I'm going to divulge some secrets how to make more money as an author and curator of steem. #3 of a 5 Part Series
LESSON #3: BE UNIQUE & INTERESTING
11. BE UNIQUE
Being unique and different is very important. Let's give an example...
Let's say Donald Trump puts out a tweet on twitter about invading some obscure country, let's say "Mexico"...
All news feeds would talk about it. All of steemit would be talking about it too... YOU talking about it, would be cluttered in the rest of the news that everyone is talking about.
While that would be an interesting subject -- if everyone is already talking about it, do you see how insignificant your post might be?
Let's give another "good" example...
There's a steemian on here, reputation LEVEL 70, with an wallet balance worth $110,000 USD
Q: WHO? Please tell us?
A: NO, it is not important to the story or the example. However, when I explain what they do, you might know who it is...
...anyway.. back to the story.
A steemian level 70, wallet balance of $110,000 USD... a very championed blogger... writes things... Here's some qualities of that person, that I've seen myself:
- They're very personable. Down-to-earth, honest writings, honest opinions... it is a nice, refreshing, easy read..
- They blog about their life, crypto, steem, bitcoin, eating steak, going to the zoo, anything in general
- IF you read the whole blog post, you feel like you just sat and had coffee with them, and they narrated their day. It's nice.
- They don't have whale disease. They actually reply and respond to comments on their blogs, treating everyone equal and with respect.
- The magic of what they do isn't magic. They just expose their thoughts, feelings, and life to everyone, and their writing style is easily digested and liked. They're fun to follow, and fun to upvote, and fun to see what they come up with next.
This person, out of all the people I follow, is a prime candidate for the "Best blogger award" for steemit, should one ever be given out.
They have one obvious trait...
- They are unique and different.
Talking about your life is not unique. Telling stories is not different. Keeping an audience because of your style and changing things up at the right times IS unique... and it IS different.
They exhibit je ne sais quoi:
An indefinable quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.
I started following this blogger a long time ago. I've made special comments to them (from the heart) only to be rewarded with a reply. They are genuine. They accidentally make a lot of money on steemit "as a bonus"... but you can tell.. this person isn't doing it for payment rewards... they are one of the few people that actually love life, and want to share it with others.
By now you're probably going "tell us who dammit! I want to see who it is!"
..I said I wouldn't tell you... but I think it is only fair I do...
...but before I do, I want to tell you a bit more...
Out of the blue, this person will write something bizarre and unexpected like Bulk shopping is great and saves money. --- April 19, 2017.
That was the first post I saw from this person which only made $11.02 written 5 months ago...
...but it captured me. It was a basic post that anyone could do... EXCEPT:
- He wrote it without considering the payment it would get
- He wrote it to genuinely blog and share
- He took the audience in his blog from outside the grocery store, to shopping, to bringing meat home, to cutting the meat, to freezing some of it, to saying "I couldn't help myself. I had to try a piece. It was great."
WHO IS THAT?
It's @exyle
..and he totally deserves every single upvote, dollar he gets, because he is:
GENUINE
He's an honest blogger, who shares his life for the benefit for all of us.
Q: @intelliguy I write similar things, how come I'm not as successful?
A: Take the time to go here:
- https://steemit.com/@exyle
- Scroll down his blog as far back as you can go... See lots of $90 to $100 paid posts? Ignore those.. keep scrolling down
- You'll see where he started. Post paid: 0.15 cents, 0.04 cents, 0.00 cents, 0.13 cents, 0.17 cents
- @exyle didn't let low payouts stop him. He kept it up. He built his audience the hard way. He put his heart and soul into his posts regardless of the payout it earned.
Most people would do well to follow the @exyle example. But they won't.
They'll talk about whatever is trending.. instead of just taking the hit for low payouts and still putting their time and energy into good posts, not caring about the reward.
@exyle is the minority.... but an obviously successful minority.
