My content is good and I post frequently. I think I deserve more attention from the whales in this ecosystem!
[proceeds to obnoxiously tag all whales] (at) Blocktrades, (at)TheyCallmeDan, (at)Rancho, (at)Traf, and so on.
Have you ever had these thoughts? Have you ever written to a large stakeholder asking for votes? Have you witnessed someone rage quit because "the only people who make any money on HIVE are the VIP club of already rich whales and there's nothing you can do about it"?
Well, I'm sorry to say but that's not the way it works, scooter. You might think you deserve attention because you've put in a huge amount of effort into your 2000 word post, but those around you might not find your content valuable, interesting or entertaining. The same goes for if you're a musician, comedian, designer, restaurant owner... and a long etcetera.
Are you a musician?
You might have written that song Smelly Cat for your favorite family pet, Pocahontas. but if your song doesn't connect with your audience, you won't get applause, tips and you definitely won't get "record sales" whatever that means in 2025.
image source: screenrant.com
Comedian?
Not if you can't make funny jokes your audience can relate to. Many a-funny man has bombed a standup show because they thought their jokes were good, but didn't have the same effect on their audience. I've even seen at least ONE cringe-worthy meltdown that has cost a comedian his career.
In case you don't know what happened to Michael Richards at the Laugh Factory comedy club in 2006, check this video out:
Content creator?
Same difference.
What makes you think that because you make content people are going to like it, let alone give you money for it?
The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we'll start having fun on social media (including decentralized, monetizable social media like HIVE-based platforms) and making new friends you can have engaging conversations with. Heck! in doing so, you might even figure out that sharing a particular skill that you've been honing for years, like the ancient art of basketweaving, is actually useful to a group of citizens of the interwebs and they might even start liking, upvoting, tipping and sharing your pearls of wisdom on basketweaving.
In any place where people gather, but particularly those built on value-for-value philosophy, focus on providing value.
Focus on providing tons of value!
Do it selflessly, do it frequently.
Share your knowledge, share your time and share your lessons.
And you know something? providing value on Hive also means having skin in the game, so do that too. Show folks around you you mean business. Power up some HIVE and use it to vote on what you consider high-quality content made by others. Downvote spam bots and abusers and vote on the witnesses you think are doing their best to secure the network.
You know what happens next?
you get paid for the value you bring to the marketplace
-- Jim Rohn
By the way, this advice is mostly for me. If you find any of it useful, please feel free to use it in your own journey.
Images created using Mid Journey and edited in Canva. Credits provided where this is not the case.
I think viewing Hive blog writing as a money making idea, is the same as becoming a painter in real life.
Your best bet is to pour passion and love into what you do and even then you are playing against the odds.
Great analogy! Now that I think of it, music producer Rick Rubin said something like this about making music. If you make music FOR YOU, you'll come up with the best, most original, most unique and moving music for you! whereas if you're worried about making a hit, you'll end up making cheap, marketable music with no soul.
Agree, Alex. One cannot influence (force) others to do things. You can only influence what YOU do. You can always decide (only) what you will make of things around you. And that‘s indeed something I learned from Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics.
That can be a kind of frustrating learning at the beginning but on the other Hand it is very powerful: You ALWAYS have a choice, what YOU do about things, how YOU perceive certain words said, how YOU think about everything around.
Couldn't have said it better myself! Isn't it amazing that lessons like these have been passed down for thousands of years?
Thanks for your insightful comment.
🤝🏻 That‘s indeed amazing, people have thought about these things milleniums ago, an emperor has written those things down in his Journal which was recovered and is available to us today to Read. Really Crazy kind of.
Forgot to add the tipping bots so I'm spamming your comments this morning!
!BBH !SLOTH !PIZZA
Hahahaha I love this post 😁
So................ funny story 😅
Back in the early-mid part of my Hive Journey, I was getting a very intermittent series of "Whale upvotes" due to "Contest Entries" and posting in Discord about it.
I was doing exactly what you were describing and the key frustration for me was "I am told on almost every post that "omg this is hilarious", "omg I love your writing style"... etc
But so much content went unnoticed. I couldn't figure it out. I couldn't figure out why some content generated very little attention and upvotes and some generated a lot...
