I suppose, coming from the culture of Facebook, I'm used to clicking the 'Like' button - or in this case, over here in Steemitland, the 'upvote' button.
What I've noticed of late is that I make a post and almost immediately, people comment that they like what I've written. They've read it, appreciate my work and everything.
In the space of a few minutes, the first of today's posts had - 16 views, 11 comments (some of which were mine in reply) and THREE votes.
I'm coming to the conclusion that some people are missing a trick here.
CURATION IS AN INCOME STREAM!
You are MISSING OUT if you don't vote!
It costs NOTHING to upvote something you like. You have a set amount of voting power EVERY DAY and if you don't use it, it doesn't 'roll-over' - you lose it. It's GONE! Someone else has benefitted from it.
Newbies - this platform is like nothing you've ever seen before. The concept is awesome, and there are many powerful tools to use in conjunction with Steemit.com.
Steemnow by @penguinpablo shows who voted recently, what your voting power is at and various other information. Use it!
[Steemify] by @blockbrothers is a fantastic app - sending notifications to your phone so you can see everything your Steemit account is doing.
Steemd.com is beyond awesome! You can find EVERY transaction on your blog from the moment you set up your account. Go to the link, type /@yourname and watch the magic!
I was always a fan of @heimindanger's SteemWhales but he's busy right now and it hasn't been updated recently.
What I'm saying is this:
Steemit.com is not just a blogging site. It's not just a site to beg for cash, upvotes, follows and the like. Steemit.com is far beyond your imagination in terms of blogging, connecting, interacting - learn how to use it and yes, you really CAN make money from it - you can make money from it in more ways than you think.
Don't just follow and unfollow when the other person doesn't follow you back - this is not Twitter. Give as well as take. Give comments, feedback, views and opinions - and upvotes!
Give and thou shalt receive.
True Story.
You are missing a point actually. You are saying that clicking upvote button costs nothing. But in real it does cost something. Every upvote drains 2% of your Voting Strength and takes 2.4 hours to regenerate. Why don't you think that those who come visit your posts and give no upvotes are better off to spend their voting strengths on other posts, for example their own posts.
:)
You are totally right. Most of them are commenting to get upvote from you. I see some posts very very long and someone comments immediately like good post, thank you, etc. We need to respect for labor.
Hiii My friend @michelle.gent.
in detail you describe the whole story in your article about amazing plateform Seemit. you also told here about the apps like srmteemnnow, steemify, steemd. no doubt they are much informative.
yes i agreed with you about the Upvote value for both. Your article is a guideline for newbies. I always impressed from your writting style.
Apreciated you and fully support you.
UpVoted.
keep it up, Stay Blessed.
POST for Thanks Bro
I'm following back and I'm sharing the content of followers organically. My account for following back is:@followback
I'm not bothered about small curation rewards as a minnow (or mini-minnow (micro-minnow?)) as, eventually, the rewards will grow. But only if I'm active.
So to other newbies, or nearly newbies, I'd say stick with it, even if your Steemit time is at a minimum.
All the best!
Upvoted and resteemed.
Thanks Greg :)
So true words. I have also gotten comments from smaller fish and when asked why if they enjoyed the post did they not upvote I get- "my vote is too little" ... they do not realize that yes even if your vote is small it does matter. It maters to the person who wrote the post and to themselves if they are to grow.
If they upvote and resteem the rewards could be much greater
Depending on how the post does it also benefits both the upvoter and the poster. Even if you don't see the amount change in the value section if several small fish vote it will move and a value will show. Minnows swim in schools! There is power in numbers. So to all you little fish reading this -
We use the same Steemit tools. : )
I agree that Steemit is all about interaction and would like to add that the focus should be on the meaningful interaction.
One note: if you upvote short comments like "helpful post, thank you" or "me like this" or "I like your blog" you might be actually encouraging people to comment on your posts without even reading them.
Cheers! : )
Thank you for commenting. I don't usually bother with the 'throw-away' comments or those that don't correlate with the post they're commenting on. For example, I write a writing tips blog and someone said 'I can't wait to see this made into a film' (paraphrasing).
Can you imagine, 2 hours of writing tips on the cinema screen? Worse than watching paint dry! ;)
POST for Thanks Bro
I'm following back and I'm sharing the content of followers organically. My account for following back is:@followback
I am a newbie myself and when I upvote I am not giving any money I think I spent it all already for this week.
Check this link Steemnow you have 18.37% voting power left.
Voting doesn't cost you anything but voting power. Your Steem doesn't reduce when you vote but it can increase with curation rewards.
Thank you for your upvote. I appreciate it.