Message to @exyle made in jest:
- Just so you know, taking pictures outside of a grocery store, buying bulk meat, taking it home, cutting it up, freezing some, eating some, and having 5-10 pictures of the ordeal isn't special
- HOWEVER -- you did what no one else does. You actually blogged the entire experience "with photos" and made the whole experience personable, whether or not you got paid. You dear sir, are UNIQUE AND INTERESTING!
12. BE INTERESTING
Being interesting shouldn't be difficult. What does interesting actually mean?
arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention.
Ok, so how do you do that? I know how to FAIL at doing that:
- Be annoying with flashy graphics, animated gifs
- Use curse and swear words and profanity
- Be a pest
- Talk about subjects no one wants to discuss
- In general make an ass of yourself
..."arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention" doesn't mean making a big splash where you look like a complete jerk.
..."arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention" DOES MEAN -- spending quality time bringing quality content to the steem blockchain. Calculating figures. Doing research. Enrich your reader's lives in some way or other, so they read your post, and sit back and go "hell yeah, I'm glad I found and read that post... I actually learned something worthwhile from that"
...Don't just shovel out garbage or cheap written content and try to churn out payouts. Do something unique and different, whether or not you get the rewards initially.
As @exyle has shown us.. You can get paid total crap for month after month, and then one day you wake up and go:
WOW MY WALLET IS WORTH $110,000 !!!
He deserves it. Do you?
I'm on day 21/30 of my positivity challenge.
I have more to divulge in my next post... wait and see. Only one way to get notified when I do... you probably know how.
** Special thanks goes to @exyle for being a real person who shares his life with the rest of us. He's obviously not all about the money. He's just a nice person who allows us to have a glimpse of his life, and he doesn't have whale disease. I like people like him.. should I ever become a huge whale, and avoid whale disease, I would continue to use @exyle as my role model.
..last question: @intelliguy how long did it take you to write this post, find links, format it, grammer and spell check and work on it? Answer: About two full hours.... good posts should take that long. :) Whether or not people like my effort is up to you.
Wow, man. I'm sitting her at 7:30 in the morning and I just finished reading your post. Thank you so much. One thing I would like to correct is that I also bought STEEM in the downtrend last year when nobody believed this platform could become anything. I never had a lot of Fiat so I was lucky that the downtrend was long.
The process of writing and creating with little reward is a process I now call the grind. If you don't have connections or are not known anywhere else it's something you have to go through on this platform. Just like real life, I guess. That's why I always say enjoy what you create (otherwise you can't keep it up) and be consistent.
Again, thank you for this post. It made my day.
Anyone reading this comment, please upvote @exyle. He's the guest of honor today. Upvote his comment, please.
....oh, and you just divulged your own secret... "buying steem, when it is low" is a good investment.
I totally hear you on that... I've done that too... Now my lesson #4 out of 5 can talk about that... Thanks for the tip.
Lastly, don't be humble. Consider re-steeming this post @exyle. It's all about you. :)
I have mentioned you in my latest post and thanked you in my vlog. Thanks again!
Dear @intelliguy, you wrote a fantastic story about my son Exyle. You were right in everything you wrote. He is a fantastic guy and I'm happy to have a son like him. He made me familiar with Steemit and in November 2016 I joined the community also. I follow him of course, and I know his stories are sincere. He, and Bianca also, write fair stories about their lives. He is a true believer in the strength and the future of Steemit. I liked the way you wrote the piece itself, I will follow you from now on and upvoted your story, but that's logical of course. With kind regards, Clio
Wow, glad to hear from you. Obviously you some small part in raising this great fellow. :) Thank you, and congrats on a job well done.
I'm following you too... although, it says you're a retired principal. Apparently I just got sent to the principal's office (smirk)... but this time it was for a good reason.
I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other in passing a lot more now. I was more than happy to recognize your son for the good work he does... He leads by example even if he didn't realize he was leading. :)
Good to meet you. :)
As a principal, my door was always open and all kind of students entered my room. Besides not only the children removed from class came to me, I also welcomed with much pleasure the students who did an excellent job or who wanted to talk to me about problems they had with teachers or at home. That's the nice thing about being a principal: trying to make a ' home' for everybody at school, teachers and students! Leading by example, not saying ' you should do this or that' and doing something completely different yourself.
