I wish there was more to celebrate! My follower count keeps going up, but my earnings keep going down. That's really confusing. With SBD at $1.4 USD at the time of writing, even powering down some money, I will not be able to make rent. I am only not panicking because it wouldn't accomplish anything useful.
Not really sure what I'm going to do, though. How did this happen? For a while in 2017 I was reliably doing 30 SBD per post, with occasional spikes to 50. Then it was 20 per post with occasional spikes to 30. Now I don't quite make 5 per post. I'd sure like to know why.
It's frustrating to see people with around 1,000 subs doing 100+ SBD per post, which would finance my lifestyle many times over, when their content is stuff like travel photography with a couple sentences of commentary. But the market wants what it wants, there is no use throwing a fit.
What should I change to reverse this trend? At this rate I'll clear 10,000 followers in 2 or 3 months but be making nothing per post besides what I give myself just in order to continue sleeping indoors and eating hot food. I'm looking back at how I spent some of my money now when the SBD was plentiful and wondering about the wisdom of those decisions.
Did I need that flamethrower? Probably not. The drone? Also no. But then there's the charity. I'm torn on this one. Half of my brain says it was foolish to give so much when I needed it to support myself. But the other half says that whatever you give to people worse off than yourself is impossible to put a price on.
Belongings are fleeting, but the knowledge that you took action to diminish the suffering of a fellow human is something you will cherish for the rest of your life. So I don't regret doing that, and nothing can happen to me that will change how I feel about it.
If only I knew what was driving whales away. I post about a lot of controversial topics, but feel there's tremendous value in doing so. It is not in me to be a sycophant. I am not here to blow smoke up anybody's ass, or to give people the warm fuzzies by telling them pleasant half-truths. Haven't we all had enough of spammers lavishing us with semi-comprehensible praise because they want money?
A number of formative experiences growing up left me with the conviction that the pursuit and defense of truth should be my highest ideal. That's a risky horse to hitch your wagon to however, as few other goals in life will make you as many enemies.
It wouldn't if people knew they could entertain objectionable ideas without necessarily having to accept them. That the exchange of ideas can be like playing with toys, instead of combat. But when you bring up sensitive topics, everybody's claws come out and their brains shut down because they've gone into battle mode.
The other possibility is that long time whales have seen all my writing by now, and unsubbed because they don't care for the video content, or silly stuff like Ultimate Zoo Battle and Stickman Adventure. That stuff is pretty far outside the original intended theme of my blog.
The solution in that case would be to go back to work writing new horror. But it's hard to find time or energy for that when you already must write 4 articles per day just to pay the bills. I'm really not sure how I'm gonna solve this, just that I have to somehow.
For Steemit to keep being my fulltime means of support, I don't just need the occasional valuable upvote. I need those people to put me on auto-upvote so the income is reliable. I dunno how to convince them to do that without begging, which I know damn well doesn't go over well here. Like a PBS televised funding drive, begging for donations.
That leaves me with precisely dick in the way of options, except maybe to experiment more with my content. If there's a means of advertising to whales I don't know about (besides the promotion button and promotion bots) I'd sure like to know about it.
Thanks for sticking with me as long as you have, though. When I have little else, I still at least have a fanbase of people who diligently read my work and leave interesting, thoughtful comments. I hope I'm still writing for you a year from now instead of flipping burgers or digging ditches.
If worse comes to worst, I know enough about how to live offgrid and aid the homeless that I should be able to do alright for myself even if I have to live under an overpass or something. As long as I have my computer I'll still be able to post here and at least make enough to eat, which is more than many less fortunate people can manage.
Another solution might be to sell most of my shit and emigrate to a country with a much cheaper cost of living. That's an idea I've floated for some time. The meager $483 or so I will make this month from SBD would go much, much further in several South American countries that come to mind.
I really hope that statement will appear needlessly dire when I look back on it. I hope SBD picks up, though I'd be doing fine if the whales who followed me a year ago had stuck around. All I can do is hold out hope, even if it's tough to type with all your fingers crossed.
Stay Cozy!
In all of this frustration, I would say just hang on. I’m in so much similar position as you and things will get better . The price will go back just save what you can.
Ps- congratulations on the milestone
@alexbeyman,
Congratz and next 8,000!
Cheers~
First of all I would like to congratulate you!
I do understand the frustration we all have especially in this drastic drop in rewards. I suspect that one of the reasons is people with bigger accounts are delegating SP to voting bots. They don’t want to waste their time upvoting good contents or people they follow. They get well paid for their delegations. Just look at the few steemiens and you will notice they don’t have much on their accounts anymore instead you see them delegating almost all of their SP. One way or another something will have to give up. To be honest with you, I have changed my mind when it comes to buying votes. It’s not profitable at all. You actually loose on your investment.