That is true, an up vote does not cost anything, but to some people, especially beginners it might make a whole day! I really do not understand why people follow if they are not interested in the content provided.
Thank you for sharing the information about applications as well. I really liked the post
You're most welcome.
Thank you for commenting.
Thank you, so upvote and *enjoy *your day
Thank you. You too :)
Yes, absolutely! Using this platform with the only aim of making money will ironically get you nothing. But constant participation and interaction with other Steemit members with genuine interest and appreciation in their posts will get you more popular.
This community runs on selflessness. One can't be selfish and expect others to be selfless. Thank you for sharing. This is a post well said. :)
I think every successful community runs on selflessness :) Good point :)
Hi Michelle, you are right indeed. I still manually curate 99.5% I like it. It's even hard to build up SP % again.. But indeed when you don't do anything you miss the action. Some new users would love to get an upvote. That is their first experience with steemit.
I love the steemify app from blockbrothers.
I manually curate 100% - I don't like the idea of not knowing what I'm voting on :)
I try to respond to all my replies to my blogs. Obviously, the nonsensical ones or those that have not read the post get ignored, but I upvote the posts because I feel it encourages the newbies to interact.
Today's experiment has shown that I need to research further. It may sound mercenary, but I'm no longer upvoting those that comment but didn't upvote - after the 30 minutes, of course.
This is a nice reminder for people, but I do not think most people actually read the posts fully. This platform is a great educational tool with facets that will develop going forward that will blow us away... if utilized properly and caringly.
As with everything, a little patience goes a long way :)
Three major reasons for such behaviour:
I realise new users don't know about this, hence this post.
enough? On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest there is NO reward. All the .001SP adds up. It doesn't evaporate, it goes into the minnow's wallet and waits to grow.
Yes it is more profitable to upvote yourself, but everyone that upvoted me on this post is getting an upvote from me which adds up to WAY higher than their upvote would gain them.
Everyone except those that have upvoted themselves. I think that may be a new rule I set for myself. If you've upvoted your own comment on my post, that's it, you'll not get upvoted by me.
Sometimes it is not about the curation reward at all. Most of the time I am like the last person to vote on one of your story post, number 50 or higher. 10 hours or later after it has been posted. You England, Me Alaska, sometime, rarely, I stay up late, you post early, Woohoo, number 17 vote. So I do not really see very much if any curation reward, does it matter? Nope, I enjoyed the story, I commented, If those two are met, I vote, sometimes I vote first, because I know I'm going to be busy, or away, and I know the content won't disappoint. I don't know if my vote has any real monetary value for you either, but does that matter to you? Nope you have someone that likes your work, so even if it is miniscule or nothing, you care vote the thought more than the part penny. At least that is what I have seen from you ever since finding your stories.
Astute as always! You're absolutely right :)
I take into account only Steemit's opportunities ;)
You can earn on other social media platforms (advertising or selling something), but we are on Steemit - so let's narrow the field.
True. But you have to upvote near 1k posts to get 1 STEEM. Than you can sell it for $5-6 due to current STEEM price. Or just convert 1 STEEM to 1 Steem Power. And that 1 SP gives you nothing in your upvote value (due to upvote calculator from SteemNow every 20SP gives your vote additional $0.01 in value).
And this is a nice deal. But only attentive readers and followers know this ))
If all you're doing on Steemit is curating, you'd need to invest a large chunk of change to make a difference. Let's assume most minnows are also commenting and posting blogs. Those .001SP, added to the STEEM and SBD gained from being upvoted by others make a difference.
Looking at it another way, if everyone on Steemit decided to only upvote themselves, how soon would it be before the platform ground to a halt? The whales, dolphins etc getting richer and the poor minnows and redfish getting nowhere, swimming as fast as they could for $1 per 1000 self-upvotes?
I doubt I'm the only one that thinks 'If you'd rather upvote yourself than upvote anyone else, good luck to you, you'll get nothing from me'? In fact, I know I'm not alone in that thought.
What people don't seem to grasp about this platform are a few facts.
Everyone started with nothing - or close to it (I believe I had $5 to start my account, new accounts get $15 delegated).
It takes time and effort to get anywhere - not only on Steemit.
You have to speculate to accumulate. In other words, a 100% self-upvote, once noticed, will get zero from others when they realise. Whereas a 100% upvote and relevant comment on someone else's post may gain a follower, a reciprocal 100% upvote and perhaps even a return visit or resteem.
Which is more valuable? 1000 self upvotes or 1 10% upvote from someone that has been here a while?
