I actually trade steem. I dont convert into dollars. And I dont mean to sound like Im gloating, but I tell good stories and make good presentations. That is what I offer. One five cent upvote here and there pales in comparison to the value I offer. Again, I hate to brag, but I have a huge following outside of here and know my value.
I was ecstatic about Steemit, but right after my first week I plummeted, although the quality of posts didnt. That really had nothing to do with my supporting other people with penny upvotes. I gave the best of my mind an that takes time, energy and attention. I gave. And I continued to give. And even through abusy week of moving, I still made time to give a little.
I understand 100% what you mean by giving to the platform, but some people do it with upvotes, and some will go to the depths of their creativity and intellect, and find that after those few hours of work, that they are spent. That is often my case, especially since I have other social media obligations which actually pay my bills.
Im still here. I just want to know why a person with 500 fresh followers is putting out posts with only 3 -7 total views. Is it due to something Im not doing? Im not above criticism. But also, this platform isnt above criticism. Criticism is the only thing that will make it better.
So I am supportive of steemit. I have made posts that were viewed by tens of thousands outside of steemit, and MANY of those people created new accounts. Those posts went viral, giving much publicity to steemit, and I didnt get a thing for it. I did more for steemit in one post than most steemians will do in all of theirs combined. Again, not gloating, but no one else is going to bring this point up for me.
I think the issue in this post should be addressed, shouldnt it? And not how I choose to play with my steem.
Remember these words from an old song "It's a long way to the top if you want to Rock n' Roll."?
When steemit first came out, I was putting in 14 hours a day, 7 days a week on the platform: promoting, curating, building relationships, e-mailing friends to take a look at other friends' posts, getting people to sign up and try it, learning how to post photos (that did not used to be so easy in the early days), keeping up with rule changes, etc. etc.
Having spent many years as a starving musician, I also know that the quality of what you do is not enough. You have to market yourself. You have to market yourself, or join a group where members market each other. It's all about building relationships.
Do you have any idea how many great novels and books of poetry have never even been published?
Attitude is everything! You must have an unconquerable will to win.
Point taken
I agree totally, but I can imagine it's hard as newby. How to start marketing yourself? How to select a group which support each other.? I am giving also my utmost best. Yes took some SBD out because of my dream I want to achieve.. but will never power down.. Eventually I want to invest in steem.. but first need to build relationships and get noticed.
" I also know that the quality of what you do is not enough. You have to market yourself. You have to market yourself, or join a group where members market each other."
And that is why we have a world teeming in junk with little quality. Marketing is rewarded better than producing work of quality, so we end up with a world that excels at marketing and not very much work of quality.
Please note that the whole POINT of marketing is to sell stuff that wouldnt be sold otherwise. So when you have a world that rewards marketing, you have a world that actively promotes poor quality work. It's even HARDER to find good work because its drowned out in a tidal wave of garbage that is being marketed with great skill.
As long as Steemit rewards marketing rather than work of quality, it will end up as a sea of "look at the photo I found on this great stock photo site".
It's sad, but there is little anyone here can do about it. THe only people whose votes actually count are the whales, and they are not interested in promoting quality posts - just posts that market the platform and those that are written by their close friends - regardless of the quality.
We all have a choice as to what to market and what marketing to pay attention to in our lives.
Your position is naive in the extreme. Even the best of quality products or content will fall by the wayside if no one knows about them, has never heard of them, and does not get to see them.
Van Gough, other painters and sculptors, and many brilliant musicians died impoverished and without an audience who had ever seen or heard of them. How many great novels are there that may have never been read.
it is not so much marketing that is at fault, but the quality of the marketers themselves and the audiences that they are marketing to.
Word of mouth is also (sometimes very effective) marketing. Becoming socially involved by interacting with other posters on their pages is also marketing, but it is also rewarding for both parties if it is sincere.
I liked that post of yours. I think for a little while I will follow you and @apolymask. You both have some very great comments, and clearly think a lot better than I do, so I will try to learn from both of you and improve my thinking and writing. It is all about words, and connecting them, then connecting to people. If you don't speak, no one knows you are there.
I hope you can respect my hustle here. My time is worth money and I know my value. I can write a post tomorrow and it will get tens of thousands of views outside of here. I respect what you do, and how you supported me in the past, but I have to stand my ground here and continue to pose the questions in this post.