There's a little truth in all jokes/humor
If you look at the trending page and compare yourself to it, you will be disappointed. Similarly, if you go down to wall-street and watch all suits get into their ferrari's and compare your car to theirs, you will be disappointed.
I say this with all the respect I give every human, and no malice, but what are you looking for? I just read through your blog a bit and you're on interesting topics and I like your voice. How are you sharing your post links? Are you engaging in the community via steemit.chat? How are you working on building your following? I know you aren't just after the money, but it can have an effect on an author's morale here.
i do post about what i love. it's a waste of time. i could be learning about or doing what i love. here i'm just trying to share and few care.
If you're just trying to share, you're already successful so I don't get it? I'm not saying there isn't anything to what you're saying, I'm only suggesting that you keep perspective. If you didn't bring a following from somewhere else, you're going to have to win over each follower one by one... and with 1 month in Steemit, you're already dozens of follows ahead of where I was. If you were time-sinking into facebook, this is clearly the more attractive option. Build those roads out. If you aren't earning what you think you should be earning, then forget that and pivot, and engage the community and follow, comment and reply. Your following will build out naturally and they'll all be people who will make up your core.
I hope you find everything you're looking for and I'm following because I like all your other posts. To be honest, I kind of thought that I'd see a bunch of complaining on your blog, but instead it's intelligent and diverse. like this nugget:
you that keep us in shelter,
from the howling galactic maelstrom,
wrapped in the spiraling sphere
This is a great line from one of your poems... but maybe I'm biased because you said ENLIL.
Good luck man
i'm not really comparing myself to the trending page, as much as using it as a defining criteria of value in the context of steemit. i love learning and providing the value of learning to those who desire it. i guess i am looking for a way to find more like minded people, without having to sort through so many people who are not looking for constructive conversation. the "waste of time" i referred to is the lack of response to posts. inspiring thought is an invigoration of dialogue amongst like minds. difficult to gauge success if there isn't response. building my following i do by example, probably not very well. i was raised a preacher, so, i'm not too big on the whole, "leave your nets and follow me" routine. i exalt in intelligent interaction. i'm not against giving but, sharing is bi-directional. putting up a post and getting no response is evidence that something is lacking. i'd rather get 5 replies than $5. this is not despair. if i had 20 of the kind of people who have already replied to this post, that would be better to me than having the eyes of all of steemit upon me. i try to never lack perspective. i'm just looking for like minds to share it with. this is my first month on any social media. i already count myself as wildly successful. posts like this one draw the most attention, i want to find out why. learning from others is the value i get. i'm sure there are others looking for the same. chat, i think, moves faster than i can fully elucidate a thought of the depth and complexity i enjoy. for instance, this reply, i'm not sure this would fit very nicely in the chat stream. i think maybe i'm repelled from the solitude of the post and the sound bite nature of the chat. thank you for your comments. i was so happy to be able to fit ENLIL into prose. thanks for reading it. i like that one a lot.
This is a great response. I hope you stick around because these frustrations will come and go, but smart writing is what will eventually win out. I just recently wrote what I feel is one my best poems in the last 2 years and I think it got like 1.50$, while some of my other work garnered much more. Market forces are weird man. After reading your response, I'll be following, and if you stick around, I look forward to future dialogue. It's my general style to always leave comments for exactly the reason you outlined above.
i'm not adverse to a bump or two in the road. that is what keeps things interesting, and me, learning. i haven't written anything for anyone but me in 25 years, up until the last month. it is almost like getting back on the bike, except this particular bike has been stored in a not so waterproof shed for 25 years and may be missing some spokes. i'll be sticking around. i'm not frightened away too easily. thank you.