My frustration grew as I read more and more sub-par work that seemed to garner these big upvotes and there really wasn't a clear "method" of getting their attention.
Eventually... I wrote that exact post you described. At(all those people).
That did not go well 😅
However, the silver lining was, in addition to the backlash and downvotes - I received a ton of constructive criticism.
I received a ton of useful advice. Help. Instructions. Suggestions.
This post is solid gold Alex, I hope it helps the people it reaches because the advice contained in these words most certainly helped me!
lol well, learning the hard way is also a way of learning 😄. Yeah, I wonder about this and I wanted to write about it. In a way I think it's a bit of the community's fault by promoting the Come, blog and earn crypto for free!
As I've said in other posts: TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch)
We've got to provide value to the other person and then we might get value in return.
We've got to learn how to read people and see if we can figure out what's valuable to them.
@star-shroud - this is a fantastic post that may help offer you some guidance on your journey too 😊
P.S. - Don't tag the Whales, that generally doesn't work out for you 😂🤣😅
Your comment is upvoted by @topcomment
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As Hive grows it may get harder to be noticed. It will take work to build a following and still get ignored by the big accounts. I may do well by getting in early and then being really active as well as attending a lot of events. My hourly rate may not actually be that great.
I always say that Hive offers opportunities and is up to you to make the most of them. The whales will have their own reasons for how they vote, but there are thousands of others who could support you. If you can bring in new people then you can make it more fun.
It may not seem 'fair', but anyone can earn something here. Enjoy the freedom.
Mostly I agree with you, I have similar opinion. "There are thousand of others could support you"..... This is good words. I wish I could type my opinion longer but I have limited in English.... That is nice! ☺
You have to find your audience, but Hive is still pretty small. It can be fun anyway.
Audience and friends ☺
Yes! anyone can earn something here! Everybody's journey is different too and just because someone earned more than you on a post doesn't mean you can appeal to Hive's customer service demanding a larger upvote 😄. I think it's super fun here and most everybody that does well seems to be having fun showing others what they do and interacting genuinely with fellow Hiveans.
I'm actually impressed that people are not nagging me for votes. I do get a few low effort comments that may hope for something, but they won't get much. Genuine interaction tends to be more rewarding.
I call them "vote fishers". hundreds of comments like "👍" in hopes of a vote. Genuine interaction is in fact much more rewarding. This reminds me of something. There's a Ted Talk by Celeste Headley titled how to have a great conversation. It's an oldie but goodie. The best way to have an amazing conversation is to really listen and be genuinely interested in the conversation. You can even disagree! but if you're genuinely listening, you will undoubtedly end up having a great conversation.
I'm not getting many such comments, but it could soon change if millions more signed up. Then we will need tools to filter the flood. I just see people leaving comments every minute or so and that does not look genuine as they can't be reading the posts.
I've had lots of good conversations here, some with people I disagree with :)
I am pretty happy with the votes I get at the moment. Sure some of them are below 1 dollar but there are also votes of 10+ dollars. I have something that some people don't have-I am a stubborn optimist. If I am already getting decent votes the future votes are only gonna get better(as long as I keep doing what I do now). For me the glass is half full.
Stubborn optimism is awesome! 🙌
A stubborn optimist is much more likely to stay consistent at doing something like blogging on HIVE and by doing so improving their writing style, as well as video-creation if that's their thing and thus... end up with a larger circle of friends who find their content valuable and will be more likely to offer support.
Stubborn optimism is key! congratulations!
I suppose that most of us on HIVE (including myself) had exactly that thought on our mind at some point... Some have accepted that and changed their way of thinking, and some have rage quit and left. It hurts to see that, sometimes, people are not treated the same, but we are not the same...
Many times people are confused with new stuff and forget that HIVE isn't a democracy social network, it is a decentralized network... It means that everyone can do whatever he/she wants with their own stake... As soon as we accept that, we will be able to "be free"... It's hard because it's new... We are not used to a decentralized way of thinking...
