One of the major problems on Steemit is that this platform highly encourages to make daily empty posts that can be used to exploit the system and get self-upvotes, auto-upvotes, bid-bot upvotes or get random upvotes on. (A good example of such an account is @rohit12123 and there are many more of these completely empty accounts that just abuse the system to earn rewards on posts and comments that take a second to make and don't contain or contribute anything to the system).
Sports Betting related content can very easily be used as a way to do this by just making quick posts that include your daily bets without much more. A good question to ask is "would this be posted if there were no post rewards whatsoever?" Since the SBC is here to support real sports bettors and aims to be sustainable and scalable over time it would be nice if we could agree on a somewhat unified way to post bets in a constructive way.
Getting post earnings should be the result of making posts and not the main objective. There are plenty of reasons why someone would want to use Steemit to post Bets and Sports Betting related content. Looking at it all from a longer term angle instead at a short term profit based perspective makes much more sense in a lot of ways.
Self Improvement
One of the most valuable ways to use Steemit is as a tool for your self-improvement and it can highly help everyone who wants learn or to get better at beating bookmakers and the Sports Betting market. For the ones that are profitable, it can provide a way to self-monitor and stay sharp all season long which is likely to result in even more winnings like it certainly did for me.
Social Reasons
Betting on Sports can be quite lonely at times and having a group of like minded people who have the same objective can be very enriching in many ways. It can really push you to do better and give support during the bad times. Steemit and the SBC Discord channel are also excellent ways for profitable bettors to meet and exchange tips and picks.
Building a Following
One of the best ways to make extra profit in the sports betting world is to provide bets that are profitable and build up a following. This often creates a situation where you can use your tracking record and reputation to get profitable bets from others, a deal to start working for betting syndicates or even the demand to start a paid service.
Building a Stable Income from Betting
While getting as much post earnings with as little possible effort should never really be the main objective, Steemit can really be rewarding and provide an extra source of income over time. Everyone who is seriously involved in betting knows the ups and downs it brings along. Having a way to make a much more stable income from it can be a huge deal and Steemit can provide this in multiple ways...
1. Post Earnings Every upvote you get is worth something including the upvote you give yourself. There are also many ways to build guaranteed upvotes here one steemit. The Steemit Betting Community offers the @sbcbot which right now which allows every member of our community a daily upvote worth around 0.20$ in post earnings (real $ amount is actually higher due to overpriced SBD)
2. Affiliate Earnings
While I generally not the biggest fan of them, when used in a proper way I don't mind them at all and they can provide a bit of extra income over time. I use Nitrogensports myself to place some bets in BTC to the point where I don't mind recommending them with an affiliate link in the posts I make that contain bets. Always be very clear though that it's a referral link and also include a non referral link option.Nitrogensports (Normal Link)
Nitrogensports (Affiliate Link)
Post Aesthetics
Since the post you make are being put in the feed of the ones who are following, you want them to look good and be very reader friendly. This can be easily done right, It's most of the time a matter of taking once the time to create a good basic layout that can be copy-pasted so only the core content needs to be added in before posting.
1. Thumbnail Picture.
The first picture from your blogpost will also be used as a thumbnail picture in the feed. I always use something around 800x480 or 600x360 which works. More info can be found on Google. When using pictures, you also want to make sure they are legal to use under Copyright Law. There are many websites that provide free stock pictures like Pixbay, Pexels or unsplash and there is a tool in google images that only shows pictures that are copyright free! I personally use addtext in combination with something as simple as MS Pain to add text and make custom headline pictures like the one one this post. Doing some effort once and using the same nice looking image over and over again can make a world of Difference !
2. Post Layout
You always want to design your post so it has a very clear and easy on the eye layout for those who are reading it. Working with tables really works for posting Sports Picks and you also want to be using markup as a way to make the more important information stand out. For the basics check out my old post on Steemit Basics and for more advanced details check out This Post by @espoem !
Post Content
Aside from some basic aesthetics, every post that contains bets should also have some minimum requirements when it comes down to the content it contains.
1. Odds
Everyone who is in a position to share or recommend sports bets should be highly aware that the odds are one of the most important pieces of information. Without odds, the content by default is very empty and random which makes it impossible to be taken serious.
2. Write-Up
While write-ups are by no mean mandatory, they are nice to have since the information themselves can contain a lot of value to readers. Writing detailed Previews, Roundups, Injury Reposts in a consistent way without having any bets attached to them definitely can have a place here on Steemit and earn some good post rewards including an upvote from the @sbcbot
3. Record Keeping
This is by far the biggest roadblock for most people who are posting bets here on Steemit. When looking at the reality, it is really hard to beat bookmakers and most of the players will be faced with losses in case they would keep their betting record properly. This does not mean it can just be totally denied though. Posting bets should always come with a responsibility to keep an honest record. Steemit is one of the only places on the internet where a winning record is not required to earn money since the social relations themselves have a lot of value. It should be seen as a platform to learn and grow from as a sports bettor.
Previous SBC related Posts
I will be making a post in detail how I go about posting bets myself probably tomorrow and will be sharing my basic layout template in our discord channel. The main idea of these posts is to grow as a group and create some basic awareness around the minimum quality that will be required over time to make use of the @sbcbot upvotes when this Steemit Betting Community grows. (This post is not intended as a personal attack to anyone, as mentioned in this post everyone has to start somewhere and that's perfectly fine!)
Feedback, Suggestions & Disagreements are as always welcome in the Comments!
It would be indeed great of all the SBC members would use the same way of posting their bets. This way is it easier to read and understand.
So, happy to review your example!
Also we should have a template for single bets and acca bets!
Keep it going @costonza
Gr,
Peter
That would be nice indeed, but for now getting people to realise that listing odds and keeping a record should be the absolute minimum requirement would allready be a huge step forward.
It would indeed be nice with more quality content instead of the short posts people make. And would be good to se how you can show bets in the best way :)
The main issue is the use of the @sbcbot on empty posts that include bets. I don't mind people posting those to be honest and they certainly have a place on this social network similar to how winning betslips or random bets are being shared on facebook or twitter. When it comes down to be part of the SBC and get a good upvote from the bot it's not enough in our view though. It would indeed be nice to see some more quality betting content or at least some attempts.
thanks for information.
Thanks for the empty reply on which you self-upvote to abuse the system exactly as what I talk about at the start of this article...
lol what trash
nice post @costanza . Even though I don't ever post my bets publicly, I think having a standard template for others to use would be great.