I tried to learn as much as I could about the platform when I first arrived. It's no more difficult to gain information now than it was then, but some new users seem to think that because we have more Steem, we owe them a hand-up.
Added by Edit I've been her 18 months and I've invested a small amount of fiat - mainly because I wanted to go to SteemFest in Amsterdam and I didn't have the funds in Steem - the rest of my investment has been hard work, writing, researching, commenting and promoting Steemit to others. I've brought friends with me and some are doing better than others, but I support those friends.
You can see how much I earned last week from curation:
Estimated curation rewards last week:
28.424 STEEM POWER - approximately 0.01048931BTC - the rest I made by writing, commenting etc.
That's why Steemit is alive. Cause there are people that invest their time and efforts in posting/commenting some really nice and interesting information. And I hope that we will have more and more such Steemians. This is one of the most important condition for Steemit community growth and health.
You're right. It's not just important, though, it's vital :)
It's the best thing you need to do. By upvoting their selves some late commenter go higher up the ladder.
Steemit really does have a different feel to it. I never actually enjoyed being on Facebook or Instagram etc...because i never felt the sense of community that I feel here. I am new and still learning the ropes- there’s literally so much to learn! All the random applications and bots and discord and yeah...it’s a lot but I have just taken my time. I know it will all make sense eventually.
It will make sense and I hope you'll stick around. The community is awesome!
Oh I’m not going anywhere- I love Steemit and I’ll put in the work!
I hope you've noticed that I upvote your every post :-)
LOL Yes I have ;)
I agree with you @michelle.gent.
We should help each other with our valuable upvotes.
Also, comments help too. Follow those who write things you like to read and share the love ;)
Helpful post..Thanks for sharing it
What's the proper expression that describes how Zack and Taylor ignored that poor girl at the bar (give a cold shoulder, get the raspberry)?
Cold shoulder works. Raspberry is the sound you make...
LMAO Thanks, I didn't know that. I've looked up for these expressions in the vocabulary and I guess someone has put the "raspberry" just for the sake of trolling.
Useful information for the beginners like me. Well we learn from the mistakes we make.
I have a question if you would like to answer; Drawing SBD is beneficial or converting them into Steem Power?
I have been advice to always power up
Yes, always power up... but if you have an emergency and need some cash, it's no bad thing to take money out if you have it in crypto.
I'd rather the broken boiler was repaired or replaced than having lots of SP powered up... SP can only keep you warm if you use it ;)
Sounds smart of course:-)
That depends entirely upon your personal circumstances.
I have only just started to draw out any of my Steem and it's paving the way for some major life-changes. All this in under 18 months on Steemit.com
I never would have believed it was possible.
However, some people don't seem to understand that I started out just like everyone else - with nothing.
Good Luck to you, I hope you have great success on the platform.
I wish your words come true:) Thank you for kind and humble reply.
You're most welcome :)
useful post
You're absolutely correct! This are the things that newbies need to know. I am glad you are sharing this @michelle.gent! 💲😊Upvoting helps!🤑 Thank you @michelle.gent!😙
Thank you :)
A much needed information of which most of us are ignorant of. You have provided a sane advice purely for the benefit, in the end we are going to get. A sagacious person cannot ignore it. You are like a guide and mentor for me. Thank you for such a kind advice.
Thank you for your kind comments.
You're most welcome.
I noticed that too one your post earlier as well, lots of comments but no up-votes, I would say perhaps they just don't know any better yet, I noticed the same on my posts too. Seems to happen when there is a surge of new users. I Agree that they are robbing themselves from valuable steem-power by doing so. I started counting my curating rewards from the last month after reading your post and even as a low level, I still earn around 0.2 SP in one month just from curating, I know it's nothing to quit my job over and do the party dance, it's a great way to earn a little. As tiny as it may seem, with the recent jump in price and keeping in mind that this is just the beginning, who knows what that .001 SP at a time may add up to in the course of a few years. Maybe they just don't see the big picture yet.
Yes! I think 'The Big Picture' viewing screen is certainly what's needed.
It's a slow start, but worth it - especially, as you say, when the price rockets like it did recently.
I'm just getting started with steemit and like the platform so far. I'm excited to learn more about the algorithm and how to curate better content for my feed. Thanks for sharing the third party apps - I had no idea there was already so much in development around Steemit.com!
You're most welcome, pleased to help :)
Hi @michelle.gent I think I upvote to much. I have been told that the sp% should not go under 80%. Is this true also for newbies? I read a lot of posts and want to upvote more then I do today:-)
Hey @everydaycoach :)
Here's your link Steemnow - it shows how much voting power you have.