If you disagree, grow your stake, show the "right way", be a role model, and BE BETTER!
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It's amazing to me how people will spend more effort in finding ways of gaming a system than to add value to the system and get handsomely rewarded in the process. This is the problem with spending so much time and effort promoting...
It confuses people. Votes for content on HIVE are not linear, guaranteed or deserved.
I keep saying there's a middle class getting larger and stronger on HIVE. A middle class made up of stakeholders who truly believe in freedom and decentralization and who are more and more willing to educate newcomers to this new paradigm.
Could work..., have you tried it? 😄
I'll wait till I'm orca to start sending out 0.001 transactions with a memo explaining to all whales why they should consider voting for me (and delegating HP). I'm working on my sales pitch.
I've seen people do it.
LOL, keep doing what you're doing.., no need for anything else.
Every user has their own standards for curation and the curation services or mechanisms they participate in.
Hive is decentralized and free, but it also has a community aspect. Some of these communities originated way back in the Steemit days almost a decade ago now. Relationships take some time to build, and consistency seems to be one of the most appreciated aspects here on Hive. Users who consistently create compelling content, and have demonstrated they are here to sustain Hive can succeed. People should really stop and think what success looks like not only to them, but also to other users.
If a person only has an extractive relationship with the community here that becomes somewhat obvious over time. Ideally the creation of new value, and its sustainment will exceed the amount of value that is extracted. If it doesn't Hive will implode or contract over time. It is good that HIVE assets flow off chain, and get purchased by speculators and investors. This allows for a greater market evaluation of the value of HIVE.
My own principles may be somewhat different than other users, and I don't and can't have a reasonable expectation that other users defer to my priorities.
Yes! I think an extractive behavior is much more obvious than people think. Not only on decentralized social media, it happens in business too. It's rather noticeable when you're in it just to extract money. For example: You sell hamburgers. You might use cheap ingredients because they have a higher profit margin. You might also cut costs on cheap furniture, uniforms, bad employees, a bad location, etc. What you end up with is a shitty burger joint nobody wants to go to. If you're in it to give your clients an amazing culinary experience with top quality service, products and a beautifully decorated restaurant with good music, you'll be able to charge a price that customers will be willing to pay for your amazing product AND you'll be able to make a profit in the process.
It seems like focusing on providing value is the name of the game in many aspects of life.
Spot on! Too many people come to Hive with the wrong mentality on day one : "there's a pool of money here free for all to grab and I'm gonna grab some."
True to a certain extent but don't think you're entitled to it just because it's there. People need to get their head around this
I'm gonna grab as much as I can! 😄😄😄
Yeah, NGMI.
Just like it takes effort to wrap your head around the fact that magic internet money IS money and doesn't need to be converted into a tenner in order to BE money, it takes effort to understand that YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO A PIECE OF THE REWARD POOL just because you showed up. I don't mind if those people leave honestly. They are the ones missing out. The amount of true believers in decentralization, freedom and self-custody are growing in my opinion and will continue to make places like HIVE awesome to gather and grow together.
Just good writing never makes money. You need to show yourself to people a little bit and that takes time. You have to make friends with people, expand your circle. You have to add value to people's posts if you want to be valued.
I've never asked for votes for myself, but I've seen a lot of people asking for votes and none of them get the upvote
It's a combination of efforts, isn't it? Improving your writing, public relations, marketing, communications...
I think it also helps your credibility when you have skin in the game by buying tokens on the open market.
I post because I believe I have something to say, for the posterity, for whoever feels concerned about the same topics that worry me, for my children. I always wanted to get enough feedback from people that would motivate me to continue. High upvotes certainly feel elating, but I write mainly for me, for the posterity, for my children. No big upvotes? No problem!
That's why you're a true Hivean my friend. You write for you and you enjoy it. If that's the way you see it, you'll never rage-quit because of the upvotes. Are votes welcome? sure, but they are not guaranteed. Many people don't understand this.
Fully agree here. I’ve put hours of effort into some posts and got mostly squat for the return. Others I put a little bit and it ended up being really well paid. It’s so random that it’s funny.
