It started off like it does for most people on here.
To hit the ground running.
The only way to do that is bring your own following or know people already on here, having a whale for a friend maybe a dolphin or orca would help also, I like most of you had none of the above.
The door picture is the way I liken the start on here, think of door 1 as frustration and door 7 as success, with each door being a stepping stone to the next - I write this as I still have many new members on my following list, and want you to know it can and does get easier. (I still have not reached door 7 myself)
Networking.
Without even realising what I was doing weeks 1 to 4, I spent a lot of time looking for people I wanted to read, and talked to them as I followed along, from perceptualflaws to v4vapid, meesterboom, pappa-pepper, tremendospercy and many many more.
My writing style when I arrived is best described as poor to dismal, though looking at how these people wrote and added gifs, pictures also links made me strive to want to do better. There are groups on here that will mentor, sadly I failed to see them. So I set about exploring markdown via duckduckgo and spent 2 weeks or more filling my head with "how to" - you can too, it is free and only takes time, not money.
Sourcing relevant photos was also a priority and www.pixabay.com filled this role for me, for gifs I used www.giphy.com and for emojis a free guide from a steemian here https://steemit.com/emojis/@blueorgy/steemit-emojis-master-list.
Find your niche.
Some people have made a lot of $ and steem power on here simply blogging about life, for this you will require a rather exceptional one, others write 1 knockout article per week, and some like me like to mix it up as best I can, with a little bit of everything, so you know I am real.
Plan.
I tend to plan a day ahead what I would like to write, it gives me time to formulate how I want to write it and how in-depth I want to go. Most articles I write are short to medium in length, so people do not have to spend 30 minutes on my articles, as I write daily or more.
I must admit though, this article came out of the blue, and for 2 reasons I will outline below.
Surprise!
I awoke yesterday to 127 extra sp via #freebornsociety and my vote increased 2 cents, then midway through the day @krnel delegated me 1000sp, so in 1 day I went up 1127 sp for free, I could never have imagined this in my first months, and the fact is it took me by surprise now.
Most of this new found influence power will be used for newcomers in #introduceyourself for as long as I have it.
Freedom!
Another great way to set yourself free and get motivated is via competitions, either hosting or joining in, here is a few to try, IFC #informationfindingchampionship via https://steemit.com/@apolymask.
#contests #competitions both tags on the left will lead you to many that you can join in with.
Finding out where you belong and who values your writing. I have been lucky in finding the folks at #newsagg and #informationwar, and this is where you need to spend that effort on YOU, finding that group that you fit nicely into, without having to change you, writing from the heart will always be better than just making it up, to fit someone else's narrative.
Also running around commenting on things you have no interest in will serve as a negative, so keep it real. If you can avoid spamming peoples comments and follow the above, I guarantee you some small to medium success, as for the big time? well I do not know about that, I would have to be there for you to quote me or for me to write about it, all the same, I guarantee you it gets more fun on here in time.
Keep it real, and have fun, also have a fantastic week everyone.
Deliberator = Definition of deliberator
plural -s
: one that deliberates
image sources
You have done what a lot fail to do, stay persistent, keep networking and keep posting!! Congrats, you deserve all the success in the world!!
Thanks Lyndsay, I guess I am lucky to have plenty of spare time due to looking after my daughter every afternoon, and I seem to keep finding amazing new people every week if not day, steemit "rocks".
Yes, and you are a big reason why this place rocks so much <3 <3 <3
Oh thank you for writing this post. I have just begun in steemit and I was super excitied initally and then after I posted a few quality posts Iooked at what was 'hot' and 'trending' and relaised that most of it was pointless rubbish and that people were basically gaming steemit - then I found you and a couple of other people and I think if I stick around and keep writing about the stuff that interests me then it might just work.
So thanks again Deliberatos I am now at least hopeful that I will get my head around this platform!
I added you to my follow list, hoping for good things from you now. Have fun and keep it real, the rest will follow naturally, any help you need you can always feel free to ask me, no question is too small or of no importance, plus my door is "always open".
You just hit reputation 27. :-)
Oh fantastic, your kind offer of asking you questions is very generous and so I shall not abuse it! I do just have 2 questions that would help me immensly.
Thanks again your very kind.
If you buy steem or sbd you can raise your vote strength yourself, or simply earn it, regarding bidbots though I stay away from them now, you tend to lose money on most if not all of them, though they can be of use at the start if you want to raise your reputation quickly or gain more followers based on the fact it looks like you are earning a lot. Hope this helps. I wrote this last week regarding bidbots. https://steemit.com/steemit/@deliberator/i-have-been-through-rehab-and-doing-okay-now
i also appreciate you,,,because steemit is a platform of knowing,expressing,earning,learning,updating,communication,,..two month ago i was starting my account ,,i have not improve so much as like as high,,but learn a lot ...knowledge is a valuable asset,,,so steemit gives me a lot,,i obey it,,
patience is a part of a success ,,thanks for sharing,,
@upvoted @comment @follow me,,
Prefect bloG .i like the words :)
@deliberator thanks for posting this, a couple of times you put out content that fits with where I am at with steemit, I don't feel I've found my feet with my style and audience yet but every week it's getting better!!! and my network is slowly growing of like-minded people.
All the best, Dan 👍
Superb Dan, as long as you enjoy the ride, people will come to you naturally, at the end of the day being around positive people is always more fun than negative people. Stay awesome my friend.
Thanks for the shoutout and glad to see your hard work and selflessness is getting noticed! :) Hopefully in time it comes back to you even more and you can then help others even more! Cheers friend. :)
You my friend are more than welcome, I know how many hours you put into what you do, and a lot of people get to benefit from it, so you need a boost soon.
That would be nice! Though.. Either way, we have a good team/group of people who enjoy this game and each others company.. I think we'll find a way to manage! :) But yeah, hopefully in time we can attract more sponsors and help of various kinds! I think the IFC and The Marketplace have a lot of potential.