’s great to hear @davemccoy! Awesome that you go out of your way to welcome new users!
Thanks for appreciating it and I was checking out your audience too... You are a magnet for the newbies and that is a wonderful thing. They need guidance and attention, and its commendable that someone that has reached your level is willing to give them both :)
ps... we don't much punch yet but one thing we like to is give our newbies a "newbie nickel" ($0.05 upvote) as a means of encouragement.... I'm telling you this because you're never too big to appreciate the gesture... And out of respect to you, here is a newbie nickel to you too :D
your social intentions are good enough, make me admire you. thank you
I love that post! It is so motivating for newbies to get some feedback and help in this big steemit world. Steemit needs many more people like you! Thankfully i met some as i'm also new and i still i feel a little bit lost. But time will tell if i can get over those starting difficulties;)
Thanks so much for the thoughtful response! Starting out on Steemit can be rough. Honestly, the best thing you can be doing is leaving great comments on others posts - just like you did here.
I really do think that growth on this platform is exponential. Once you get 100 followers, it’s so much easier to get 200. Once you reach 500, it’s much easier to hit 1000. It almost feels like a snowball effect. It takes a long time, but is so worth it if you stick through the hard times!
Hey Lea, great video. I just joined Steemit and Dtube and I really like the culture that I'm seeing here (and your post proves this).
I mean with youtube, most of the times you see a lot of thumb downs which you don't see here very often.
Anyhow, thanks for the great video. I enjoyed watching it.
Aww thanks @timdutch and welcome to Steemit! It is such an amazing and supportive community. If you ever have questions on Steemit or Dtube, don’t hesitate to ask! 😊
Thanks Lea! I'll do :)
You really are kind hearted. Taking your time to help others on the blockchain is something else. Although you confined yourself to mainly music 🎶, all the same GOD bless you. So let me bless with my small upvote.
Aww thank you @izge!! I love meeting new steemians from all walks of life and all interests. In this post, I just recommend people use this principle to look for new users in their own niche. For example, if someone was really interested in cars and automotive topics, I would have no idea who they should talk to or how to get involved. Because I am so plugged into the music scene here, I am able to be much more help to new musicians! I hope that makes sense. :-)
Thanks for reading my post and leaving such a thoughtful response!
Great input. thank you. UpVote/ReSteemddd. im new so it doesnt mean much lol but hey why not. loved it
Aww thank you! Your comment totally made me smile. 😊
.
SO important! It really is a lot of fun to watch people grow here on Steemit. 😊
I just introduced my father to Steemit and Dtube, he's interested, and he's 78 years old!!
My dad just got involved a couple weeks ago, and he's in his late 60's. He's extremely talented with writing and connecting with people, but completely clueless with regards to technology. So this has been a wonderful learning opportunity for him, as well as a chance for us to share something really cool together! He's already taking off, and his posting and curating and bloggins skills are pretty stellar already. You'd never know he was completely illiterate tech-wise even two weeks ago. I think this place can be a great motivator to figure things out.
If your dad wants some company, have him meet my dad. @mistermercury. I'm sure they can all buddy up.
That made me smile. ☺ congratulations to your dad!
Thanks, i'll show him. He will be pleased. Yet he still waiting for his account to be confirmed.
WASSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPP :D
Wo bistn her?
I would also love to follow him. Im actually quite curious about his blog. Im exited for him!
Wow, that is amazing!! Good for him to take the plunge and get involved! Let me know his username when he gets all setup! I’d love to check out his blog!
I have been carving out a niche in cars and automotive stuff. Meet a few other motor heads so far.
I think it is really important to find a niche on here. It makes it more real and it's easier to post when you're in your groove. And when we go out of the comfort zone once in awhile, it is great for the platform, but definitely understandable to stay in a clique. Mine usually revolve around poetry, freewriting, puns, limericks, and word-oriented things. I just like writing. So I guess that makes posting easy.
But I do get out there and look for other interesting stuff too.
That’s awesome to hear @doomsdaychassis! Even though it’s fun to meet people with lots of diverse interests , it is super important to find your tribe here on a Steemit! Glad you’ve been able to do that.
Yes, i just picked up another follower with my last post. He is restoring an old muscle car and is trying to get his daughter into racing karts. life is good.