I think that the important thing is engagement and consistency. Going around and talking to the people around us and the posts we like is important. Then replying to people if they stop by your post or comments is also really important!
The people who cry and complain about the lack of things they get are funny - most of them do nothing but expect the silver platter. That ain’t how life works!
That's the formula! It's just like building a brand. You build your circle, your audience over time by providing value and being consistent. I think many folks are also missing a key ingredient to success on HIVE which is buying the token when it's cheap :)
Hahaha yes for sure.. I bought quite a bit of it when it was cheap! I like the price now.. but I really was hoping for it to pull back quite a bit so I could get more :D
This is so true... sometimes one does think that😜 but let life be life and get what you're given right 🤣😜 ..
It's something really motivatingly breaking seeing some people get really gangster upvotes almost om every post. I personally feel that most of the older accounts support each other but I can be wrong😜😜
Supporting those who've kept on showing up for a long time is OK. I'm not against it. Just being here for that long shows some kind of commitment to the ecosystem. Sometimes seeing others get gangster upvotes on every post (including the mediocre ones) is OK too. If you focus on making the best, most entertaining, most valuable content and genuinely interacting with your fellow Hiveans, you'll get far.
I told the TipU whale you thought you deserved larger upvotes because your content is good and you post frequently so let´s see what their response is... :D
@tipu curate 10
...see! They think you were right! :D
Haha! that's awesome! Maybe I should send reminder memos to people asking for upvotes now, I mean, it IS in the title. I appreciate it my friend, but I'm sure people (including you) are more inclined to support others who show authenticity and interact genuinely with you.
Absolutely, it was just a joke :) You know, although my Hive time has dwindled to like 1% or so of what it used to be, I´m still one of TipU curators and I try to distribute their votes daily. Sometimes, I don´t really have the time to read long elaborate posts with dozens of photos so I just drop the votes to someone that I know and that is a great community member like you ;)
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/63) Liquid rewards.
I admit, that title got me clicking and almost ranting about how self-entitled you are.... I actually stopped to read the article. :-)
You nailed it here. The way this entire system functions is by providing quality content that people desire and naturally they will upvote you. Keep on keeping on and you'll get all the upvotes you deserve.
!BBH
!ALIVE
A bit sneaky of my part, I admit. I'm quite happy having learned the lesson that MANY artists, creators and business people share with their audience which is what you quoted above
It's simple, but incredibly powerful.
I'm happy with being able to contribute to this platform on chain and off. It's been quite the learning experience.
Thank you so much for falling into my sneaky trap and reading my article!
My pleasure! !BBH
via Inbox
When I first started on the platform I was wondering why I never had any of the big accounts to upvote my posts, but I got to understanding that it does not matter. You post and enjoy what you do and have fun with it, understanding it is about community and getting to know people.
I do not not post alot because life has been busy for me and my laptop went down and had to get another one so I could post. I need to start posting more and I have plans on posting more. I guess it is just to have fun doing what you do and enjoy doing that and enjoy life and do not worry about things you cannot change, it will only make you bitter, So join communities and meet people and make friends and it will all come out good in the end.
That's the right mindset I think. I also think you can earn a decent amount of money here but it takes a few ingredients:
Networking and investing in the communities that exist makes a huge difference, people like to vote for people they both enjoy interacting with and feel are here for the long haul.
!BBH !PIMP !PIZZA !LOLZ !SLOTH
I've seen long posts asking for curations or for big accounts to vote them. For me, content creating is not the most important aspect of even getting curation, it's about being more than a user and adding value. Most times, I don't read all that long and research filled post. It's not my niche of consumption, so a post might be long and it just doesn't appeal.
I'm sure there's at least one perverted saying that goes along the lines of long doesn't necessarily mean good. People sometimes forget this and expect their long post to be picked up by curation guilds or large accounts automatically. If there's one lesson I've learned in life, in business, in social media, it's this:
Focus on adding value.
I didn't come up with the idea. All the men and women I admire follow this concept. They serve others in the best way they can.
