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It's been over a month since I joined Steemit and I wanted to write down my impressions and feedback. My name is Priscilla Hernandez, singer, composer and illustrator. I am still learning about Steem but I have now a better idea and there are things I would have done differently, and things I think I have been doing right. Still this is not an advice but my personal experience on this new platform. After this while I have a positive impression but I will do likely another recap some time from now. So far, starting to be aware that this could be a way to fund my art.
So a few days ago I got the the dreadful email from youtube that my channel is no longer a partner because I did not reach 4k hours played they demanded out of the blue. It did not affect me now the way I thought it would be... why?
Some doors close, others open. How I found about Steemit
I confess it, I made a mistake, after a while rather inactive, last September I started to upload content again regularly to my youtube channel. I invested a great effort to build up and it was just taking off again(had lots of plans) when I received a notice of their decision to halt partnership with small channels. I am not ranting about it, not complaining either of changing algorithms in other networks, after all they are companies and those are "their" websites. Their sites, their rules, fair enough!. They remain as platforms where I can showcase my work but I should have known better especially when I've seen already sites like mp3.com and myspace rise and fall. It feels frustrating though, to invest time to build a following and then find out it's pretty much useless because of the lack of reach, change of rules and algorithms, but worst even (and this really did upset me) when they try to mask it as encouragement to content creators to create "more content, longer, better, often" without any reward so maybe one day we can reach an status where we can be considered "worth" as partners again. It's not that I was making money of it, most of my music is managed by a third party and id tracks to me still, but the disregard of a long lasting partnership is also a way to make us feel undervalued. Our contents also provide those sites value and they should be taken into account, no matter how "big or small" you are. I don't speak for others, but It made me feel frustrated and I still believe their decision is wrong and unfair. I hope they realize and I am not abandoning neither youtube (more than a decade active there) nor my external networks where I still have my following, also out of respect to my followers there, but I felt the urge to **work again for myself *, rescue my official website and find alternatives... . * One door closes, another one opens... thus on the bright side, this situation led to the discovery of STEEM block-chain.
How I ended up here
My partner @hedac first knew of it and talked enthusiastically about it during our breakfasts, lunch, hikes... LOL I buffed, and said... another site? I do not have the time! So he pat my back and just told me soon "trust me, you'll understand, you just do what you do best, which is sharing your work and connecting with people".
So I was ABSOLUTELY clueless about the block-chain and crypto currencies... He added what I thought then super menacing and it stays forever and I panicked, lots of doubts assaulted me, what if I want to delete something in the future? what if someone post something that is mine? What if someone trolls you? He reassured me. It self regulates, if people does that they lose reputation don't worry, don't fear, the block chains are the future. So I was still beset by concern but we both applied for the account and it took a good week before being approved.
Looking back in time (one month, still a newbie) I would have done two things differently already:
Try to draft your first posts while you wait for approval. Read the rules, the FAQs, surf around... I missed that precious time to know how this all worked better. It took me another week to make my first post, so the first out of this month four weeks I was "inactive".
Starting to post consistently on Steemit
I first joined @steepshot and made a shy "hey there". It echoed on silent halls lol but I did not get discouraged, how could be any other way? I had zero followers ;-)! By the way I like steepshot and I like to visit my steepshot gallery now and see how it builds up now :). So below you can see the "Hello" picture that was my first post (yes, nerdy, musician, naturelover here)
Above: My first ever post "Is any one there?"
Then I made my introduction post... Another thing I would do differently now, honestly, I would have hold it until a few posts after starting to write. But in that first introduction I started to feel the first signs of warmth and also made my first steemian friends :). Some have encouraged me since (thank you! they know who they are :)) So I started to get to know people and started to surf around. Lots of reading, lots and lots!.
Thanks @alexpmorris for the welcome and support and guidance sending me homework to study when I joined.
I found unexpected features from groups supporting minnows like
- @ocd
- @minnowsupport http://minnowsupportproject.org/
- @officialfuzzy http://whaleshares.net/
- @curie http://curiesteem.com/
Thank you so much for helping me to start my journey here. ❤️
So a little list with my own conclusions
So as a recap list of things I believe I have done right, which does not mean it is what you should do but what I've experienced. I am STILL a newbie around and I don't pretend to be a "know-it-all", far from it, still lots of learning ahead so this is something I told to MYSELF that is working for me. In no way it is a set of guidelines, just my self-reminders.
Be humble, you have just landed! :) And yes you are just a minnow in a vast ocean. Don't get overwhelmed.
Read as many articles written for newbies as you can. Learn the rules, what you have to do and more especially what you should not do. Good behavior will increase your newbie reputation in no time.
Check the DISCORD channels Steemians have created so you can start to network with others but also have a helping hand if you need. They are like little gatherings, pick the one that is suitable for your art, photography, visual artists, musicians. Find your "family" according with what you do.
