Hello Stemians, Steemits and Steemites. Wow, getting traction on steemit is difficult. You post an article or story, thinking it will appeal to the steemian masses, but it quickly fades into virtual obscurity, getting just a few readers if you're lucky, maybe one upvote, and a penny for your efforts.
Then there are some posts, in the trending section, where within days, some will earn over $100 to their first "introduceyourself" post. Like what the hell? The content is pretty much generic, just an introduction of themselves with an image, and somehow it goes viral.
Then there are those who begs for "upvotes," "followers," or "resteems," which isn't my cup of tea. I, we, have been blogging for years. We produce a variety of content, all trendy and unique, as it's guaranteed to pass "copyscape" every time. We found steemit, as an opportunity to republish some of our content, to capture more readers.
Here is a sample of our writing. In exchange, please share what the dark little secret is, to gain traction on steemit. It's our first week, so maybe, I just set my expectations too high. So here goes nothing...
The Passage To Writing Technical Articles Is Creating A Story
You write down thoughts of ideas into words. If you don’t share it with others, then the entire process feels vacant. There’s solid evidence which proves that how a set of select words compiled into a sentence can inspire, engaging those who reads the passages.
So you toss around ideas of substance. You sculpt the questions to text by performing research, this by doing your due diligence, getting the facts straight. Analyze, digest the results, then craft the storyline. Evolution is transferring information from one mind to another.
Each of these words help in creating and transferring these thoughts, so it can be gifted to others to be comprehended. It comes down to a methodology, a way of influencing ideals, to translate words into motivation.
Get Direct And To The Point
Some writers will waste their time by doing extensive research, thinking that they need to search and review everything that’s ever been discovered about a particular topic of interest, and then present it in the introduction.
The purpose of a compelling introduction however is developing your hypotheses. Begin by stating your case on why point “A” is related to point “B.” Never waste your time or bore the reader by describing every piece of research that’s been written around points A and B.
Instead, state what the purpose of your study is early, this preferably near the end of the first paragraph, and then stay focused and on topic by making a case for your interpretation.
There’s no need to review all of the discoveries and conclusions on what’s been previously written in the past regarding the points.
Yet Tell The Entire Story
What some believe is that skimming the story is better, that being quick and instant is the solution. The fewer words, sentences, citations, the less examples used, the better. That brief and prompt is preferred.
But then ask yourself what’s more important. Skimping on content or providing enough context to the reader, so they’ll understand why they should care.
Nuance Always Rules
What journalists and Twitter wants are simple stories, short and sweet, over and done with. But the world we live in is complicated, so what’s needed is describing its complexity as accurately and detailed as possible.
Usually, positive emotions are healthy, but at times can lead to suboptimal outcomes. Negative emotions are likely bad, but certain situations can lead towards optimal outcomes. So it can be erroneous to generalize.
What’s recommended is learning to serve complexity and then simplifying it, this since what’s needed is to tell both sides of the same story.
Always Use Present Tense
What education instructs is to write in the third person. The reason being, supposedly, that’s what the scientists and the technology writers recommend.
The thinking being that a secondary voice makes the scientific or technical findings appear more objective. Doing so makes the writer’s intelligence appear more rational.
As a result, this is what they’ll teach in creative writing class. It’s thought that doing so needs to be reconsidered however. Instead, connect to the reader first, then provide the technical information second, this by writing in the present tense.
If you’re writing about your adventures, then insert yourself into the story, although most technical writers will disagree.
If a reviewer hasn’t mastered their writing, then they’ll usually write based of their knowledge of the content. Technical writing should instead provide a compelling story.
The Use Of Adjectives And Adverbs
Precise is better, which becomes vitally important when it comes to all forms of communication. This whether when arguing with someone, giving a speech to a massive audience, or when writing a book.
What you also need is to use the appropriate language, this to preserve the storyline narrative, to connect to the human psyche and behavior, as not all points are equal. Using adjectives and adverbs helps in stringing the reader along.
