More than once, it's been asked by newbies on Steemit: "why is there so much of a difference on what I make on each post? Why do (the payouts on) posts differ so much?"
The answer is simple, though not always 100% clear.
(NOTE: This IS a duplicate of this post I made last week... It seems either something happened while my account was compromised in the hack OR some changes were made to how Steemit is translating markdown, and nearly all the text in that post disappeared. I've been unable to edit it, so am reposting because it's GREAT and will be referenced in many of my future posts. If you already upvoted that one, please DO NOT upvote this - I am reposting so this quality content is available, NOT for a second round of rewards.)
Without spending a decent amount of time in the Steemit ecosystem to familiarize oneself with the territory and read into the underlying cultural values driving the production of the community's most active & influential content, it may not make sense why some posts that don't seem all that special get rewarded hundreds of dollars, while other good ones get pennies.
It's easy for anyone to join Steemit and make a post. It's not as easy to consistently keep producing highly-rewarded stories - at least not without an understanding of the key elements of a winning post...
The more time a person invests in Steemit - in opening themselves to learning from others in the community, getting a feel for what types of posts become popular, what people like, and what patterns the successful contributors follow to consistently deliver content that is well-appreciated and rewarded - the better they equip themselves to adapt to this new cyberspace environment and themselves contribute in ways that will be well-received by the community.
There are predictable patterns and constant formulas present in the highly-rewarded content. It just takes certain understanding and skill to see them - or some guidance from those more experienced, to help point out the keys which can massively accelerate a newbie's learning curve.
As such - what follows below is not so much a particular recipe for success, but a framework of fundamental principles that once a person really gets, may serve to direct the content creation process to generate predictably consistent, winning results & outcomes.
Ready to save yourself massive time & headache and learn what it really takes to formulate a winning post?
Here we go. I promise, this won't take much of your time - but will have a huge impact on your Steemit success if you put it into action...
Back to the opening question of why the payouts on posts differ so much...
Simply put:
Reward figures are a measurement of how much VALUE the market perceives in the post. The more VALUABLE others find a post, the higher the rewards.
Now, there are alot of different factors going into what constitutes value. Of course, value is objective - as what seems valuable to one person might not be valuable to another. Every person has their own values, priorities, personal tastes, and preferences. Not everyone may agree that a particular post is valuable to them. But, there are certain qualities & characteristics inherent in ALL value - that once understood, can be used like ingredients in a recipe - each recipe making for a delicious nutritious dish of its own, guaranteed to not please everybody at the same time, but may have the precise fusion of flavors to satisfy certain people's tastes at the exact moment it's served...
Types Of Value
While value can be created in an infinite variety of forms - impossible to pin down a single thread of commonality between them all - one could look at all value as falling into a few basic foundational categories:
Informational/Educational Value = content that communicates knowledge which is of use to people in better helping them understand something important/interesting to them and/or that contributes to a foundational understanding enabling the advancement of a skill set important to them.
Entertainment Value = content that makes a person smile, laugh, feel good and adds some humor or excitement to one's day.
Inspirational Value - content that uplifts a person's spirits, tunes them into the frequency of the heart, infects with passion & enthusiasm, opens vision to possibilities for advancement & evolution of meaningful aspects of life important to them.
Originality Value = content that is uniquely different and provides fresh perspective and new stimulation, which provides new frames of context through which to see & understand differently in ways that grant access to previously-unknown possibilities in which valuable solutions, answers, and insights may lie.
Ease-of-Readability Value = content that is grammatically-correct and well-formatted to effectively communicate an intentional idea/concept/perspective with clarity & precision - providing a smoothly-flowing transmission of the content and lightening the cognitive processing load on a reader's brain through cleanly written, articulate code/language.
( These 5 types of values actually correspond to the 5 elements described in the ancient Chinese system - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water - this is ALCHEMY. Though I'll save that part for a separate post. If you're interested, let me know in the comments below and I promise to share that follow-up with you when it gets published.)
The BEST posts - "best" used to imply the "most valuable" - are typically those that are infused with a synergistic combination of these different values. You know the ones:
They're both informational and entertaining, capture a real, human piece of the writer's personality, are well-written and don't require to much thinking to interpret what the reader means, and leaves you feel rejuvenated by the end with a glimmer of hope * excitement for new possibilities.
"BE A STUDENT OF VALUE."
This is a relatively short post, because there isn't a whole lot more to it than that.
I don't need to go into explanations of each of those types of value, because they're pretty straightforward.
Of course, just knowing of these ingredients doesn't automatically enable one to magically pump out golden dishes of highly-rewarded stories every time. But, I promise you: the more you fuse these elements into your writing and experiment with finding your own perfect balance of all these different values in your writing, the better your content will get - and the more others in the community will value your content.