I don’t belive it’s you or your content driving whales away, it’s delegation they prefer.
Yup, that's why I stopped after doing it only a few times.
Well, for what it's worth, I have you on auto-upvote. And I really appreciate how much you've supported me.
Also, I think you and I have now sufficiently established that we disagree on a couple of matters, and although I don't love arguing on the internet, I appreciate that your posts challenge my beliefs from time to time. Your followers wouldn't be there if they didn't also appreciate a little bit of controversy. So keep doing what you're doing there.
The SBD rewards are going down for everyone because of the decreasing price of STEEM--at least that's my understanding of how it works. STEEM is worth fewer dollars, so there are fewer SBD to match the price. When I started here in February, a @curie vote was worth well over $100 (I think it was even close to $200 if my memory isn't deceiving me right now?), and now it's under $70. And doesn't it also have something to do with the share of the reward pool? I think the price of STEEM is going to go back up as new features roll out, though. But who knows.
I think many of the whales are now inactive or using their SP as passive income, either through leasing or delegating to bidbots, or whatever. Doesn't seem like many are doing much in terms of manual curation or helping out the community.
That's nine tenths of why I supported you. I get nothing out of being vigorously agreed with. Nobody grows from that. You're also just a fabulously talented writer, so even when I can't stand what you're saying, I love how you say it.
My thoughts exactly!
Do you have any other means of income besides Steemit? I have a day job because obviously this ain't paying the bills for me right now and I don't think anyone except for the mega-whales on here could afford to live in LA on this alone, but I also am a devoted side hustler. I tutor a couple times a week, which is good money, and sometimes I do copy editing. I'm not writing for any publications right now, but I used to. If you decide to get into tutoring, the most lucrative side of the market is working with college applications. $100/hour or more is standard in the private school circuit.
I have aspergers, which makes me unsuitable for most jobs judging by my long history of being fired without explanation a few days or weeks in. Performance metrics were good when I did tech support but I would freeze up during evaluations.
I haven't properly published any of my writing except on Amazon, where nobody knows it exists, so there's still the possibility of making it big as a writer. I am just very intimidated by the process of finding a publisher. Often they only accept submissions for a week or two out of the year, and it's tough to remember to submit during that window.
A friend of the family is very experienced with publishing however and is looking over my oeuvre now. Hopefully something lucrative comes of that.
Ah okay, that's hard. Among my few skills in life is being a people person (edit: maybe "few" is underselling myself...). An oddly anxious people person, but I've been told it's endearing. Somehow it's possible to have both social anxiety and also be very social. Not a great mix for my own sanity, actually.
Anyway, there are plenty of positions out there being a contributing writer for online publications, which are all work-from-home. I was referred to this post a few days ago: https://steemit.com/history/@energyaddict22/calling-all-writers-usd50-usd-for-original-articles
I haven't yet spoken to the person who authored the post, but I think you'd be really great at this. $50-$100 an article is about standard in my experience, so this is a bit on the low side, but maybe you could work out a deal where you're allowed to crosspost to your own blog as well (or maybe an abbreviated version which directs to the publication?) so you could further monetize your work. I was thinking of asking for that.
It's really thoughtful that you would keep your eyes open for opportunities and let me know about them like this.
Of course! I’ll let you know if I see anything else.
It's pretty difficult on steemit, I use to sew your posts back then, now it's really tough, SBD and STEEM aren't helping matters either, I do believe there's a course for change as well.
Meanwhile, congratulations as well
I also think alex, why SBD prices are so unreliable now. And I also put great hopes on Steemit. Do not stop posting @alexbeyman, your post is my daily food to just survive.
Some time before I was surprised when you post something that is considered racist by someone who is superficial knowledge. Immediately I was afraid to comment, but then I tried to comment again and I thought, Alex has returned. Keep working alex, I promise to be a faithful reader of every work of yours.
Life be like that sometimes.
But on the real though I honestly don't know how you could help yourself in this situation. Maybe you just need to continue publishing content and hope for the best(?).
I'm so devastated right now, I really feel for you sir, I can see the struggle all along, we just need to hope for the best, don't relocate to another county yet, hope for the best sir, the best is yet to come and will always be bright for us, I know sbd has been dropping for a while now but all we can do now is to be positive and hope and never give up on anything that brings us joy, on that note, I say I everything will get better Sir
Congrats on the accomplishment but that's a frightening reality for a minnow who's working hard to create content for Steem.
congratulations to your my friend, it is not easy to reach that state on steemit. Your great work led you there. Once again congratulations my friend.