Post consistently and things that are meaningful and representative of your work. Don't rush it. If you scroll back your feed make it something that stands out or at least that represents what you want to share here (in my case, music, art and photography). Don't over post or abuse the system out of greediness. Plot your work and share accordingly. Desperation shows. Be honest with yourself.
Follow other users that make things you like (and understand) so you can provide meaningful feedback and support. You want to build a real audience and community... give and you shall receive, and being practical I think this is the only way I could do it. Be honest with others. I particularly like to support minnows like me, even if my upvote is just symbolic I hope it's encouraging.
Until you have some steem power on your account check regularly your voting power and bandwidth. Power up your first earnings and avoid "high traffic hours". I want to mention here that when I found I had run it out (twice) some generous fellow Steemians delegated me power to cope with these transient moments where you are unable to post, another example of generosity I've found here.
Be patient! This was a tough one... You have spent a long time on an article that made zero or a few cents... Don't get discouraged, it happens to everybody. It can't be helped, but remember after that week has passed your feed stays and will always represent the quality of your work. Your post does not "expire", it still has a meaning and a purpose and its quality is not necessarily measured by the amount of rewards it got which leads to the next point.
Forget about the numbers when you start... Forget the number of followers, you want to build a real audience, a few significant followers really liking what you do can make a difference. Forget about the rewards your post makes, some posts make little but they have many upvotes or feedback, be grateful for them.
It's easy to be carried away...remember you are a creator of content. Networking is a pivotal part of this community but do not neglect your role as creator. Try to make your posts worth the time to be read/listened/watched
Enjoy the experience, it's free to try new things if you have the will to do it! :) and It could become a way to fund your work in the future.
DLive is fun
As a musician @Dlive was a discovery! :) I have been a musician for two decades now, and when I lived in a big city I used to do concerts with a full band. Recently I moved to a smaller place, closer to Nature, but also makes performances less frequent and I love to connect with public. I am broadcasting live regularly, and I am making great plans for future broadcasts... I'm even considering to buy a "smoke machine" now ;) I want to show more instruments and also have ideas to broadcasting while I am working on my paintings too !! DLive is so great!
Go here to watch the replay of my latest broadcast! : https://www.dlive.io/#/video/yidneth/26b20a4c-199c-11e8-a852-0242ac110002
There are tools like DLivelabs that will help you to include the chat, vote alerts and more... And just two words: friendly, fun! Thank you!
What's up next?
Well I have already tried Steepshot, DTube and DLive and will still make them work to interact with my main Steemit account. I have still to try DSound. So far I'm only sharing my original songs here, covers are still deep-linked from youtube as they have agreements with the writers to pay them when being covered. I believe that some issues like "copyright" have still some blank holes and I've always been cautious and respectful about these things. But I'm pretty sure these issues will be fixed on these platforms in due time and I have plenty of my own original work to share here. So I add this also as remaining concern trusting it will be reviewed over time.
I want to post more on DTube though I'm not ready still to post daily, and making this video somehow still makes me shy to just speak in front of a camera. But expect music, songs, live recordings, and yes, just like today, sometimes my opinion about things.
I want to share more of my art as illustrator too, and maybe create tutorials. Thinking about things I can also SHARE that might be useful for others besides my own work.
I'm also determined to participate in the #openmic contest for artists. I heard of it right at the beginning but I've still not managed to enter the contest myself. It looks like a good way to connect with other musicians and it looks like an encouraging and fun activity.
Everyone is welcome to post their feedback in their comments. I am nothing but a newbie and these are my "impressions". I would be interested in knowing yours too.
There is a "motif" that often appears in my song lyrics. Go through the Long Way, no shortcuts are safe. :). In fact the background music of the video above is my song "Through the Long way" from my album The Underliving.
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS
singer-songwriter & illustrator
http://yidneth.com
Wow nice!!!
I like what you're doing. My upvote is not wort alot but I upvote most of your posts. If u need help or have questions ask in whaleshares discord channel.
J
Thank you, if you read the article you will see I highlight an upvote is always encouraging and should not be measured by a number. Also feedback with no upvote. Really grateful. I am already at discord. I join sometimes only, when I have the time :)
I just klicked on your Video where you are singing Duett - sounds wo n d e r f u l l !!
Now i`m a fan !
Greetings from Germany !
Michael
Aw that is sweet, that one is really an acoustic simple version of the song. My fully produced songs and videoclips are still on youtube as I did not want to suddenly reupload all the old materials, some of them too will find their way here. But encouraged also to make new ones soon. I love filming videoclips too, it´s all part of a fantasy music/illustration/photography film project. Thanks for your encouragement. I see you compose too, bookmarked to spin some listens later on :)
Thank you so much for sharing your experience—I’m also an illustrator and graphic designer (and newly aspiring session singer haha) and I’ve been slow to start making regular posts on Steemit for the same reasons you were hesitant to get yourself on Steemit in the first place. I have so many unused networks/accounts where I had planned to share, or I stopped because I lost steam (no pun intended) and haven’t posted in ages.