This isn't a theory. It's science.
If you don't believe me, investigate yourself and try on this idea - viewing all the content you read on Steemit through this lense...
Which of these elements are found in the most highly-rewarded stories?
Which of these ingredients are missing from the stories not well-rewarded?
Test this out and see for yourself. It won't take long until you see the pattern.
PAY IT FORWARD.
If you've found this valuable, I have one request:
Do NOT thank me with your words - express your appreciation by putting what you've taken away into action.
Of course, you're welcome to say thanks - but don't think doing so gets you off the hook from taking responsibility for implementing the insight that's been gifted to you through this transmission in your future engagement on the platform.
I haven't written this for praise. (Partly for rewards, yes - but in the long-term game, which can only be won if we all win by adhering to these basic principles of value creation as a core shared cultural code).
I've written this to serve those whom may take it to heart and put it into practice, paying the gift forward by creating value for others.
THAT is how this platform shall succeed.
So...
Consider this your invitation to up your game.
Not all will accept, and that's fine. Not all will stick around on Steemit - many getting discouraged at not being rewarded because they've failed to put in the time & energy into continuously raising their standards of value delivered in their posts.
If you're grateful for the insight shared in this post - SHOW IT.
Not to me. But to yourself, through a ongoing execution of the commit to providing increasingly valuable content to this community (and all communities which you may choose to contribute to).
Go put this wisdom into action - writing content that is infused with the 5 ingredient values - and then come back and give your thanks - along with proof (a link to your writing) that you're serious enough about your gratitude to pay it forward and pass along a similar sort of inspiration to others that adds value to their lives.
As the very least, your action will have been an inspiration to me - and well-worth a vote. :-)
#steemit #steemit-help #steemitsuccess #steemit-success #steemitrockstars #steemit-rockstars #steemitrockstar #steemit-rockstar #steemit-tips #steemittips #steemitsuccesstips #steemit-success-tips #succeedonsteemit #succeed-on-steemit #howtosucceedonsteemit #how-to-succeed-on-steemit #value #value-formula #value-psychology #steemit-value #success-formula
Completely agree with everything you said here. And it doesn't stop with steem social media! Any community will survive or fail due to the value it produces, and that value is always determined by the individual and collective efforts of the community.
Value can show up here in so many ways. It's not always a new post - I've found value in comments and especially resteems (which is how I found you!), and some of the folks who resteem value aren't who we might consider "Creatives". But they add value to the whole by recognizing value and spreading it.
Well, it's your post and I'll end my opus here. I mainly wanted to thank you for the work you're putting into the community. Went off on a rant lol.
YES. Well-stated.
Your welcome, and your feedback is appreciated. 🙏
Very nice advise you provide there, thank you very much!
You left out a very important part...
https://steemit.com/curation/@steemed/im-a-steem-whale-looking-for-writers
Very useful article. Thanks, it was interesting to learn something new.
I will try to follow your advice. However, there is still an element of randomness and luck. So much content is being posted. Whales don't keep up with everything. Odds are, they will never notice your greatest post.
Great post, should be more of this exelent work.
Alot of time to make so great post i think.
Hope for more simular great reading from you, keep up the good work mate :)
Upvote from mee
This is a great post, but does anybody else find it slightly ridiculous how many of the top posts in trending are related to Steemit itself? How many topics on Reddit are directly related to reddit and getting this much love?
there is valid reason for this...
(and do bear in mind that the highest-rewarded post so far at over $26k was a makeup tutorial. the story about Beyonce order 150 burritos also got like $8k. neither Steemit-related).
we are building the Steemit community right now.
there's alot of newbies coming onto the site, who need guidance, direction, and assistance in shortening their learning curves.
many of the top-rewarded Steemit posts aren't just hype - they're contributing to users' understanding of the dynamics of this system, the foundational philosophies and culture codes, and the skill sets, attitudes, and social protocols required to be successful on Steemit.
in essence, alot of the well-rewarded Steemit posts are like training & support material - serving to get newbies up-to-speed so they can more smoothly, quickly, and easily adapt to how the cyberspace works and become more valuable contributors to the community.
the more value generated within the community, the farther this project can go. as such, there's great value in content that can serve users to learn how to navigate this platform successfully - as it's their success that grows Steemit's sustainability.
and by getting hung up on the word "Steemit" in the title - you may have missed the entire point of the article. it's not about Steemit. it's about creating VALUABLE CONTENT.
the principles outlined above are equally as applicable for ANY sort of content, be it writing or podcasts or YouTube videos - posted on a blog, Facebook, Medium, or published in a newspaper or magazine.
