First, a confession: I suffer from pretty intense ADD, with a healthy dose of OCD and debilitating perfectionism sprinkled on top of everything . Either my attention is fragmented between a million things at once, or it is razor-sharp in its singular fixation on just one. I need to understand how things work – how various elements fit together in organized patterns. In everything I do, I aim for perfection – often spending far too much time on things. (This post – which took several days to finish – is a perfect example of that!)
And so I joined Steemit.
I did so at my partner's urging, without having explored this place on my own. He'd been mentioning it for a while, occasionally showing me posts worth upwards of $1k. To both our eyes, a lot of what we were seeing didn't appear to be very well curated. So much of it looked hastily drafted, supported by unremarkable snapshots and stock imagery. He insisted that, if such posts were any indication, my original content, in its various forms, would surely do well.
Usually one to undervalue my own work, this time – I actually agreed with him.
I was pretty reluctant to join yet another social network, but – once I finally relented – I plunged in headfirst.
I didn't even bother to look around first, drafting my intro post within the first few hours, before I had any idea what I was doing. As people began engaging with that post, I felt genuinely excited and inspired. Something about it reminded me of Friendster in its earliest days.
I began imagining all the meaningful ways I might contribute, and I had a lot of questions about what that would look like. Wanting to do things right and hoping to avoid known pitfalls, I spent the week researching voraciously, connecting with other Steemians, entering @juliank's awesome photo contests and, naturally, making a whole bunch of newbie mistakes.
A lot of articles I found were written by experienced Steemians, using lingo and terminology that were entirely foreign to me. Each unfamiliar term sent me further down the rabbit-hole as I grasped at understanding how it all works. I ingested waaay too much too quickly, resulting in a bonafide Steemit hangover.
I figure the best medicine for such an ailment is a little hair-of-the-dog – a big ole' swig, followed by a Steemit purge, if you will – in (hopefully) easy to understand language.
Perhaps these reflections will spare someone else a headache or two.
Steemit is built using blockchain technology. Once information is entered, it cannot be altered. Read that last part again – it's pretty important.
For example (only relevant to those who've yet to join) – when choosing a username, be sure you're happy with it. Check for typos before submitting your application. During final account validation, you'll have one last chance to change or correct your username.
Once you're past that stage, your username cannot be changed. I repeat – double check for typos – or you may end up like me. In my haste, I switched the 'L' and the 'Y', just enough of a difference to mangle my name but not enough to catch my eye until several hours after I'd made my introductory post. Ouch.
Now I'll forever be zipplyo rather than my intended zippylo – a fact that challenges my precision-oriented brain. Though it pains me, I'm choosing to see it as an ever-present reminder of my own infallibility – the 'wabi-sabi' imperfection of my every post, comment, reply and upvote.
You've landed in a whole new dimension, kiddo. Things are different 'round here. 'Likes' and 'Upvotes' are not the same thing.
I know – it's hard to resist pressing that button each and every time you appreciate something. Don't do it. Your voting power is limited. Meaning – each vote costs you. Especially as a new user, you have no control over how much. If you're not paying attention, it's pretty easy to drain, greatly reducing the weight (value) of your vote, meaning diminished rewards.
Voting weight is also determined by capital (SP), so – unless you're lucky enough to be starting out with STEEM you've bought yourself – your voting weight is already decidedly low. Voting power regenerates 20% per day, so – until you've padded your wallet (and even then), ensuring your VP doesn't dip below 80% is advised.
Not to discourage you from voting – only to warn against overdoing so. Be discerning, so – when you do upvote – the author knows they truly earned it. Make it count – don't waste your voting power on brief, superficial comments or replies – save it for those who offer thoughtful, relevant words.
Likewise, 'resteeming' shouldn't be treated the same as 'retweeting' or 'sharing'. Doing so uses bandwidth, which –surprise, surprise – is not unlimited.
To monitor your levels, check https://steemd.com/@username (replace 'username' with yours) • side note: 'resteeming can also be done without posting to your own blog – simply replace 'https://' with 're' (before 'steemit') in the post's url.
Instead of upvoting as a means of passive acknowledgement, take a moment to offer your honest response in the form of a comment, and try to reply to those who sincerely comment on your posts. You may be surprised how engaging the resulting threads may be. I've found this to be one of the most satisfying aspects of my Steemit experience thus far.