Know The Intelligence Of The Reader
What readers pay attention to are the keywords, while not likely to recount the entire substance of the article.
If you’re wanting to captivate the readers attention, then tell a coherent concise interesting story. Be focused, low key, use a variety of trigger words and never shout.
Let Them Know What’s Novel Or Important
Never assume that the reader knows the significance of your discovery, this before and beyond what you’ve written in the past, this especially if it’s on a similar topic, as they’re not as invested in it as you are.
How is what you’ve just written on a topic different from what you’ve written in the past. Give concise explanations, answers, results, with explicit references to the prior work if necessary.
Be Bold Yet Vulnerable
Some technical writers are just terrified of publishing or marketing their writing. They’re afraid of promoting their knowledge or discoveries. They chastise others who writes technical papers to connect with the general audience.
They despise social media as a medium for sharing technical or scientific insights, which requires meaningful dialogue with those who’s not in their peer group.
What they would rather do instead is write journal articles, cite their previous work, speak at seminars directly to their associates.
They’ll heavily promote themselves in their inner circles, trumpeting why they deserve praise, more funding, or a bigger salary or office.
The Write To Promote
To sell and promote oneself is human. Never forget that the most brilliant are first and foremost a human with emotions, who hurts, cries, experiences self-doubt and esteem.
What they need is to be pampered and recognized, adored just like everybody else. Embrace that this is your life scripted to theirs, and do so in your writing.
Welcome :D
Thank you very much
Hi @christalopez the reason why you may see that there are some steemians getting a $100 on their first post even if it indicates a limited things about them it's because of their support system, they may have some friends before joining steemit that helped them reach that amount, I remember my First blog didn't even reach one dollar. But that doesn't stop me from aiming my position and my worth on this platform.
How long did it take for you to get the ball rolling?
Thank you @purepinay, just stopped by your blog and it's excellent and amazing how successful you are, and gives everyone hope. Following.
If there's one thing in life I'm any good at it's research and writing about what I've researched! I found the advice on making technical writing fun and readable very helpful. It is a difficult job getting your point across in a way that keeps the reader engaged. Bringing yourself into the writing is definitely putting your best foot forward. :)
As far as the disheartening feeling you get when you see a goose egg next to that eye symbol or the empty 0.00 waiting for you as pay day approaches, I can only say stick with it! We write for the love of writing (at least most of us do). I have journals and docs that have never seen the light of day yet I personally got a lot from writing them. Yes, nothing feels better than having someone (even just ONE person) read, enjoy and comment on something you slaved, sweat and maybe even cried over but you have to remember the platform is growing rapidly, it has a STEEP learning curve, and it really is a long term investment not a get rich quick scheme. Best advice: build your relationships/network on here, find a tribe (or 20!) and get to putting your awesomeness out there - people will recognize your hard work and return the love - just have faith! :)
best of luck @christalopez. Keep Steemin'! - I found your post via @danielsaori's comment challenge ;-)
this is a great response @amariespeaks... I hit you from the wrong account, but you deserve it nonetheless! So glad we are in your "tribe"... ;)
aww thank you @nebwieresteemday !! <3 <3 no worries - I'll take the praise from any direction lol!
You really have a way with words, @amariespeaks. Yours is a wonderful response, as are all the others. I think maybe @christalopez has her hands full, and I'm so glad!
I bet she does! the comment challenge always brings a huge crowd to the page - it's hard to keep up with 30 comments a day ! lol but not a bad thing either ;-)
Dear @christalopez,
I got an immense pleasure reading your 2nd introduction to the community and flying over your blog, that brings me to think how amazing is that we can connect with each other around the globe using a unique ecosystem interacting with Steem Blockchain.