There's the argument that perhaps people with long post needs a type of program on Hive where they can bring in value via Ads or something like that, but without Ads program on Hive this is impossible. I personally don't read stuff that's soulless.
Some of them just dump it and never get to interact with the chain, they just leave and come back to expect big money on the post.
It's not engaging and what's the point of writing without interacting with other folks on chain? I don't find that very appealing either.
I have had those thoughts except for the part about tagging the whales. Because I know I would get some big votes, except they would be down instead of up 🤣
Lol. Imagine that. Getting a whale smackdown! no thanks. I'll stick to trying my best to come up with the best content I can.
Yeah that's the only thing we can do.
anyone who is not receiving the required attention on hive should look onwards and change something about way he/she is going about the platform.
I have observed the platform and seen how welcoming it can be, even to newbies.
Absolutely! Lots of folks go out of their way to welcome newcomers. I know because I was a newcomer once. If a content creator is not getting attention, it's up to them to evaluate if their content is what their audience wants to read, watch or listen to. It might not be and it's time to change strategies.
Well.
Sometimes, I see Hive as a game of luck because some people who do not put in so much effort to their contents even get more share
Well, we have to keep doing our best but with the little time that I’ve known you, you have always posted great contents either write ups or videos and they are always useful
I think luck might get you some whale upvotes once in a while, but it's not sustainable. The HIVE ecosystem is currently in its distribution phase, which means we're trying to spread the token far and wide. This sometimes means that good upvotes are handed out to mediocre content creators. As more and more Orcas are formed, however, the community is increasingly leaning towards higher quality content from creators with a proven track record.
Luck works a few times, but consistency will always be better in the long term.
There’s power in patience and consistency. People need to understand that Rome was not built in a day.
Two-year-old me on Hive can’t still not believe I made it this far, imagine I had given up two years ago I wouldn’t have been here to see how those little seeds I planted years ago germinated.
Thanks for sharing this as we all need to be reminded of this once in a while.
Two years is awesome! congratulations! Good thing you didn't give up :) Continue being active and adding value to the network. We'll grow together!
I think that many creators think that way for more then one post. I never create a post for one particular person, but many time I participate on a content challenge promoted by those name that you mentioned.
In my case, I don’t think I’m going to get x amount of money, I rather do it because I like that idea and want to be part of, or I create the content that I know that is not a popular topic in Hive and I do it anyway.
I’m a type of content creator that I do it because “I think “ my content will help 1 person in the whole world and if that person is on Hive, that content made my day.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
If you've helped one person, you've just gained one true follower! If you can continue to do that, you'll have discovered your community and if you keep adding value to your community, they will continue to engage, support and promote what you do in return.
This is so true; so much wisdom here. One needs to be patient and consistent here on Hive while dishing out value and connecting with other people.
It's pretty simple isn't it? Come, do your best to add value and connect genuinely with others. The rewards will be much more than monetary :)
You’re a big person on here. I don’t check your posts regularly but when I do, they are always informative
You deserve large upvotes for real
Everyone feel we deserve large upvotes but we gotta keep working hard for it
You’re doing well
I'm just a regular guy. Thank you for taking the time to come say hi. I think we need to work hard in creating value rather than getting large upvotes. My 2 cents.
Sure
The right, not plagiarized and reasonable content will make we all do well
The title attracted me instantly 😅.
All you said is the absolute truth.
There's just more to do apart from crafting and publishing.
But also, it can be so discouraging to see people who are putting less efforts get the better share.😂
It might seem like people putting in less effort are getting the better share sometimes, but we don't know the whole story. In any case, I think our focus should be on creating value for others and not worry too much on whose getting the better share.
my 2 cents.
Yeahh, for sure.
That's very true.
Platform like this goes well for users when we blog with no too much expectations✌️
Well said; focus on providing tons of value, do it frequently and selflessly.
Value is what the community thrives upon as well as making friends and being as involved as possible.
Yes! it really is as simple as that. Great things will happen if we just focus on creating value for others. It might sound cliché, but it's true.
The earlier people dissociate from entitlement mentality the better, especially on a decentralised platform like hive.
I agree. there will always be those who have trouble getting their head around this concept. They will come and they will leave, and that's OK.