Considering that rewards can also be earned for commenting/replying, think of it as investing. Just as you'd be wise about managing a stock portfolio – if you're smart about it – your contributions here might pay handsome dividends.
That said, be aware that everything you do requires bandwidth. As such, you can't simply comment on every interesting post without exhausting your allowance. While I can't yet claim to understand precisely how that works, I believe your daily (or weekly) allotment has something to do with how much space is available on a given block, as well as the present value of your SP.
Just as discernment is necessary when choosing whom and what to upvote, here, too – when you feel genuinely compelled to respond – you'll be wise to offer more than a casual word or two. Of course, sometimes a brief reply is warranted – just keep an eye on your bandwidth levels so you don't find yourself frustratingly 'locked out'.
Also – be aware that your delegated SP (the # that appears in parentheses in your wallet) will fluctuate, for reasons you won't be able to ascertain. A few days ago, mine dropped from 28 to 15, and my bandwidth allowance shrank significantly from 36mb to 195kb.
Perhaps Steemit reduced the amount they 'loan' you upon account activation – I'll never know – but it sure took the wind outta my sails.
Firstly, if you haven't done your homework regarding how to format your posts – stop procrastinating and do it now. This comprehensive article by @ethandsmith is a great place to start. As well, @sumatranate has generously created a free markdown course that I cannot recommend highly enough. Though focused primarily on markdown, he also includes some basic html – all in a streamlined, easy to follow format.
So – you've drafted your post with carefully chosen words, awesomely supportive imagery and clean markdown styling. Before you press that oh-so-exciting 'post' button, be sure you've proof-read and corrected any typos and, most importantly, that you're sure you want this to become a permanent part of the blockchain.
Once you've made a post – you cannot delete it. While you can edit after publishing, doing so eats up bandwidth. Same goes for editing previously published comments. I'm unclear as to why comments can be deleted, but it is possible.
Another crucial factor is how you tag your posts. Be aware – the first tag you enter will become your post's primary category. Once you've published, you cannot modify that first tag, so choose wisely!
You may also do well to peruse the trending feed in search of posts related to your own content. Check out the tags they've added, as well as (for recently added posts) what time they were published. Try to publish during high-visibility hours.
Aside from potential earnings for authoring popular posts, you'll also be rewarded for curation. This means you'll earn through upvoting, especially if you time it right and the post does well.
A post's value is split between authors and curators – 75% for the author and 25% split between the author and curators. Just how much goes to whom, percentage-wise, is almost entirely determined by what happens in the 30 minutes immediately following the post's publication. The way that all works out is a whole lot to wrap one's head around, much less explain, but @stephcurry does a pretty good job of it.
Also worth noting – you've got just one week to charm your fellow Steemians into supporting each post. Once you've received a payout for it on day 7, it'll no longer earn rewards. As such, those first few days are crucial – if your post doesn't gain good traction within the first day or two, it'll quickly be buried, becoming less and less likely to be seen.
While it's pretty tacky to go around asking for votes, there are ways to respectfully share your content. Check Discord for relevant channels, as well as Steemit.Chat – most have dedicated spaces for sharing links.
It's up to you how you'll self-promote, but – however you do it – don't squander those first 48 hours.
On Steemit, it seems there's a bot for just about everything. Some are free – Some will cost you.
Upvote Bots – the higher the bot's voting weight, the more valuable their upvote. There appears to be no limit on how many bots one can hire to give you a boost. If you can afford to purchase their support, go for it!
Autovote – set up automatic voting for your favorite/popular authors (timed right to maximize curation rewards)
Cheetah Bot – cleverly named, forever on the hunt for plagiarized material, prowling the internet, matching content found here with content found elsewhere. Even if you cut & paste your own, previously published original material – cheetah bot will find it and kindly comment on your post with a link to the original source.
Original Works – type @OriginalWorks as a comment on your own post to trigger an upvote and comment.
As this comprehensive list clearly shows – I've barely scratched the surface of what's bot-sible on Steemit.
Perhaps, like myself, you're weary of the endless competition for 'likes' and 'followers' – discouraged by the sense that everything you post on social media is somehow suppressed and increasingly invisible.
You're drawn to Steemit by the idea of incentivized sharing – lured by the possibility of being rewarded for your efforts – charmed by the notion of being seen and acknowledged in a measurable, potentially lucrative way.
You've seen the high-earning posts and thought – 'I can toootally do that! Look at all this high quality, original content I've got – all these interesting ideas I have to share! If all these other guys can do it, I can do it – I'm gonna make a killing!