Everyone reading your posting will agree that you are a good writer, Look at your blog for example. I was really impressed by the number of articles, I checked out the traffic ''between us ;) I'm a SEO Adept and when I like a blog I check out the traffic etc. I want just to tell you that no matter how your work, skills, are good If you don't get visibility and have people to look at your work you can't reach your goal.
I'm not in a position to tell you what you have to do, But I believe that we are interacting with the blockchain, and there are some parameters. Time is the most critical parameter, if you take time to understand those parameters and leverage the system you will be there.
Steemit is not only about writing, we are in a social media/blogging platform interacting with Steem Blockchain that has generated a microeconomic ecosystem and many others interaction aspects.
What you see or what you live now, is the process of time, and if you have the vision of where you wanna be, just do what it takes and allow to time to go through the process.
excellent and well thought out post.. I'm going to re-read after i re-steem ya ;-)
Thank you very much @pat593, steemit is an excellent platform, good luck to you
Hey I am Julie Alexander.I am from OZ.
Welcome to steem community
I love cryptos,If you own any cryptos then follow me I will follow you back so we discuss cryptos.
Thank you
And I only know one best crypto analyst @salahuddin2004
do you know anyone?
Thank you very much for replying to my blog post, cheers
Hi Welcome to Steem. Congratulations! It's an awesome community. I followed you. Please follow back. Good Luck..jpg)
Thank you for the warm welcome @steemcafe, just followed you
Welcome to Steemit! Awesome pictures! I hope you enjoy your time here and be sure to check out DTube, Dsound, and DLive as well. These are the video and audio platforms that are based on the Steem Blockchain and are great additions to your Steemit world. As well, I hope you will look over some of my content and consider following along! Kindest regards.
Thank you @captainbob for leaving such a detailed post on the services that steemit offers. Will be connecting again soon.
Happy you joined.
Thank you very much for your welcome @maryarez
Welcome to Steemit @christalopez . Its very tough to get traction without a few hundred followers. The best followers seem to be the ones you personally interact with and ask to them to follow you. Then go to their blogs and comment and upvote fequently. Those followers give you traction. That takes time and effort.
So I am going to follow you and upvote looking forward to what you bring to the community. Please consider doing the same and stopping by my little corner of Steemit and saying Hi!. When you are a minnow, its all about building relationships. Minnows have to "school" together or they get lost quickly in this big wide creative Steemit ocean.
Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my post @armadilloman. Just getting the hang of this, just followed you as well . Will take your advice to heart. Cheers.
My take is, the more you interact, or the more others interact with your content, the better you do. Welcome and good luck!
Thank you @sunshinebear. Yes, that appears to be the protocol, and that's mingle and interact with other steemians as much as possible. Get your name and voice out there, and things should eventually pick up steem. Just followed you as well.
Hello and Welcome to Steemit!
I picked your post and featured it in this week's Steemit Comment Challenge. I hope it will bring you something good. Have a nice day!
Thank you very much for doing that @danielsaori, it's very much appreciated to be featured in the Steemit Comment Challenge. Best regards. Just followed you as well.
It’s my pleasure! I was happy to have found your post.
I wish I could spend more time curating and commenting, but I don’t have the time at the moment.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. See you around!
Hey.
Welcome
Thank you very much for your warm welcome
Welcome to Steemit! Enjoy your time on here :)
Hello @katrinalebar, thanks in advance for commenting on my post. This feels like home already.
Welcome to steemit @christalopez. Join #minnowsupportproject for more help. Type in the comments of a post @OriginalWorks and it will help you verify that content is original.
Transfer SBD to @treeplanter to plant trees and get an get an upvote in exchange of your donation (Min 0.01 SDB)
Upvote this comment to keep helping more new steemians
Transfer SBD to @tuanis in exchange of an upvote and support this project
Hello @tuanis, thank you for reading my blog post and all the excellent advice. Will certainly be putting everything that you mentioned on my to do list.
Hi Crista, as a plankton myself, here's what I've learned so far...