I agree with you about YouTube’s changes—I’ve only ever posted one or two videos there, but I can’t imagine as a longtime content creator like yourself, how demoralizing it is to put in all the work and then the rules change and you have to figure something else out. To be honest that is my fear with putting more effort into connecting more and creating more content on Steem.
But seeing your experience gives me hope, and it’s also a reminder that no matter what rules change, it doesn’t change the fact that we all have something to share—and while making money off of what we create is nice, the connections made with other artists and the inspiration gained from reading and watching videos of high-vibe people (or even better, getting to meet and create something together), are priceless.
We also can have the control of our official sites too. One mistake, I don't know if I made it clear, was that as I was devoted to networks I neglected my own official website. So in all honestly mine is now a bit outdated, but I'm updated slowly and will try to make it work in synergy with steemit as soon as possible. So if I want to make an article now I have that "double motivation" that I'm doing it also for "myself". Of course I don´t to them exactly the same, and there is a lot of exclusive content here too but it motivates me. I am not complaining about the networks because as I say, their sites, their rules. They are companies, it's natural they do, but this harsh, quick way to disregard us (despite our long term commitment) was a bad move. I don't know if they will change their mind, but I think they will pay in reputation for this unfair decision. I hope they reconsider, but I will NOT consider these pages my ONLY options, they never were. I am a "creator" and I will be happy to share. So taking this as a new afresh start to a different community I had not connected with before, and encouragement also to keep on doing things :) Also I found, surprisingly that despite my initial fear, and MAYBE because everything stays in the block chain people tend to think twice what they write. And that is good. :) I will be checking later, what kind of art do you make? I do fantasy... talking about undervalued genres LOL :)
I do agree, YouTube's decision is not going to make them popular with creators...we will see what will happen! I can't really pick one thing I like to do, what I've shared mostly online are my paintings (mostly gouache animals and some food and musicians hehe, you can see them at @berrythiefstudios on Instagram), but I also cook a lot and share that, and I'm getting into music again, so...I'm just interested in creating and sharing it (even when I don't really feel like it) and seeing where it goes/takes me! I spend a lot of time planning/thinking about what would make something perfect to put online, and then nothing happens. It's just better to just create it and share it without overthinking.
I've been here about as long as you have - your observations match pretty well with my experiences too - including what you said about your intro post and preparing posts while you wait. Glad you are finding you way. Hopefully I will too! I've figured out a few things, and posted a Dtube video yesterday for the first time- I felt so skilled! ;-) Keep up the good work!
Great roundup @yidneth, Agreed on the intro post or you can even hold on a few weeks while you are active get to know some folks. I made a mistake on my introduce yourself post as I did it in a hurry. I used a blog post from my own website, I clearly stated that it was from my site so no issue there. The issue with it was that it only shows one side of me, it only showed my passion for Veganism and the utter disdain I have for animal industries.
Now nearly 60 days in I intend on doing another introduce yourself post, one that encapsulates everything about me. So glad that you joined the group on discord too, It is great to meet so many like minded people.
Take care and keep on being you. Also following you too for more like this.
I am impressed by your art and am sure you will be able to make a living of your art. What I've seen in the past 2 months that even though the start might be slow - real talent and great content gets discovered eventually and in hindsight all the hours you've put in it will have been worth it <3
I'm glad you found your way to Steemit after the backstabbers of Youtube basically took away the worth of your account!
Good luck!
Thanks so much for the encouraging comment. I cannot complaint I did live from it quite a while, now circumstances may change and we accept them, now the goals are humble, get better gear and release two illustrated musical projects. As long as it funds itself eventually I would be happy if the physical release is possible. Not in a hurry, and either way I al ready happy new people is discovering my work.
Thank you for your, not only informative, but inspiring post. It's given me some motivation and direction as a fellow Minnow and I really do hope you find you following here on Steemit, Dlive and Dtube. I'll stop by tomorrow and give a listen to some of your music :P
I am really honored you found it useful... I'm a mere newbie so these are in now way a set of guidelines but some times I found useful on my journey, if they help others too then the post is worth :) Thanks for reading, and well for intending to check my music. If you look online you have to look it up as "Priscilla Hernandez" I have two released albums and a few singles out. :) Blessings!
It's not too hard to see why people want to support you Yidneth, you are kind and talented, what is missing in order to appreciate you? nothing... I'm sure the future for you on this platform is very bright, and in no time you are going to eventually forsake the other social media platforms, it happened to all of us.