Please don't take this personally - your upvote won't make much difference in the reward YET so I wouldn't worry about how much you vote. Concentrate on making friends, following people that interest you and soon, you and your friends will all start earning and making more friends, gaining followers. Pretty soon you'll be giving advice to newbies :)
Thank you, I'm not offended by the truth that I'm a newbie:-)
Yaa its true.. All upvotes, comments, feedback and resteem are very important for new and old steemians too. Important and useful post..All the best..
Upvote and resteem!
Thank you! It all helps... and every newbie that realises the power of the upvote also benefits :)
Thanks for saying what many of us (or maybe it is just me) have thought. If you like someone's work, whatever it may be. Give them an upvote. Pay them for their time and energy. If you don't like their post then don't upvote it. Actions always speak louder than words.
Here is a perfect example of what you are talking about. This was a comment from one of my recent posts
"What awesome work! I’m totally new to photography but playing around a bit and using steemit as my medium. Let’s support and follow each other on this awesome platform and revolutionize social media with quality content!"
Do you think this clown upvoted my post? Nope. I responded to his reply and I may go look at his blog but you can rest assured that it is at the very bottom of my list.
I would also add that not everyone who is posting content is a professional writer. Some people are using the platform to share knowledge. I've learned a lot about cryptos, aqua-ponics and other areas of interest from people who can't construct a complete or proper sentence. I've found some good recipes and seen places in photographs that I will probably never get to visit in person. In all of which I find value so I give them my support by upvoting their posts.
As far as the tools you've identified, I use Steem Now everyday that I am on the platform. If I see someone has upvoted one of my posts (especially a name I don't recognize), I will go check out their work right away and if I like what they are doing and I don't always do, then I will follow and support them. If all they are doing is trying to get an upvote for an upvote with no valuable content then I will not.
Your observations are sound. Not everyone writes well, but with video and memes now on Steemit, just about everyone can make themselves heard :)
There are thousands of interesting blogs on Steemit - and they'll all be here long after we've all gone, I suppose :)
Upvoting to say thank you for the five-minute read while I drink my coffee takes nothing from the upvoter but it could be the start of a good friendship.
Exactly. I've upvoted and commented on content (poem or drawing) not because it was particularly good but because it was someone's best effort and now I have a friend and a regular follower and their content has improved. And, through that connection I found someone else's blog that I liked maybe more and through that connection there was another and so on.
That is also how I found @michelle.gent
I will also say it is refreshing to have a whale address this issue in such a positive way.
Little steps, tiny leaps of faith lead to the next and the next...
I'm not a Whale... I may be a Dolphin, but Whales are MUCH bigger :)
You may not be a whale but you're still a big fish in my little pond and I appreciate your advice.
The little steps approach has been my strategy for a while. I have literally thousands of photographs that I have been sharing on a regular basis and then every once in awhile I put a few together into a little story. Eventually, I will start writing more and have complied a list of several titles that I have been working on. Kind of like you having, I believe you said six books in the chute.
In the meantime I will go for the low hanging fruit while I build up my reputation score, wallet and following. And, sometimes I post something silly just to keep ME engaged in the platform.
Namaste
you are right Stimit provides opportunities for working with money, for communication and information exchange. Many newcomers do not understand the whole essence of content management. This gives additional advantages, but they do not understand this, they think narrowly and rarely look for useful information. You perfectly explained the advantages of content management ...
Thank you. I never know if my explanations have been understood.
There are so many newbies on the site right now and most are coming from another platform. It takes time to adjust. I am glad that I came here without prior experience. It may have made my getting the feet wet a little easier.
Great article! I'm a big fan of Steem.supply and steemtracked.com as well, they're great tools!
Thanks for the heads up, I'll check those out too.
Both of them do seem to be having some connectivity issues lately, though, but when they work they can be really useful. Also nice to see a fellow Flemish user here, doe zo verder! :)
Ah... you misunderstand. I'm from the UK but we attended the first Steemfest which was held in Amsterdam in November 2016
Ah, my bad! I thought you were from Ghent when I read your username. ;)
Really excellent little post @michelle.gent thanks so much. Have followed and UPVOTED ;) with all my massive 0.1 steem power (I am new a newbie),
But hey, every little helps and as you say; it's not just about the money, it's
much more than that. Very happy to be a part of this blossoming community/project.
Hey Michelle, just wanted to reach out and let you know that the links your provided are REALLY helpful. I'm new to steemit so this post is a bit of a lifesaver. I'm following you now for more updates. Wishing you lots of success with steemit, lady! X
Thank you for sharing your opinion and for telling us a few tricks. And thank you for helping newbies (like me) with an upvote.