There are basically 2 ways to approach this:
Money, money, money
Use money to gain money. Buy SBD from exchange to power up your account. You could then do any or all of the following:
Build human followers
This is the hard and long way. It really takes time and effort, and we might be "burnt out" by seeing zero view or zero money on our posts day in day out. However, this is the "clean" way and in the long term, the most profitable way. If you want to take this method, here are some things that I've learned:
If you haven't joined any community, I would like to suggest 2 communities for you.
Hope that helps
Your reply is very much appreciated @liberviarum. Thank you for extending your time to share this, as it's well grounded and valuable. This is an excellent community to work on, as it's well thought out. The network and crypto is only getting stronger. Followed you, and will visit your blog often. Thanks again.
Your welcome.
I strongly suggest you to join MSP/PAL. I learned & got help a lot from that community. :D
We thank @danielsaori for hosting a game that we could comment on your post. This is @newbieresteemday and we are here to provide some support, information, and attention to help you and others get through your beginning stage. I will go to my individual account and enter the contest.. But you have been upvoted and resteemed by the organization!!!
Congratulations you have been upvoted and resteemed as part of #newbieresteemday's top 10 posts for the day! ...
We invite you to use our tag to connect with more of our members. To learn more: Come Join Us!!! (Newbie Resteem Initiative)
Thank you very much @newbieresteemday for the recognition and the support
and you are always welcome to tag anything you do with #newbieresteemday (we have people that watch that feed) .... and if it is a game/contest then you can also add #newbiegames too...
ps... you can play some games from that feed and its another way to make new friends!
I know exactly your feelings and the initial frustration of posting and seeing little to no results but like everyone told me hang tough, find some like minded people on steemit and build a following/community. There are groups on here that have a goal of helping newbies, including @newbieresteemday and @minnowbootcamp, both of whom have come to my assistance. While I am not a $100 poster, I have taken an attitude that a couple bucks on a post is good, and hopefully one day I will be able to donate more than $0.01 to a vote (if that, most of the time they are less that a cent, pretty humbling). Good luck and well written post for sure.
Thank you @bigskycustom for your kind welcome. The community here on steemit is amazing, as it's a true social media forum that's dedicated to helping each other to succeed. Thank you for your time.
Great, now you have me thinking about how I write. I think I tend towards the chaotic splatter approach. I start with a clear thought, let it run a bit, perhaps get sidetracked and then peter out near the end.
Which is weird, if I was handwriting, this wouldn't be the case. But writing for steemit, I just don't have the time to properly plan my narrative and argument.
Maybe I should just draft posts on the computer and only publish them when they are fully formed...
PS welcome to Steemit, got stuck in my own thoughts!
Thank you bengy, it's great to meet you
It can extremely disheartening to work so hard on a post, make it come from your heart, reread and reread to make sure you have it all right only to have it make a few cents. Especially when you can go to the "trending" or "hot" section and see people with $100, $200, $500 on their post that was a post on crypto or a post that was made with only a single paragraph. Thats why I stay away from those sections! ;) I noticed when I stopped paying attention to the big dogs, err whales, earnings, I enjoyed myself a lot more on Steemit. My writings flow better. I write about what Im feeling at the moment, I write about what makes me happy, what I enjoy. I have learned that to get the love you want, you also have to give the love. I went onto the "new" section and scrolled, commenting, upvoting and resteeming where I saw proper, building relationships is half the battle, just like in life! I followed and replied... Real replies, heart felt replies. I love playing the contests and photo challenges. Its a great way to make extra SBD and steem so you can further your power. And its fun!! I finally came across @newbieresteemday when seeing a contest they had going... I only wish I had found this amazing group of people before. They push you to interact, to do your best. I highly recommend joining Discord, which is like a chat. Its a great way to meet new people and share you posts with people who enjoy the same things as you. Lastly, just remember, this is supposed to be fun. Dont worry so much about what others are doing. Do what you love and it will come through in your writing. Dont worry so much about the money, we did this for years, not making a single penny!
