This is great! Thank you so much for the mention fellow-PDXer!
Don't feel bad, I'm also a nameless redfish... but we'll get there with persistence.
Sooooo, just a word of warning about the upvote bots... Initially it does seem like money for free... but it actually kind of isn't. It's totally a gamble . Firstly this handy website is handy but you can see that a lot of the bots are so popular that the customers actually get a negative ROI.
The first one I picked:
Will actually cost those customers money. This doesn't take into account the price action between Steem and SBD between the purchase of the vote and the payout.
Also, don't forget that all votes on a post after 30 minutes get divided up 75/25% between author and upvoters.
It is tough to make money on Steem... and those people that are making big bank on posts have either been here a very long time or have brought an existing audience over from another platform, or, more likely, are friends with a whale that is supporting them.
Instead I like to think of it as a super fun community where you can find your online buddies and maybe make a few coins here and there. And amazing posts like these can get big payouts (check my latest post for guidelines).
Thank you, @aussieninja! In truth, the whole voting bot thing makes my head spin. As I haven't got any spare coin with which to purchase their votes, I'm only aware of them in theory.
And...I think that's pretty much my overarching message with this post – don't expect to make money. It really is so much more about connecting with other Steemians over subjects you mutually enjoy.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll check your blog now. ;)