Hate to break it to ya, but – if that's your primary reason for being here – you're likely to be quite disappointed.
The truth is, it's still a popularity contest. In some ways, one that's even more stacked against you than the platforms you're fleeing.
It's not nearly so simple as posting quality content and getting paid for it. It's more like playing the lotto, hoping each post might be a winning ticket.
Trouble is, there are a whoooole lotta bigger players out there with a lot more buying power than you. Unless your post happens to catch the attention of a heavy hitter within the first half hour (if ever), your chances of earning much are incredibly slim.
As an author, not only are you attempting to stand out amongst thousands of other newbs, you're also competing with folks who've been here since the Steemit 'Big Bang' – with strong followings, fat ass wallets, substantial voting weight and – quite frankly – little incentive to support the droves of newbies joining Steemit every day.
You'll see a lot of people referring to newbies as 'Minnows', but that doesn't appear to be correct. As a one-week fresh Steemian, I'm technically some kind of nameless 'RedFish'.
Let's be real, though – I'm actually more akin to a tiny speck of bacteria floating weightless past a blue whale's eye, entirely unseen by him.
Here's the thing: This isn't about rapid growth. You're gonna have to work for it – diligently.
As with most things, you'll get out of it what you put into it, so find your niche and contribute consistently. Choose what to share based on that which inspires you rather than what might earn the most rewards.
Make an effort to meaningfully connect with other Steemians and support them, especially the ones you perceive as being undervalued. If you ever hope to grow into something bigger than an itty bitty red fishie – you'll need each other.
Maybe – if you're lucky and work reaaaaally hard – someday you'll reach 1000SP and become a Minnow, then a Dolphin at 5000SP, and onward to the great magnificence of Orcas and Whales, whose estimated value is beyond my comprehension.
For now – relax into your relative insignificance. You've got nothing to lose, so – dive in – experiment – make mistakes.
Above all else – enjoy your swim.
xo,
Zippy
• Steem Part 1: Guidelines for Steem Begineers by @premnakarmi
• Who Are You – A Redfish, Minnow, Dolphin Or Whale? by @pijushmitra
• 'How to check your voting power' for newbies by @brothermic
• ❓Answering Common Questions: Full Guide List ❗ by @sykochica
• Rookie Mistakes on Steemit Part 2 by @looksfarwoman
And big congrats, this post is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!! Resteeming it!!
Thank you!! I sincerely appreciate your enthusiast response! ❤️
And I appreciate your reply too!
😊
This is great! Thank you so much for the mention fellow-PDXer!
Don't feel bad, I'm also a nameless redfish... but we'll get there with persistence.
Sooooo, just a word of warning about the upvote bots... Initially it does seem like money for free... but it actually kind of isn't. It's totally a gamble . Firstly this handy website is handy but you can see that a lot of the bots are so popular that the customers actually get a negative ROI.
The first one I picked:
Will actually cost those customers money. This doesn't take into account the price action between Steem and SBD between the purchase of the vote and the payout.
Also, don't forget that all votes on a post after 30 minutes get divided up 75/25% between author and upvoters.
It is tough to make money on Steem... and those people that are making big bank on posts have either been here a very long time or have brought an existing audience over from another platform, or, more likely, are friends with a whale that is supporting them.
Instead I like to think of it as a super fun community where you can find your online buddies and maybe make a few coins here and there. And amazing posts like these can get big payouts (check my latest post for guidelines).
Thank you, @aussieninja! In truth, the whole voting bot thing makes my head spin. As I haven't got any spare coin with which to purchase their votes, I'm only aware of them in theory.
And...I think that's pretty much my overarching message with this post – don't expect to make money. It really is so much more about connecting with other Steemians over subjects you mutually enjoy.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll check your blog now. ;)
I was sitting and reading it, ignoring everything else! :))
Well done on all the investigation because I was in deep waters at your stage of the game!
Thank you for this article and a mention! And, yeah, happy swimming! 🐋
Thank YOU for this informative addendum! As I mentioned in another reply – as I haven't got any spare funds, I haven't even looked into using voting bots. My gut told me to just plug in honestly where I feel I can offer the most, and patiently trust that doing so will prove to in and of itself be rewarding. I'm glad I found @photocontests so early on. The daily subjects have given me the perfect filters with which to comb through my insane amounts of visual media and pluck just a couple from my overflowing coffers each day. • I've compiled a list of other contests, but haven't yet entered many. NOw that I've finally published this piece, I'll look into entering a few. To be frank – drafting this post took waaayyy too long and distracted me from doing much else on here for the last few days. I'm glad I finished it, though! Feels good to get it all out of my head. • Thanks for your support!