Sweet!! That’s all it takes... building your niche community one person at a time. 😊
Hey I have made welcoming new users a priority here! Glad to see other people are also making the effort!
That’s so awesome to hear @ozwald!! Keep up the great work. 😊
I’m having a hard time even finding people in my niche to connect with. I do composite photography and book covers...I’m thinking we just aren’t here. It’s totally worth it to connect with people I have those relationships on instagram, but it’s not translating to steemit yet...
I hear you @wildempress. I have a few niche interests that I have tried to post about here, and I just don’t think there is a crowd for every interest yet. In time there will be though!
I hope so!
I like I like what you suggest
Good vision...you great for the community 🏅🏆🎯
Aww thank you! Love the emojis’s! haha
I admire your initiative.
These last couple of days, I’ve doing something alike - except for the fact that it is not really niche related (unless you consider ‘being a newbie’ a niche).
When I have some time to spare, I go check out the ‘Introduce yourself’ stream to welcome new users and invite them to join our #newbieresteemday initiative. This initiative is a group of minnows, backed up by some Dolphins and Whales and was founded to support new Steemians by giving them some extra rewards and a chance to connect with other Steemians.
The initiative was founded by @davemccoy and @mudvat36, but the number of active members is growing every day. We have some weekly events, like - of course - newbieresteemday, but there’s also a weekly‘Dear Dawn’, in which @goldendawne, one of the stewards of Gondor, offers her expertise to new members, we have a newbie of the week contest and organize a lot of games and contests in which new members receive a little extra through an upvote...
There's also a Discord channel where newbies can go if they have any questions.
At the moment, we’re looking for some supporters - people that don’t need to put in a whole lot of effort nor time into the initiative (although every help will be appreciated), but are willing to contribute a little like for example dropping in at a contest every once in a while to show some support and connect with a couple of newbies , allowing them to grow their account and make new connections.
When I saw your post, iI thought it was worth a question. You could for example simply tag posts like these with the #newbiresteemday tag, so it will show up in our stream. By using the tag, you can become involved and help us go get the word out about the initiative without having to do any extra work if you don’t want to.
My best Argument is that if we want to help out and guide newbies around the platform together, we’ll have more chance to succeed. After all: If we work together, we can move mountains
Feel free to check out the #newbieresteemday initiative (we now have our ‘official’ account at @nexbieresteemday too) and then decide whether you’re prepared to supoort each other’s causes :0)
@simplymike
You can read more about the initiative here and read about our latest accomplishments here
Wow, what an amazing resource for new Steemians! Thanks for providing all the info here so people can go check it out. 😊
How do i get people to upvote my post?. I love your write up. Would be glad if you can be of help to me. Thanks in anticipation
You comment. Comment comment comment. Find people you like that you can follow, and comment and vote for them. You'll make a niche, you'll find friends, and you'll occasionally get attention from dolphins and even whales. If you comment. And only if you comment.
And if you are creating decent stuff, and genuine or creative content, you'll get votes for it.
If you have questions about the art of commenting, check out my instructional video for noobs
What @littlescribe said. 😊 This platform is all about relationships. If you show genuine interest in others and write meaningful comments on their posts, you will be off to a great start.
What you're saying is so important! Its not all thay easy for everyone. I know I've needed encouragement! suggestions and comments... it helps so much. I love this idea and im on it!
Thanks @thelmalera! I’m so excited to hear that you are going to give this a try!
Good suggestions. I do seek them out and encouraged a few.
Great to hear that you are already doing this! Keep rocking!
Hi! @coruscate, I see your recent updates on steemit..... thanks for share with us. @upvoted this post.
Yes I agree with you @coruscate.
I always appereciate those which have a good content full with information
because if want to learn it is necessory to read a post with full concentration
a its my first priority to learn and you sad you spent most of time on steem to creat a good content yes thats why you have a goos blog , your blog is good because you give your time to this
your video and music is so beautiful and amazing thats why most of people like it i also love your music and always try to watch your video
i wish you a bright feature
God bless you,
I like to think myself in the "welcoming niche", where me and a collection of other Steemians recruit and welcome new people from Malaysia into this platform. You can check out what we by checking out the #teammalaysia initiative!
