If there is anything that my story should tell you, it's don't be afraid to take a chance.
9 Months ago I was just your everyday college student who worked campus jobs to get through school. I always had a passion for writing, but I had never done anything with it. After this last new years, my wife encouraged me to chase my dream of writing. I had no idea where to start, but I decided I would send off an email. I sent a total of 1 email to a company in my search for becoming a writer, and now, 9 months removed, the decision has changed my life.
I started work in January of this year as a part time author of a website called Interesting EngineeringThe ride was just beginning.. It's a fairly large technology blog, and I actually met Steemit's very own @stellabelle a few months later through her work with the company.
Me with my business card cooped up in a hotel room on travel with the U.S. Navy while writing this (story for another time) Also, because I know you're wondering, I'm 22.
I started writing about one article a day on technical topics and things I found interesting. My educational background was in civil engineering, so I already had a little bit of a knack for those topics anyway. At first, I volunteered my time, I mean, someone actually wanted my writing. I quickly learned all of the back work from the website and kept taking on more responsibilities. Within 4 months I was working as a full-time editor, marketing director, and writer for the Interesting Engineering. I quit my 3 other jobs and was thrown into the world of internet media full force. Like many of you other Steemians, this is how I spend my days:
I spend almost all of my time on the computer writing, finding content, and otherwise learning about new and interesting things. I get to work from home and spend time with my gorgeous wife and new daughter.
None of that would have ever happened if I didn't send an email.
I sent one email and pushed back the thought of rejection in my mind. Many of you here on Steemit whether you are thriving or just getting by may be wondering how you get into the professional world of online media and content production. I would say, just try. Push back your fears of rejection, the worst that could happen is that they say no and you are right where you are now. I sent one email and went from no one reading my work to having a singular article being read by 750,000 people in just a short time. Here's the website I work on on a daily basis.
I love what I do, and I just recently moved to writing for Steemit on my down time. I have seen great success here, and I am looking forward to the growth of this amazing platform. I was encouraged to join Steemit after one of our past writers for IE, now known as @stellabelle on Steemit, went all in on the platform.
Ha! You're TrevonJ from IE. That's super interesting. I remember following the website religiously for months before Steemit.
I had just dabbled into freelance writing and I was looking for my first bucks online.
I love reading and writing about geeky stuffs, so you can imagine my excitement when I saw the "Need a writer" opening on IE.
I applied twice for the post.... and didn't get a reply on both occasions... I was a bit dejected then but I'm so glad I discovered Steemit shortly afterwards... Of course, through @stellabelle.... And I haven't had so much fun writing stuffs like I do now...
In all, glad to see that guy whose posts grace the IE homepage... Surprisingly, I'm 22 too. We should have a chat soon you know :)
Sorry to hear that. We did not receive your application. Please apply again. Thank you.
Thats pretty too late I guess :) Having fun on Steemit..... ;) I might apply again though .
Hey! Are you Trevor?
I'm an engineer too. Just saw your blog, looks interesting. Genuinely. Do you think your blog could be moved to steem one day?
It's an interesting thought. In terms of media companies, I can see them getting into Steemit as a channel for sharing content. It really depends on the direction Steemit goes. If we (Steemit) shift more towards social media and away from blogs, we may see more media companies moving here. For a media company as a whole, the viability of Steemit as a main income source would be a tricky to manage, at the current moment. We (Interesting Engineering) are definitely interested in the platform, and if the community wants it, or sees a way for us to bring the content here successfully, then we can definitely start doing that.
Sounds like a good approach. I still think that steem needs more diverse curators, it lacks significant steem upvoters for content that isn't steem related so far. I was interested in trying out a steem shopping blog, basically linking to products I curate but I'm not sure steem is ready for that yet specially because of the time problem where older posts just die out and a large number of people upvote only new posts in the hope of making some money.
Also, on that note for your blog idea. While the time problem may be an issue for discovery, if you keep writing valuable content, you will eventually get discovered, and through the use of the follow feed, the time issue won't be that big of a deal anymore.
I think the time for those things will come. The feed approach to see content from people you follow is going to be key for things like that. I forsee as the platform grows that it is going to become an even better place for content producers and diversity of content. Right now there is a lot of luck involved in success, but I think the devs are going to keep developing this into something great, as it already is.
Yes, and Trevor is amazing to work with! I was always impressed by your professionalism which was so advanced when compared to most of my bosses in corporate settings. Yeah, writing for Interesting Engineering was definitely wonderful, and if it paid me more money, I'd still be working for it. I am, however, a bit of a perfectionist, so I don't feel good only spending one hour on an article. If I spend 3+ hours researching a topic like neural lace or graphene, I cannot exactly live off those meager earnings. But like you, it was amazing having thousands or possibly millions of people reading my articles. When my Programmer article went viral, that was crazy, and it was precisely that article that led me to finding Steemit. So in essence, if I hadn't be a writer for Interesting Engineering, I doubt I would have discovered STeemit in the early days. For that I am so grateful. Nice you're in here Trevor. You have mad writing skillz.
Thanks for your kind words @stellabelle . I am glad you have found success here, you deserve it!
She truly deserves it.. And much more... Her influence on the influx of steemians can't be ignored.
Great post on just "taking the leap"! Like they say if you don't ask, you don't get. All the best on your journey.
And all the best on yours, thanks!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@carfreak/surviving-after-breakup-what-i-learned-was-true-love
Great post. Welcome to steemit
STEEMIT FOLLOW ... JUST A SMALL STEP
https://steemit.com/follow/@foxkoit/steemit-follow-just-a-small-step