In the early days of this social media, I had a similar mindset, but life took me on a different path with a full-time job, and I had to step away for a while. Now, I’ve rediscovered my true passion: electronics and coding. This time, I’m fully committed to sharing my journey on social media, not for the likes or the numbers, but because it keeps me focused and dedicated to creating the electronics I’ve always dreamed of.
It doesn’t matter which platform you’re on—if you don’t genuinely love what you’re doing and you’re only chasing money, it’s easy to end up feeling disappointed. Passion is the key to staying motivated and fulfilled.
Well met! I saw your post on the list of today's OurPick because I also got there today 😁.
I have been onboarding people to Hive for about 3 years while growing myself from Redfish to Dolphin. Of those onboarded of course (I am sure others have experienced this as well), many fall by the wayside.
However, of those I onboarded, 1 became a Dolphin and I think 3 of them became Minnows. I still have a whack of Redfish I brought to the platform that are a little bit active.
I have had to explain this thing to them that their posts might be amazing, but it might not get notice. Posting constantly makes sure that content does get noticed. Of course, it also helps a massive amount to engage with others like a real human being.
I myself feel like our connection and network of friends is what builds that "minimum value".
I was reading through the comments and conversations on your post (And resisting the temptation to troll, lol, I know a lot of the people on your comments, but you are new to me!), and someone said that old accounts on Hive support each other... and you said that is OK. Of course they do... but that's what we are building all the time. In 5 years, 10 years from now we will be those "old accounts" and while supporting each other might seem like a clique, it is just natural!
Anyway. Long comment. Great post! I enjoyed it! Cheers!
"Support each other is clique".
I agree with you, I have been 8 years and the core value Hive community is support each other.
We can not merely depend on whales unless we have whale friends or work for them.
I think if we support many right users or Hivers, they will support us back, and sometimes they need support from us first. So why do not vote them.
Many kind persons in Hive, we just to find them first in the ocean of Hive. Do not merely look their status, or Hive Power, Monnow, dolphin or whale.
As long as they have or original post or not plagiat, I will support them.
Many of us is not as content Maker or profesional blogger, artist or writer. But they post honestly and not intens to plagiat. So why we don't support them.
That my opinion, and sorry my English is not good. 😊
!INDEED
I usually look for people who will grow with me and are in it for the long haul. You first build a group of 5 of those types of people that you interact with every week who are all active. Then 10, 20, 50, 100 and so on.
You can't even keep up at that point but such a network of people all active would make your own account grow and besides you would get the best moral support! 😁
Your English is fine 👍 I understood you.
seeing this post fairly late, and my voting power is shot :)
Whale bad, Minnow good.........the standard line at hive :)
I wonder why people don't mention who are in the middle? LOL
For any society to grow we need a strong middle class, and the only way to become a middle class is to have some upward mobility. This is social science 101. And to have upward mobility you must invest in the ecosystem, and build your network. There is no other way.
It makes me happy to read this. I agree and one of my main goals as a new orca is to work together with fellow orcas to build a strong middle class with businesses like @recording-box and @yellowcherry that can employ designers, musicians, editors right here on HIVE!
I've already met some amazing people with this mindset. It's just a matter of growing our numbers and shouting from the rooftops.
more web3 businesses needed
You should write more about Guatemala, if that is where you are. I don't know we know much about the life there. I think there will be significant interest in that content.
!LUV
Hive is still a small platform, where it's easy to stick out I feel like. It will change once the userbase grows.
The cool thing about HIVE is you can park your content here and you can distribute it to other platforms like X, Insta, Facebook, Reddit.... the list goes on. Nobody can silence you.
Yes, it's smaller than some others, but it's way more powerful. Take advantage.
I understand it can be frustrating when your hard work doesn't get the recognition you feel it deserves.
Remember, success on HIVE is about creating valuable, engaging content that resonates with your audience.
Keep at it.
!BBH
!INDEED
Yes, that's the point of my post :)
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STOP"Everybody knows -- thats the way it goes" (c)
I got one:
That's an oldie but goodie.