I've tailored it towards Steemit because I have a great interest in seeing Steemit succeed. And for Steemit to succeed, it needs to be abundant in high-quality, highly valuable content. the better content people create, the better the entire community will do. I COULD have left any mention of Steemit out of the titles or body and focused it just on creating valuable content - but the dots need to be connected for some newbies to paint a picture of the path forward to both their success on this platform, and consequently for the platform/community itself...
so yea, it gets a bit tedious participating in the #circlejerk and writing alot about Steemit, but there's value to be generated on this topic for those who can help accelerate others' success here - which benefits everyone involved.
and the beauty is, we're still free to write about anything else too, which I do. it's all about balance...
This! We're talking about Steemit so much because we're in the process of learning so much. Everything I didn't quite grasp from the white paper has been answered by a Steemian article about said topic.
Yes!
Upvoted for the clarity this brings to the matter. Thank you for sharing this short, golden nugget 👌
I think we could also see this trend changing over time too. Sure talking about Steemit is what is hitting big bucks now but in a few years, re-pasting the same content over and over may not generate the same income. I think this says a lot about originality in writing. The ones who are only here to game the crypto currency system are going to be weeded out through good curation sooner or later. I am starting to get tired of reading the same old thing... How I made 100 Billion Dollars on Steem it in 10 mins.... or I am quitting my job to become funded by Steamit here is how I did it... THese articles, this one included are eventually going to fall aside once folks start to catch on and get bored with the same old stuff. RIght?
Hey, I am unable to use more then 5 hashtags. How are you able to use so many??
that was a long time ago. used to be able to use more. now only 5.
I have been doing exactly all that you have advised. But unfortunately, the Steem gods have still not shown any love. HEHE!
Just keep on doing your best !
yeah...we mustn't lose heart! :)
Ha I am already cloning my heart 💕💕
Lol!!
Not read a ton of articles that really present helpful well written advice on what to expect from your own work before putting it to the public. Second posting I've bookmarked for my return home (vacation with brother) when I will take time and seriously put focus on my effort to contribute with quality
:-)
Just found you today and been reading your posts, which are pretty captivating. Thanks for sharing your insight, and reposting since the first one got messed up. I didn't see the first one, so I'm glad I caught it the second time around. This is obvs an upvote ;)
your welcome, and thank you for the feedback :-)
I read the last time and now again ! Thanks Rok ! I am learning so much !
We all have to find our own personal style and OUR ways ...first of all to show who WE ARE .
I just posted again and its fun , not sure if its considered as spam to put a link here . I guess not so good . any thoughts on this would be welcome . I have no idea who I follow and how I find people I do follow . Its kind of a messy I think. But i found out I have already a little steem power . no idea where it came from .
Steem Power - partially from rewards on your posts, partially from voting, and a few bucks from when you first signed up...
I am quite active so far :) nite nite and give me some love and feedback at some point . coming weekend might work
Nice post but I still feel like whales, or newcomers who are friends of whales, have a big advantage. I have been following the travel category for the last few days and some posts are so good but get so little votes and get lost in 2 hours. Others only show three average pictures and go trending. It is a bit frustating.
there's method in the madness. sometimes there's randomness. but in the end, there are predictable factors at play that determine what catches & what doesn't. sometimes it is a matter of luck. but if the value is there and people are persistent to keep on through any discouragement, sooner or later, they may get their winner...
Be patient and keep on writing valuable content ! Trust in miracles !
You know, I don't feel mad for not being noticed much, I just love the fact I can contribute with good content, having a space of my own, the rewards are just a plus.
Great post! Learned a few useful things from it. Check my new post too to see who can benefit from using Steemit - https://steemit.com/steemit/@scrachit/what-can-steemit-bring-to-content-creators-writers-journalists-artists-photographers-and-all-of-us
I wrote a post on whats makes a steemit post successful based on analysis of the most successful blog posts so far on Steemit. You should take a look, and let me know if you also agree .... https://steemit.com/steemit/@averagejoe/dear-steemit-how-do-you-make-something-go-viral
I checked out your post and left a comment.
I also would have left a downvote, seeing that you outright copied & pasted all my tags from the bottom of this post - or had saw my other story on tagging and copied the ones from there. (you haven't been around on the site long enough that you would have seen the original of this post and copied from there, since its now inaccessible on the front end - but it's still there on the blockchain, so if it ever came down to a matter of proving plagiarism, there'd be concrete evidence. this may not be a HUGE matter with tags - but it IS if you try pull the same off with other people's posts - and I would not be surprised if you copied chunks of your story from other users as well.
a big thumbs DOWN for originality value. however, the downvote couldn't happen because it seems my account doesn't have the option to downvote posts anymore.
a tip = DON'T copy chunks of other people's content.
not a great first impression to make here, Suresh. :-(
Wow I was wondering how this post earned so much money in 24 minutes and it is because someone has 792,000 in Steem Power is that one of the founders or what?
not sure who it was, but there's probably at least a couple whales who threw down to get it up so fast...