I'm far far far from a whale. But I've added my upvote. I know the feeling - votes are hard to come by these days. I wonder if they'll come back.
Much appreciated. Shit looks dire right now but I won't believe the Steemit dream is over so soon.
I hope not. I'm just getting started! :)
Can I give you a friendly advise Alex? If you want to be noticed again you have to engage more with people. Not just you All of US. Steemit isn't the place it used to be 2 years back. And when I say engage I mean really engage.Not through your posts. But through theirs. I am a newcomer here compared to you and you know how much I enjoy your writings, even the funny stuff you post. But focusing on your blog only won't make things easier or better. I used to make the same mistake. Because it is a mistake. Since every penny matters, we all have to engage more.
Sorry if it sounds harsh but it is the truth. My truth..
Btw congrats for the millstone!
From a friend
Alex - Congratulations... You're showing an unbeatable speed of making followers...
+W+
You should check your followers, most followers are either inactive or bots
No, they aren't bots or inactive, it took his accounts approximately two years to get that amount of followers and now you are saying bots or inactive, @alexbeyman makes good posts enough to have legit followers and supporters.
Am not denying the fact he makes good posts but Don't deny the fact in a small chance there could be inactive and bots followers in that amount
Probably some of each tbh. Follower count no longer means much on Steemit, it's all about whale followers.
Congratulations Bro on accomplishing such a milestone. It sad tho that the price of STEEM and SBD keep plummeting towards zero. It really makes life difficult for full time steemers. On this occasion, we just hope it rises up as well as your payouts per post. Stay blessed Man.
I appreciate it.
You're welcome Bruh. We're in this together. Thesteemlife
I am getting emotional to read these lines from you @alexbeyman.
Just stay here, I am planning to take some delegated SP(right now i am a little minnow), once I have that SP, i will support you.
I am not saying "congrats for having 7500 followers", because i can feel the pain deep inside you. My all the best wishes for you.
That's sweet. I'm sure I'll be ok one way or another.
Dude celebrate for what your have now. You should not think of the past. Just don't worry everything will work out hopefully. And you will make some money out of this.
I think people with less than 1000 followers and earning more than 100 SBD, this who you are referring to , they use bots. Why don't you do so ?
Your content is absolutely great ? You should promote it
I have used bots, it cost more than I made from it so I quit. I think those people just have generous whale followers.
first of all congratulations for another milestone
well i dont think there is anything wrong with your content ,it is just people are now more self focussed.They dont care about what others post
they are earning by vote selling ,delegations ,bots without doing anything
May be you need to make some changes
you can use bots ,you can use your SP more on yourself and then the market is also down you need some patience
Congratulations, Alex. Sorry about the decline in earnings... Experienced that myself (though I wasn't earning much to begin with!). I really do love your content. I think many others do too. It's just life's rollercoaster doing an unexpected dive, as it usually does just when you get comfortable with the highs. It will pick up again... Promise. Then that statement will seem needlessly dire. Though the Carribeans are a good holiday spot!
Congratulations on this great achievement...
You are so good at record keeping... Lol
I think, I would have to start keeping my record too. Lol
Just hang on, bro. Things will get better eventually. We've been stuck in a bear market for months now, I think within the next 3-4 months though things will turn bull and we'll see some big rises in price again.
You've always got my upvotes and support, buddy. Just keep plugging away and hoping for the best. I know how you're feeling right now to an extent. I'm worrying over getting the money together for an apartment deposit as well as the first rent check, though thankfully I have until August to try and square it away. All we can do on here is just keep pushing out the content and working away, mannn.
:3
Congratulations on the followers. I don't remember when I first started following you, back in Late august or september last year when I first joined. I may not have actually started officially(as in push the follow button official), following you back then but I have been following since I made my first comment on a story of yours.
I like your content, I enjoyed the stories, and I like the silly little stickman comic thingy, and the Ultimate zoo contest. I really liked some of your more "Mainstream" articles like on the sub bases, and the Improve the fricken piss out of and make an e-camper out of a dinky car stories.
The VR, to expensive for me, so I kind of bypass those, but love reading about the trials and tribulations and expectations exceeded "toys" that you buy.
Hopefully this is just a short term drop in steem and things will return to a more stable and profitable future. Or maybe all the whales moved to EOS, or ONO or SOLO, or any of the other we to sites.