Good to meet you too!
Our teachers are the one that always demonized the principal in our school. "If you don't listen what I'm telling you.. you're going straight to the principal's office"
It is often the teachers who make the principal seem unapproachable and unfriendly.. at least it was the way I learned it growing up.
Which is a shame. I'm glad you showed students that if they did good (or bad), there was two sides to the principal's office, and it was not always negative.
Great post @intelliguy
Maybe easy to say as a friend, but @exyle deserves every single $ in that account. He worked hard to get there and, maybe even more important, didn't give up along the way.
You're right. Most people would have given up when they saw:
...not @exyle. He didn't shorten his efforts. He just kept at it. That earns respect from not just me, but many of his followers. He did it right. I like his attitude.
Great post @intelliguy, I wish that more steemians read this before posting about something that everyone else is posting about already...
I agree. There is nothing more irritating to me, to see 17 posts about the same subject as you keep scrolling down the new post feed (or your own feed)....
I know @exyle in real life as he is a personal friend of mine. I really can say he is as genuine as it gets! Such a pleasure to do fun stuff together as he does not care (just like me) what everyone else thinks of him. He is just he! And I hope he'll be that for times to come!
It's a good way to live life. Life is difficult, it can sour people. Someone who can wake up and smile everyday and share that smile are important to me. Life is to be enjoyed. Glad you know @exyle personally in real life. It's good to spread this lust for life and concentrate on the good parts of life. Thanks :)
Thank you so much for the encouraging post! I try to do the things you suggested in my posts also. After being on for less than two months, I have almost $300 depending on how much Steem is worth on a given day. I've built up 265 followers too. It takes work and answering comments and finding and encouraging new people. I love how this is a supportive community. I wish everyone would get that idea.
Thank you again. Upvoting and following
Whoa, you're quite a person. Thank you for your comment.
Artists these days are far and few. We need more artists. Thank you for being one.
LOL. Thanks! I try to be an interesting person. That's the short list.
Completely agree with you about the way @exyle writes. You do feel like you are having a chat with a mate over a coffee or a beer.
I love that.
@coffeehub you have a way with words. I fully agree:
I love that too. Thanks for coming to read, see, comment, and upvote. I owe you one. Actually, after I write this comment, I'll return the favor and go see your blog.
EDIT: I just did. I commented on your post titled: Depression and the change of seasons
One thing I especially liked is how you said:
..agreed. Most people aren't kind to themselves. We should be, and for the most part, we aren't.
This is funny, I actually felt the same and just started following exyle after this story he posted:
https://steemit.com/life/@exyle/confidence-is-everything-how-i-gained-mine-part-2
I like how he is so transparent and approachable with his writing. Having to run into his fan here once again just made me love the guy even more ! I am following you now !
What can I say, but "cool" and "awesome". :) I enjoyed hearing what you just said.
After reading this post, I believe @intelliguy is on his way up too.
The writing here is good, in the sense that its content benefits others. I'm very new to Steemit and it's posts like this that help a lot in teaching us what to write about, and how.
I feel like I'm on the way up... but it's a loooong road. I'm ready for it. Sometimes when words explode out of me, and I re-read what I've written I impress myself. That's how I know I did a good job. Yet I'll study the payout, and go, gee... I just took a slice out of my soul and put that into a post and it is under $100 meanwhile I watch $500 paid posts with much less worth to them.
It takes strength and reminders to myself to remember....
...if just 3 people enjoyed the time I spent, I really don't care what I got paid. That's 3 people that loved it. Lucky for me, it is not just 3 people... often it is 30 people. That matters to me. I'm giving more than I'm taking, and it feels right to do that..
You acknowledging it's a long road, even for someone with 66 rating, is actually encouraging for me. Because it confirms something after my 2 weeks of observation: those who get a significant number of upvotes/have many followers had gone through a process first. Things won't magically happen.