Looking forward to reading more of your writing as you are a wonderful writer. Followed and upvoted!
It's people like you @smylie2005, that makes this place real, and the struggle for recognition worth it. Thank you for writing this beautiful post, and will take your advice to heart. Steemit is obviously far more than just writing blog posts and hoping for votes. For now, I will connect with as many like minded people as possible, and treat this as fun, an adventure, rather than becoming obsessed with why I'm not earning recognition. Thank you and following.
Thank you! Im so glad you got some out of my comment. Youve gotten a lot of great advice here! Just keep on keepin on and youll do great! In the mean time, if you would like, check out the @newbieresteemday group. They can help you out a lot on your way if you have any questions! And Im always here as well, Im still pretty new myself but Im always willing to help where I can!
I'm not sure that there is any "dirty little secrets" on steemit. It's all there to look at. I think the dirty little secrets are on FB, YT and Google, and a few other "social media sites". They have their "dirty little secrets" some of them are being bought out all the time lately.
As for "Failure" on steemit in your post title, I don't know, 10 days is not that long of a time, to make a decision on if you are a failure or a success. That's a pretty short time, but a result I guess of the instant gratification generation, which I think is every generation.
I know your post really did not have anything to do with the two parts I cherry picked, but they were said, so I responded. I mean you really did put a lot of stuff out, and I did read it all. But by the time I got to the end, those two were still more stand out. And I like the phrase "Dirty little Secrets". Also, if I went by the ten day standard then my life is a complete 100% unadulterated miserable failure of happenstanz. (yes I found a place to use that word, it has been driving me crazy for the last 4 hours).
Thank you @bashadow for your honesty and keeping it real. Yes, 10 days is a short period of time, but my frustration was just stemming from the instant gratification that we all seek at times, so you are correct. At the very least, it brought some instant blunt replies for me, to understand this platform better.
@christalopez,you have all the ingredients you need to make it here and getting @danielsaori attention would give you a boost. please also find time to go through #newbieresteemday. they are very helpful and rank amongst the best that have newbies at heart
Nice post and writing tips. I feel your frustration, I am new here as well and still trying to find my niche. While I am no expert, what I have been doing is trying to find folks that have similar interest and read their articles and comment in the hopes that it sparks their interests. I have always wanted to be in a community like this one and I truly feel that you need to make those connections but be real with it and be real to yourself. Also, don’t compare yourself to the whales, its not fair to you as you are so new. Lastly, what I am doing personally is not thinking about “failing” just keeping plugging along and write quality articles—you definitely have the talent. Its helps that you have guys like @danielsaori taking notice and holding a contest. Good luck @christalopez
Hey @andykapps, I share your "niche" search - and decided that my niche will come to me. Meanwhile, I'm doing what you are doing, plugging away, following people with the same interests, and commenting, commenting, commenting. I love getting to know people in real life, and Steemit is no different. I love the interactions here, especially when you can start up a good conversation within a post.
You said something really important, and it's great advice - don't compare yourself to the whales.
My intro made less than $1.00, and I've had several posts earn exactly $0. I just figured that's the way it was supposed to be...lol...I knew I was a beginner, and it was going to take time.
Thank you seaslim, very informative, cheers
Thank you @andykapps for the great advice. The common message for newbies like me, appears that it's not just about posting your life story, or your mood, but more about connecting with like minded others. Following and Thank you
Welcome @christalopez! Like you, I am new on this platform!
I encourage you to do this for the love of it! Doing it for any other reason might leave you with disappointment and bad feelings! @amariespeaks is encouraging you not to quit! She's right! You are an incredibly talented writer! Don't be stymied by "discouragement"! Not worth it!
So enjoy the journey and adjust your expectations! You will not meet kinder and more supportive people as there are in the #newbieresteenday, #minnowsupportproject community!