Anyway congrats again on the numbers.
Are any of those other sites up and running? I have made accounts on some before, like Publica, but they never seem to get started properly to where I can actually post anything on them. If I could crosspost my content to several Steemit clones, that might solve my problems.
I have not seen the social side of the sites running yet, other than that sola(typo above) site. A couple of them I looked at are just teaser sites, you join you get to read a little bit, then if you want to see the full content you have to pay, so I did not look real close. I think ONO is was one of those teaser type sites. I myself do not like that type of site because there is no recourse to get your money back. I know everitt seems to like that sola site, I have not looked at it.
last I looked EOS was still just a crypto/developer site, the "steem" style social was not there yet.
@alexbeyman I have very little time in steemit my publications are vasadas in video game and little time in recipes of meals and others, my weekly earnings total is 1 SBD today I made a change this SBD will be used to buy some food for about 2 days, the other days I look for something to do in the street to help me, understand your annoyance when a publication of a whale that makes a good profit is frustrating to see all that, but I hope they continue and do not give up at some point everything will take you for a good cause. I really like your publication Ultimate Zoo Battle and Stickman Adventure, Original Novel Little Robot, I support you with my comment and my vote even if you vote does not generate profit you generate a trust and you want to be doing what you like.
VAMOS @alexbeyman DO NOT GIVE UP.
You can move to a Shithole country where you can buy a leal with only one dollar, and also have your own slaves. This is one of the many gifts from comunism.
By the way, congratulations.
Give this man a flamethrower.
P.S : I don't have any voting power to support you. But I enjoy your blog. Yours is the first controversial blog that I found on Steemit.
You'll be pleased to know I am not the only one against Communism here either. And most of the others aren't tiresome far right goose steppers either, but libertarians and anarchists of various stripes. While I am not that extreme, it's a more agreeable general climate to post in than, say, Reddit.
I didnt know that behind smiling faces and stories, and making our lives colorful is such hardship of life. You are indeed keeping a lot of people intact as followers by your daily interesting quests of stickman hero and ultimate fights. I keep looking for your posts every time i log in to check if i dont miss much.
It was your right to write whatever you felt like and thats true, if whales really had some sense of respect for speech they wouldnt be taking it personal and running away. I pray you may get your earnings back. My small vote wouldnt do much for you but, you would surely be getting it..
Your support is definitely appreciated, even if it was worth 0SBD.
Always mr @alex, you deserve it.
Congratulations for your 7500+ followers sir.
I red your article and you have written both sides of your journey in steemit. At one side your followers increasing bu the other side is little disappointing.
You are buying so many electronic gadget. Why not buy a quality DSLR and go to shoot photography and then share those here, I think that is the easiest way here and also I am sure you can make more than 20 I think.
Even I am considering that, but I am really a poor fellow, so it will take some time to buy a DSLR.
I don't want to do just another photography blog. I want to share my writing. That's what got me to where I am now.
Then the best option available is to make it a more polished one, #steemstem is the ideal category I think, to see more earnings in steemit.
Second point is that powering down SP does not look great at this moment, you should have had done this a month before if at all it was your plaaning, when steem was around 45k or 50k satoshi, now the bear trend of steem has just started and it is very likely that this bearish trend would remain so for at least 3/4 months.
Writing wise you are above good if not best, but having spent so much of time in steemit, I think you know it and understand it in a much better way than the others and also the best part is that you spread love to your followers, and you read and upvote their comments. Let this process continue sir and all the best wishes of all your followers including me will make you earn more and make successful in future.
Wow, 7500 followers! That's a great news.Congratulations sir, and I am feeling proud that I am one of those followers.Keep posting sir, don't loose expectation.You are very talented.
Wow ! Your 7500 followers , thats a great news sir .
Congratulations , best off luck .
Thanks for sharing @alexbeyman
Upvote you ....
Congrats mate.. I too hope that SBD picks up.. And want to say that your content is always cool.. It is just a matter of bad luck at times, it will kick in soon..
Good information guys . . . . !!
Thank you for sharing.....!!!
Hopefully your sucsesfull.....!!!!!!!
What a great achievement you are doing great work keep up
Thank you dear friend 💗
Congrats!...:)...
Thank you very much @alexbeyman
Congratulations dude. 👍👍👍
Wow congrats sir you are the one who have a great fan base waiting for 10000 followers.
congrazt @alexbeyman
This is one of the best days in steemit to remember sir,congrats.
Wow you have done it sir i am very happy for you.
Well you have at least 7501 followers with me following you after this post ... for whatever that counts for. :)