For newbies like me, we must accept the fact that a good, high quality post most likely won't result in any significant upvotes. $0.50 is to be considered `encouraging' :)
I have quite a number of genuine Friends and Followers at Facebook, and my posts there often get `enough' likes and comments. Like this one, which I had written just because I like to, and I know many of the readers there would like it also. Even if they don't, I'd still write...because I want to https://www.facebook.com/mat.cendana/posts/10213767427165372 I will try to continue with this kind at Steemit. While keeping in mind the major points of this post, plus your comment here.
Excellent job at simplifying important aspects of adding value in one's post! Make your voice standout by not copying everything else!
Thanks for the post @intelliguy!
Aha! So you did hear what I was trying to say. Excellent. The time I spent putting the point forward worked. Thanks for commenting and solidifying that originality is the key to success. :)
You got my vote and a resteem :]
Thank you for the resteem. I took a look at your blog, and you seem to resteem more than you write. Be careful of that.. You want to have a blog with more original content than resteems otherwise you won't get many followers.
I'm new to steemit and glad that I saw your post @intelliguy. A lot of inspiration and motivation for a steemit newbie like myself. And a salute to @exyle for all your hard work that paid off! I will be looking forward to seeing more content from both of you and start creating some of my own too! See you both around!
I smile at what you just said. You're only reputation level 32, with only 35 followers, and a $6.12 wallet balance.
Whales would laugh you off, because you don't seem statistically important. To me, you're extremely important. You took minutes out of your day to reply and express how you feel about my post....
Up and comers, like yourself, appear small, but if you keep working at this... (and I've seen this before) people surpass me and fly by.. just like how a fast car will race past someone on the highway.
I grabbed that from one of your blog posts. You ARE a good writer. Many people can't do what you're already doing. Never look at the payout value for a post and judge your writing skills based on that number. The post payout worth is superficial and not tied to the quality content you're putting out.
If I can give you a slight push to do more, and keep going, that is exactly what I'm trying to do... :)
Thank you for sharing your experiences here on steemit. This is vaulable information for us newbies...
Some severe rich bloggers who deliberately avoid my posts don't like when I give away hints.. (aka, why they won't upvote this post or come near it). However, I don't mind helping people... all of us have needed help or wanted good advice at some point in our lives. So I'm basically paying it forward. :)
Thanks for sharing. Really true success is built (step by step). Success due to chance is not sustainable over time. If you do not know how it came, you will not know how to reproduce it, it will come and it will go away. MasLideres ;)
A very thoughtful comment, and I totally agree.
i dont think "be unique", be interesting is divulging any secret
Ha ha... you wouldn't think it would be... but you have no idea how obvious things escape most people.
I forgot to tell you I'm going to resteem your article.
Interesting post, @intelliguy! Very informative for a newbie like me. Followed you to see your posts 😊
Thanks. If you scroll down my blog, my earlier posts have good info... I hope they help.
Definitely true ... I thought about posting DIY posts ... but I think what people like is just interesting or out of the world written stories/experiences. Planning on posting a lot of my amazing travels, which I've found have done well vs. the plan and boring web design tutorials that I was starting out with haha.
If you put yourself into your posts... honestly, and with effort, they will eventually take off... keep trying. It is worth the effort.
Agreed. I do post very short travel videos I make with a few lines of text describing what is in the video. If I make $1 per post and can write 10 posts I am happy.
INCORRECT. You've just made a glaring error in what you just said.
Basically you just said, if you make 10 posts (with video), and get $1 per post, you just made $10
What if every video earned $10 on it's own? You'd be up to $100
So does every other vlogger. They copy/paste a video, write a "few lines of text" or copy/paste the video description. They spend 5 minutes and wait to be paid.
How horrible that would be for the audience.
Please read #3 in my blog post, the section titled "3. Try to do some actual work in your posts"
https://steemit.com/steemit/@intelliguy/steem-tips-how-to-get-paid-more-frequently-and-more-money-lesson-1-the-basics
Great post, thank you for the advice and tips . It's very helpful :)
Thankyou for sharing @intelliguy. . I have followed you and follow next post 👏👏👏
Very nice serie and nice bloggers to follow! Thanks for the tips!