Welcoming Steemians is definitely something worth doing. Getting them in is how we grow the platform and the old adage "We rise by raising others" has never been truer
By the way you're doing awesome yourself! I remember enjoying your cover of Say Something with your sister. That was so many months ago haha...
I very agreeable with steemit that give a lot opportunity to generate revenue mainly in field social media
Exactly!
cold professional :/
That is really Great! If you want to support me too, I just made a post about DTube, you should check it out! :)
Thanks for you post i know people will larn from it
Great post!! Thanks for sharing
just upvoted you.you are awesome
nice post,but firstly you have to be the number one portrait figure of expression, have you asked your self if you are encouraging other steemians,you have never liked my post and you keep on posting about encouraging new STEEMIAN. ride up and do something on this comment and my posts,
Nice to meet you @isaachazard. Here’s my first piece of advice - demanding votes is not a good strategy. I would instead recommend leaving thoughtful comments on posts you enjoy. People are much more likely to check out your blog if you leave a great comment on their post. I hope that helps!
God bless the day i had encountered with you, it is a previlage. thanks so much for your concerns towards us.
i remenbered giving you some words of encouragement and now look at you feeling proud of what you do. i am so glad they made impart to you. however, i am still active in this platform and the reason for my imperssitency was what you have all said. i still have passion for music. kudus....
Great post 👏😎 I just followed you and upvoted
keep on the good work!
Follow Lucifer?
Nice Post! I Just follow and upvote you :))
.
My daughter plays violin, but lately has really taken to the ukelele and I think she'll be posting some songs soon. I may help her break in by doing a little duet with her just to get her started.
In the meanwhile, here's a little chuckle for you.
It's from an entry to @Papa-pepper's contest where someone had already written the words, we just had to come up with the song. FYI-this was the first take and was supposed to be the practice, so I wasn't taking it very seriously and sped up like crazy. I had no idea what my boys were doing behind me, but it was so funny we had to keep it. I don't get a lot of kid-free time so I'm thinking of doing kid's songs and getting my kiddos involved. We'll see
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing @coruscate!
Great article. Music is one of my passions and, being new to Steemit, it’s great to see others’ perspectives on how to navigate this community best.
I have seen a little of what I’d consider SPAM but have also found a lot of cool people and great content.
I always take the time to answer every single comment as I feel it’s the right thing to do (and the whole point of this platform being curation and interaction).
I am most definitely following you.
That's very nice of you to remember the minnows @coruscate It is really tough at the start, but I have found really helpful and encouraging people everywhere I have looked on this platform. Hey, maybe if you have a spare minute, you can swing by my page and have a look. No sweat if you are too busy. Peace out.
Hey Lea @coruscate :)
I just wanted to say that your post is really kind and influential, especially as a musician and being new to Steemit.
I agreed with everything you said and I am also trying to find new ways to support other artists who have shared interests.
It'd be great if you could check out some of mine and @edenmichelle 's stuff to get an idea of what we do too.
Wishing you the best of luck with everything and look forward to hearing some more great songs!
https://steemit.com/dsound/@danshawmusic/reckless-wonder-final-master
interesting! thanks for sharing! i will start following your exciting posts! Checkout my posts as well
Will take some "long-drive" steeming to find quality people and content. But, if I can find you, there will more in the new entries. Good one @coruscate! Cheers!
Well, I just came here and I'm surprised that I'm not alone facing this problem, I honestly would like to write something that I really interested in but after finding some tags looking for what I'm looking for, i think people might not interested in my posts, i will not post something that I don't really like, it's not about making money it's about passion, mostly people here are speculators, marketers, etc.
Love this idea, I'm just getting started with Steem myself!
You have such a wise head on your young shoulders!
I'm inspired by your energy and kindness as well as musical talent!
I find #dtube and #dsound very difficult in promoting my music.
Perhaps you need to mentor me and help me spread my musical wings!!
Are you on discord?
I like how you're saying it - that we sometimes get thrown into loops of our life forgetting there is whole another world out there just for you.
We must support each other and don't forget that every word we say will either encourage or discourage someone to do what they love.
Thanks for sharing this! Have a great day!
Yeah I've started to do this too! And I'm even writing tips like yours to help 'em out. I'm lovin' Steemit now. :D
Fallow Lucifer??