Collect steempower and become a shark ! 🐬
Great advice! I would like to add that timing of your posts is also very important. You need to post at a time when people are online. Otherwise, no matter how good your post is, if it gets lost when most users wake up, you won't be rewarded.
yep. i didn't touch on that as that deals more with posting STRATEGY, whereas this is just focused on the value of the posts themselves. but absolutely. if posting stuff while everybody's asleep, it's gonna get buried quick...
Soon the whole world will be involved and it will not matter much anymore . I personally post when it's done and I was not so lucky to be seen . I don't think too much about such factors . I just go when I have the feeling to go 😝
so you are our teacher now??!! :D:D
I might have gained a few insights along my journey that others find valuable, and readers will take what they will from my sharing. I don't view myself as a teacher - much more like a student, rather - constantly learning...
He is mine ! For sure !
Wow! Added to my favorite posts list.
Thank you for the advices, but i think at moment is to get whales friends
I'm searching for as much advice I can get with Steemit, I haven't a clue how to add pictures spent ages searching for advice to help. Seems you know what your doing so any advice you may have for a newbie would go down really well.
I curated this list a while ago that'd recommend checking out and reading the linked material:
The Top 10 MUST-Read Posts To Supercharge Your Steemit Experience
Regarding pictures... You need to host them on an external site - I use www.postimage.org
Upload there - the 320 for websites size, unless you want smaller for thumbnails - and then once it uploads, copy the "Direct Link" and paste directly into your posts. Easy-peasy. :-)
Thank you for this i really appreciate your help
Excellent post! I actually found out about this one from your post on tags, and took the time to find the new link because your writing is so on point to what I've been searching for. I have a few posts that I feel I've implemented some of your ideas, but now I have a direction to include more in my thought process of writing. Thank you! Upvotes from me on both posts :)
This is really interesting about values, because what we value and hold dear to us can be very different for us all, hence the level of variety on this and most platforms. Your use of the Chinese 5 Elements is definitely something I would like you to write more about because it's something I use in my own work and I think it's more than relevant. I would love to see a perspective of the 5 Elements given to not only the platform but also it's relevance in writing articles. Thanks
I'll come back to share the post with you once it's completed. taking some time, and backed up with a whole bunch of other articles too - but REALLY cool stuff...
alot of my insight has come from immersing myself in Roger Hamilton's Wealth Dynamics for the last decade, which is all based in eastern philosophy and the wisdom of the I Ching & elements. it's a different outlook on value altogether (though they might also link into the 5 as well), though he's often broken down value into 6 types:
Yes I'm familiar with Roger Hamiltons work and his book, so that will be interesting.
Quite a powerful post. I think that that steemit enables a shared interest of community - whatever the story. Thanks for the breakdown!
Really a great read for those just joining the platform like me, it gives me more inspiration and I cant wait to put everything into action.I have million ideas already how I can add value to this community, and of course it might not be valuable to everyone but Im willing to give this a go! Do you mind if I include you in the post? :) Alla
Thanks, insightful & useful information. Most interested in the correlation between the five types of value and the five Chinese elements, always love that sort of info. And since we're writing and learning, naturally these archetypes when focused will allow much richer creative output.
Thank you for the post, @rok-sivante . I do like your writing and read it a lot. I tried to make by best in adopting recommendations you stated in this post and as you've advised am leaving here a link to my new post. I would consider it a great honour if you leave me some feedback on it.
Here it is: https://steemit.com/psychology/@aleksandraz/how-to-identify-envy-get-rid-of-it-and-why-it-is-important
Thanks!
Thank you for your advice, basing my posts on value is a great way to view the content i curage. I look forward to seeing where this learning curve takes me.
Hi, @rok-sivante , I just came across this post and also this one and I found them very helpful, do you mind if I translate them into spanish for the hispanic community.
sure.
feel free to go through my history of posts and translate whichever you feel would be valuable to the hispanic community.
if you're going to translate quite a few, and end up earning some good rewards from them, splitting some of those rewards and sending over some of the SBD from them would be appreciated.
though if just a couple and not that many rewards, don't worry about it...
very helpful information anyone new to steemit should def check this out alot of valuable information
lol. nice one. :-)
lol. nice one. :-)