@hedac gets all the ninja points for being so persistent and convincing you to join!!!
Much love and success to you both!!
Aww you are way too sweet. Blush! I am trying to keep up and I am encouraged and just wanted to share my impresions as newcomer. Next week I will follow my own advice and will set timetables to organise and finish pending things and recordings. It is all new and it is easy to be carried away, it's fun! But I must also create!. I have been already neglecting the external network too lol do I can see that happening haha. Thanks for your support and encouragement ❤️
I will tell @hedac he does really deserve the recognition. Haha!
interesting experience :)
Well, this has been it so far. I will do it again some months from now
thanks for the shoutout Priscilla, sounds like you're really "getting you're groove on" around here, especially given all the great tips you shared in your post!
As for YouTube, while it's still a great tool for streaming unmonetized high-quality videos, relying on them for anything more will only leave you sorely disappointed (as we also learned ourselves long ago).
I'm just thrilled that you've now discovered these new "avenues" for gaining more appreciation and recognition for all your magically dreamy artwork. :)
Still so many things to do and learn. I go at my pace but hopefully learning. I try to! Once more thanks for your welcome and encouragement.
Oh, Priscilla.. the YouTube betrayal is just terrible. When Google bought them out and made it so that you had to use a google account to even own a channel I had to get a gmail address, and when I did that, somehow my channel got entirely deleted, all my videos, all the comments from so many years.. it broke my heart. I can't get some of those videos back, ever, because they were erased from my computer when it crashed. Yes, and now I'm told that I can't monetize videos until I get back up to 1,000 subscribers I think, or a certain number of views. Not sure.. I am SO happy to find steemit! And this article you have written is AMAZING and SO helpful! I have some posts I wish so badly that I could delete. In the beginning I didn't realize that you can never delete anything. I have to be very careful what I say when Im in a depressed mood, because I tend to forget to filter my thoughts, and then before I know it, I've made myself sound like an idiot or a psychopath, and now it will not be erasable. Dangerous territory! LOL.
I think this is the PERFECT platform for you. You're going to continue to do so well! Thank you for creating this user guide, and it explained about the bandwidth, too.. as I've been having a real problem with that. Today especially! I was locked out for most of the morning. I feel like I can't comment and upvote posts I like very often without running out of bandwidth. That is the one big thing I don't like about things here.
Anyway, THANK YOU! :) Lots of love! ♥♥♥♥
The "it stays forever" part scares me a bit too. On the other hand it makes people think twice and that I like. Do not worry, build from there. We all cope with struggle, it is human nature. You know how to convey sadness into beautiful melancholic poems and songs. Use your gift. I am glad you found it useful ❤️ if only for that it is worth to have written it. But remember these are no guidelines but my experience, I am a newbie still, still hope they find it useful. ❤️🌱
By the way that was really bad youtube deleted your channel and you had to rebuilt. In my case I do have the plays and I do have the subscribers but I didn't reach the streamed time requested, my videos are usually short, so that would be one million plays or so :/ the last year, and I had only resumed activity last September, so having been done so "out of the blue" I didn't have to react. I won't abandon the external networks abut I ended up here and I like the way networking is done, like in the old times, remember? wishing you all the best, glad to reconnect with you here.
A lot of artists on here asking that question, me included. We see people on this platform making money everyday, if it's possible for them it may be possible for us :)
Maybe they have been longer, maybe they network better... But likely most of them them started like us. I am not taking it as a goal but as an additional reward. At least for now I do not wish to feel that pressure. I will keep on creating just like I did before Steemit but being aware this could help in a really significant way. Best of lucks!
During this time you have charmed my ears, and each day your voice is more beautiful. Never stop singing and appreciate that immense gift that God gave you.
Thank you, I will not stop singing, it makes me happy and it´s a way to connect with my thoughts and dreams. When it reaches other´s hearts is also beautiful.
Awesome @yidneth! Steemit/dtude/dlive are empowering so many people to pursue their passions!
I agree, I havent been on Dlive yet but I'm loving doing vlogs on Dtube :)
Keep it up, I am rooting for you!
Aww thanks for watching/reading. Dlive is rather fun. I was intending to do a Dtubedaily but I don't think I can manage it until I find a less hectic time :) but I'll try to upload more things there. And thanks for the encouragement, I'll try ! :)
Love your music! Would love art tutiorals. Looking forward to that! Upvoted :)
nice cant wait to check more of your stuff i added you
So nice to meet you. So glad that you have joined and you seem so sweet :) i'm looking forward to watching your journey i just joined about 4 days ago too and i absolutely love this platform already! looks like you have done so well in your first month that's so awesome :)
Oh my! Four days and 51 reputation? You are doing great and need no tips lol! I remember your introduction, must stop by to check more. All the best from Spain. ❤️🎙️🎼