P.S. Love your fiction stories :D
You're welcome. It's a strategy I adopted a while ago... I figured thanking those that take time to properly comment on my work deserves a little boost too :)
Thank you. I appreciate you reading the stories.
Hey @michelle.gent
Its wonderful blog sharing and informative foe steemian.
Thanks for update of steemit app and using guide. Keep stay blessed
upvote and resteemed
waoowww !! what a way you write clearly about value of upvote button <3 please do more for our steemit family <3 i am following you for see more blogs like this and i appreciate your harkd work.. Thank you for sharing :) keep in touch
Yes, you can see the value of the upvote button, I've noticed that... Steemd.com and I've noticed that you upvoted your own reply to my post, yet haven't upvoted my post.
In fact, looking at all the upvotes you make, they are only on your own comments - no one else gets an upvote from you.
If you then take a look at what your upvote is worth to you - $0.01 - and then take a look at what I gave out when I upvoted comments on this blog - typically $1.05 - which would you rather have on your comment?
Unfortunately, even if you change it all now, you're not getting anything.
Harsh but fair, I think.
Yes you are quite right @michelle.gent
I not fully understood it here, some seems to make millions, especially on d-tube, but if i post something i get only cents :)
you have to build your brand friend, some users have been here a long time or have a following elsewhere that they brought over. Patience and perseverance @the.privatier. Slow and steady
Wow this is helpful for us and this post i see already and gain knowledge of how to be valuable our steemit vote button.
Thanks for sharing my friend..
Carry on..✌✌✌
Your post is very interesting and useful!
Hopefully the next post more interesting.
voting before 30 minutes loses curation rewards for the viewer, so you can't expect to see much voting activity before that point.
True enough.
I've used one of the links [https://steemd.com/@] to check on voting habits of some of the commenters on my posts today. They don't appear to vote after the 30 minutes, either - not on anyone's posts.
I have a question, is it "voting before 30mins" or "after 30mins" ? Sorry I am a bit confused.
If you vote before 30 mins, you don't get the benefit of the full amount of curation. A percentage goes to the Author of the post.
Sometimes, I just don't mind and upvote immediately I see the post because I know the person I vote on is genuine. THEN I read the post ;)
Thank you for explaining @michelle.gent.
I totally agree on this, coz I do this all the time! :)
Can you please elaborate the term curation?
Are we going to get reward of upvoting if author doesn't upvote us?
Yes. You get reward from the reward pool for every post you upvote.
Thank you.
Take a look at this link Steemnow
It shows exactly what your voting power is, your curation rewards and expected payouts. It also shows who upvoted you.
Thank you. It's really helpful:)
voting before 30 minutes sends a portion of the curation reward to the author. After 30 they go to the voter. After the next hardfork as it stands now voting early will send a portion back to the reward pool
welp .. if you are referring to me. This post is the first i've looked at today. You are also likely experiencing the effect of Steemvoter being down.
:) No, I'm not referring to anyone in particular. It's an observation.
Steemvoter isn't the only thing that's experiencing problems lately, I think.
there were some changes made which came into effect on Jan. 6th. It appears some of the tool developers didn't update to accommodate the change.
This is a massive speech you have mention here, our newbies maximum are don't know how to increase voting power for future eligibility, but you hit the main space from where newbie can know many things @michelle.gent
Very good post.Thank you for your advices.
You say it all too well.
I see you are experienced here in steemit
I usually upvote my real friends and high quality posts ...
Do I earn from doing upvote to someone else?
You earn curation whenever you upvote a post - as long as it makes something of course.
thanks for the info.. this is a important cortical of yours..
The best person
He doesnt comment unless he likes the post and a constructive comment is really useful
Does the power of voting
Reduces Author Rewards ?
No, it doesn't reduce the author reward.
I'm still new here, most recently started reading your work here ... Thanks for such a good advice, I will use this opportunity additionally to earn on curation
Im in steemit only 4 days and i really don't know nothing here,you help with your post.Thank you for share, and if you can please look and my posts.
So very true. I think the problem is a lot of users here just don't quite understand how this works. I have seen just the opposite, too: People who upvote just everything, even without actually CLICK on the post before!
In this platform posting, upvoting and getting upvoted are all important, and they should be taken care of.
Thank you for sharing, Michelle.
@michelle.gent I really needed to hear what you wrote about curation and using upvotes daily. Also, your advice to be active in the community is consistent with what I learned from various Instagram growth coaches. The theme is the same: to build a following, engage, engage, engage. I just arrived and I'm still a "micro-minnow" as @greg-shackleford says above, but I understand what you both are saying. Thank you both for the encouragement!