It's been already six months since I started on this journey of blogging in the crypto space and I thought I'll share my experience with you and who knows, maybe persuade you to take the leap as well.
February 2020
That's when I started getting interested in everything cryptocurrency. I was already on a platform called LBRY, which back then worked way better for me, but as time went by and its popularity increased it became harder and harder to watch videos without interruptions. While this problem was not consistent, it was frequent enough that made me get away from LBRY.
This, however, was not the only reason I reduced my LBRY activity. In the meantime, in February, I stumbled upon a platform called Publish0x which promised to reward the authors as well as the readers. At that point I had something like 500 LBC which were pretty valuable at that time when the price of LBC was still high. I also had around 5 BAT from using Brave. Since then I had much prefered spending my time reading articles than watching videos.
I was drawn immediately to the Publish0x proposal so I created an account, started reading and tipping the articles I liked best while also getting paid myself. While Publish0x was an amazing platform and I found some truly brilliant people, I felt like something was missing. I felt like the platform would have a huge potential to attract new users if only there'd be some more content that's not about crypto.
The Linux Monitor
Unlike other platforms, on Publish0x you can't post anything other than comments, by default, by design. Each author has to go through the process of applying for authorship and the team will manually vet each submitted application.
Besides your motives to become an author on the platform you must also provide some past work of yours so the team can get an idea on what you write, how you write, etc. Luckily for me, that wasn't my first time trying my hand at a blog, though it would turn out to be the most successful attempt.
A couple of days after I got accepted as an author I wrote my first post: More variety of content on Publish0x... An intro to The Linux Monitor. The Linux Monitor was an older idea of mine of having a blog where I write stuff about Linux. It was only natural to write about that first.
Back then, I was still making more money reading content than writing it, but I enjoyed both equally. I didn't start writing to get rich, and it shows because I'm still not rich, but out of passion for writing and curiosity for the crypto world.
Pr0gram Failure
While writing about Linux was fun, I wanted to expand and get into writing about another passion of mine, programming. I thought that I could share some interesting projects I was working on at that time and explain them in-depth. That's how my second blog on Publish0x came to life.
At some point I was creating a Bitcoin miner, as a proof of concept though, since the real thing would have required me to download a couple dozens of GB to connect to the Bitcoin network. I knew that it will probably get more readers intrigued because of the focus on crypto, but I was not prepared for what was to come.
In a couple of hours after posing my article, Writing your own Bitcoin miner in Kotlin, it exploded. Comments, views, tips, everything was out of control, in a good way. That was the first time I got on the front page of Publish0x.
Hive
After meeting some incredible people on Publish0x, @tomoyan, @mynima and @skinnercrypto, I got interested about another platform, named Hive, they were talking about.
Hive is a very different environment from Publish0x, more unconventional, more crypto-like. The whole platform is based on the Hive blockchain, a fork of the Steem blockchain, and it's clear from the start that it's different from a traditional bloging platform. While it took me some time to get the hang of it, I am now confident enough in using Hive.
I also met some wonderful people on that I wouldn't have probably met on Publish0x like @crypto.piotr and one of my compatriots @acesontop with whom I may have some disagreements, but I always saw him as a great dude.
Hive also has the benefit of having communities, which are places where like-minded people gather and post about some topics that are agreed upon before. Communities give Hive a greather sense of cohesion and unity. One such community that I took to hear is the Project Hope community.
Even though my success on Hive is yet to come I'm confident that with time and work I'll be able to forge new and powerful connections and a strong fanbase.
Numbers
Let's talk numbers. Raw numbers. Where am I after 6 months of blogging, what was I able to achieve with the help of so many people.
- I posted 24 articles on Publish0x, excluding this one. This means that post roughly 4 times a month which is actually my secret goal. I usually post on Sundays, another goal of mine. Maybe down the road this consistency will matter, who knows?
- Number of views over time:
The peak you see at around Article 5 is my Bitcoin miner article. - Earnings on Publish0x over time:
While those two charts are related, this one is a bit different. The two peaks that are above $10 correspond to two Publish0x contest in which I took part and got rewarded. Without the contest reward they would both be under $1. - Like/Dislike ratio:
Or in numbers: 1381 likes -- 30 dislikes - Hive growth:
On my way to 100 Hive Power. - Crypto I own:
TOTAL: $237.86
Hopefully, I'll see you again next time, in 6 months when I'll do another update on my crypto earnings and blogging adventures. Until then, I hope I'll be able to maintain this peace and keep you posted just like always, once a week, with interesting stuff about Linux and programming.
See you around, friends!
Wow, you accumulated quite lots of crypto. HIVE is the very first crypto and still is the only crypto I own. Goodluck on your journey.
Thanks, good luck to you as well. I'm quite fond of my little crypto fortune as I invested $0 in it. That $237 worth of time and work.
That's some nice progress.
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This is a great idea! I might write as well about the years I already have as part of the blockchain. I've never produced content about cryptos, since my areas of expertise are fiction and art. Still, reviewing the platforms we've worked on sounds really helpful for other people. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading this very much.
Hi @alexbalan
Finally I managed to find some time to catch up with earlier bookamerked publications.
Thanks for sharing your story. 6 months is not that long, however you surely had enough time to gain some valuable experience.
Is Publish0x full of crypto content? Ehm. I wasn't aware of that.
Yours, Piotr
Hi, thank you a lot for your feedback and making time to check out my work. I truly appreciate it.
Hopefully those 6 months are just the beginning of a longer journey.
Publish0x is still dominated by crypto content, but the situation has improved somewhat since I've joined them. There are more and more people writng about other stuff that are getting some exposure right now. I also get regularly on the trending page there even when I write about programming or Linux.
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