I think a lot of people here (myself included) make the mistake of thinking that helpful posts are the way to go. I guess they have their place, but if I want helpful, I'll go to Wikipedia or a DIY site.
I want interesting and will pay for it with upvotes.
Agreed. Although, did this post, showcasing another steemian help? Did you actually like it?
Yeah. And I agree that @exyle is a damn fine Steemian.
Sure, useful is good. But interesting is even better.
Ideally, useful and interesting. Creative nonfiction can be amazing.
I thought you might say that... I just wanted you to be the one to say it. Thank you. :)
good hints for me and i appreciate your advice
Wow, thanks for sharing, *noted
Great post man / upvoted / peace! (-:
Great Post / Tips. Followed and resteemed. As an artist I post a lot of my paintings, and travel photography and videos. One of my timelapse videos showing my oil painting process did very well... I need to do more of these. I am designing an Offgrid Log Cabin to build on Lake Superior and also writing about this adventure. I am doing OK.
I probably post too frequently but sometimes I am afraid I will forget an idea if I don't.
I do landscape paintings from the kayak but I have many interests. Do I add that to my Profile? Paintings from the Kayak"? what if I want to write about other things?
This is an easy answer.
If you want to write about other things, do it. It's part of the je ne sais quoi
Will the "other things" get paid well? Ask yourself, does it matter? Are you truly here to express yourself and have your readers enjoy you? If so, the hard core followers will love it. If you allow yourself to focus and concentrate on payouts, you become a content-machine for money, and to me, I unfollow people like that.. Don't be a content-machine. Use this platform to share yourself with others, and in the end, you'll get rewarded. It won't be obvious post-by-post... but the long term trend is that you will see it works out quite well.
Just do it. :)
I think if someone only writes with the aim to make money then they will never write a good post from the hearth. I've tried this too and didn't work ofcourse, it's also no fun. My best posts were written because I wanted to share something which in my case was the experience of having burglars breaking in my house when I was at home and being naive enough to think a mate needed me and got into my how with my key.. but I also attempt to write rage like feelings out of emotion which on one side is honest but on the other makes me look foolish :P anyways good post here, although it is a little ball licking toward exyle but yeah that's how people show support aight? keep it up
You wrote this on your phone with autocorrect enabled didn't you? :)
hearth = heart
how = house
Ball licking? Nah... I totally used him to make my point. No ball licking there at all.
lol some mistakes indeed :P well it's nice steem here is so that all support oneother here, sometimes ball licking looks like it especially towards whales
i saw sometimes but it's okay. ball licking is good it's a good thing people here are actual nice and show respect and behave grown up. There are almost no trolls here on the platform, no retarded discussions no hate and no flamewars etc which is pleasant (Y)
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STOPWhat a co incidents friend, I had also posted about the great personality yesterday,about her beautiful better half Bianca, I didn't get your post before if I could had it it was a great help for me. Yes he is an inspiration for us, thanks for sharing such a valuable information about @exyle. Have a great time friend happy steeming.
exyle is the first person i followed in steam ,just because was so relaxing watching his videos on dtube.
thank you this post is very inspirational for a newbie like myself
Thank you @intelliguy for another wonderful piece... looking forward for 4/5 and following @exyle from now on 😊 excited to read his previous posts... thanks again for sharing inspiring tips!
Thanks for sharing this. Do you have any tips for artist?
Wonderful Post. Thanks for sharing this post.
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I really like your post
I think writing something wonderful about another person reflects who you are. I believe a bit in the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking and that when you give, it comes back to you (I haven't been practicing it myself as well as I should), and I hope that is what happens here-I wish you good karma and I think you already have a lot, but I want to wish you even more.
As a newbie I have had that attitude about money (probably because I need some) but I 'm glad I came across your post and I will take your advice to heart. And I will put more of my heart into it. Thanks.
Thank you for your post, I just wrote my first article about small businesses and I really appreciate your advices ! PERFECT !
Cool putting the attention on somebody who deserves it. I jut came across his and his girlfriends accounts and as Dutchy original, I recognize a lot of stuff they are posting. So they both deserve an other follower from around the globe!