I am following you and wish you best of luck on your Steemit journey!
very well said @kismet2018! You are one All Star-Newbie !! :)
Thank you for the warm welcome @kismet2018. This is a great community and already enjoying my time here. I love to write as I find much soothing joy in it, so this platform is a perfect opportunity to grow. Following you as well.
Welcome again, @christalopez! I wish I could add to the already fabulous advice given to you by others like @davemccoy , @amariespeaks, @smylie2005, @bashadow, @liberviarum, and others, but they've summed it up nicely. They've demonstrated the best thing about Steemit - it is a wonderful, supportive, community of people, all working to lift one another up.
Because of your questions regarding how to gain traction, I went back and read a couple of your posts, including your first introductory post. After reading your writings, I wish I knew you better. For instance:
Answers to those types of questions could help people know you better, and that's what it is all about here at Steemit. Relationships It's all about getting to know each other and building a new kind of community, as well as a new type of economy. For instance, you mentioned a "we" in the above post...who is the "we," and do we get to meet them?
Lastly, what is "copyscape"? lol, Sorry if that is a dumb question...I'd search it, but I'd rather hear you explain what it is, as a way to engage with you. You know something I don't - most people do. You have an area of expertise that I lack, and I'd rather learn it from a person I know, than to simply use a search engine.
This is an incredible platform, but what makes the platform great, is the people here. It is a community, and to be successful here, just dive in! Join...and then join in, not just with blog posts, but by swimming with other Steemians.
I look forward to knowing more about you, Christa, and I'm so glad you are here!
@seaslim, what a constructive and warm response! I appreciate your suggestions for telling about oneself! They are all great ideas for "blog material"!
Re the incredible folks at #newbieresteemday, I whole-heartedly concur ... "the best thing about Steemit - it is a wonderful, supportive, community of people, all working to lift one another up".
Dear @seaslim, thank you for being a friend. Just did a whack load of replies and thanks, and now I'm spent of creative energy. So I will reply to your post in the next day or so. Cheers.
The dark little secret is not so dark after all. It's just genuine interaction and writing quality posts like you do. Of course there are other "secrets". You can read a post of mine on it or just search Steemit for it. There's a lot of tips out there.
As for your writing tips, oh I think I could use some of that present tense you mentioned. And maybe add some more adjectives and adverbs too.
Anyway we all fail at first but when we learn a lot from our mistakes and read more about what we can do here then we can become great Steemians! :D
Oh wait... if you want a "dark" secret then here you go: Some people earn a lot here from using voting bots and pay for upvotes/resteems and other services. You can try it too if you want. Better research more on it first though.
Good luck and enjoy Steeming!
Great point, @artgirl - those self upvoting bots can really hike up the price of a post. Then I started noticing a new post would have only a few votes, but be worth hundreds of $$$s. And then....after researching it a bit, I stumbled down a hole I'd rather not revisit. LOL...I'll let the experts figure it out. ;)
Thank you for your post and insight @artgirl, very much helpful
You're welcome. :)
This was a great perspective. Thank you. Joy
My English Master said this, not half so well :- ''If you're writing to captivate the reader's attention, then tell a coherent concise interesting story. Be focused, low key, use a variety of trigger words and never shout.''
--This is front and centre, the best piece of instructional prose that I've ever found on steemit.com. I enjoyed reading it, and was disappointed that there wasn't more. I will definitely look for @christalopez.
~Vote and voted~
Resteemed.
Well, great things Comes later Or you can say after some time,
You just need to hard work with proper planning and determination.
Make a proper plan and set the time window, set the goals and try to achieve those goals in your chosen time window,
It's way better than complaining.
Failures are here to teach us, The who learn from his failures will get up again and again, and one-day he'll succeded.
Hi cristalopez. :). I was just curious about why you changed 'I' to 'we', as in "I, we, have been blogging for years"? Are there more than one of you or do you have a split personality like I do? :)