This is awesome! Really great post. And beautiful. That's a great point about not using upvotes as acknowledgement, I've been a bit guilty of that in my first week. Interestingly, I posted a similarly themed article but with different lessons. Kind of wish I'd read yours first ha! I think the lessons you've presented here are a bit more useful as I've been quite consumed with the bigger picture. Thanks for the great advice.
Thank you @saradear! I put a lot into it – probably more than I should have. But, that's kinda how I roll. I did enjoy digging through all my hard-drives to find relevant imagery. That might actually be the greatest benefit of having made this post – feels good to find uses for my bajillion photos! • I'll check out your article after I've had a decent night's rest. ;)
Such an awesome post, Zippy! You and I hit our one week mark around the same time! I'm feeling about the same... I've been a bit obsessed and excited about the possibilities. I think my old social media channels got so stale- it's exciting to meet new people and have them view my content as great work. But you're right it can be a bit like screaming into a void... I see the big players raking in the dough and wonder how they got there. How can I create content interesting enough to gain that much attention? In any case, I've settled down and accepted my plankton-like status happily. Because I've met (and continue to meet) awesome people such as yourself and I'm loving seeing all the amazing content coming from you all.
It's funny- your 'how I got onto Steemit' story is exactly the same as mine!!
So, let's keep it up, keep having fun, keep supporting each other, and maybe we'll make a couple bucks along the way! Cheers!
Thanks @caitycat! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's head is spinning. I do feel better after posting this – even though drafting it took nearly 3 days. Ha! As long a handful of people find it valuable in some way, it was worth it. I'm not counting on receiving too many upvotes – I'm alright with it hangin' out here, occasionally being found by newbies as they begin searching as I did. :) I appreciate your support!
Well done! I intend to read this again and check out the steemians (I appreciate you including me!) and articles you mentioned at the end, after I sleep. Then I can write a more thorough reply. I recognize that you post high quality content. This post has been resteemed on my blog and you have my upvote :)
Thank you, dear! Figured I'd experiment with sharing as I learn. I enjoyed the challenge of using my own imagery – lemme tell ya, that was a little crazy! Worth it, though, I think. And now I have a much better sense of what I've got and where. I can see myself doing a lot more of that. Not only does it mean my posts are as original as I can make them, but it also feels really good to find uses for all these photos that've been hiding on my hard-drives. • I sincerely appreciate your support! <3 Have a good rest. xo!
Zippy! I have a comment about one of the many useful tips you mentioned regarding usernames. I noticed it is possible to change your username as it appears on steemit by editing the "display name" field under settings and clicking the "update" button. As you wrote, the spelling used when you joined will stay "forever" on the blockchain. What I haven't tested is whether a user can be mentioned/tagged/contacted with the edited name i.e. @zippylo, or if it is necessary to use the official username i.e. @zipplyo. As an experiment I edited my display name from the original @mininthecity to @minnieinthecity. Let's see how it works...
Wow, thats n intelligent write up. Thanks for the piece.
If you like it, put a vote on it! 😉
Glad you enjoyed it!
See, another tip: don't give these people an upvote, they come say few words and expect you to upvote them! No no no, if you say you like it, you give it an upvote!
Thanks for that. Reinforces what I said above!
@OriginalWorks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @zipplyo to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
This is quite depressing.
But using this post as the great guide to starting out it is, I believe we all stand a chance to have our posts appreciated by our communities and even on steem as a whole.
Thank you for noting everything nicely and in plain terms that it is very simple to grasp some of the complexities of steem.
Ha! Yes, depressing – yet reasonably true...for now. Glad you found it easy to understand. I could've made it a lot more heady but wanted it to be both visually compelling and easy to get through.
I agree you struck a balance between thorough/informative and accessible/easy to understand. Your fabulous photos definitely add to the reading experience, too :)
thank you, @minithecity! I'm glad to know the effort is appreciated. ;)
This is a GREAT post!! I could have used this before I joined!
I love the 'steemit hangover'. I was so confused when I first joined. When I searched steemit, posts would pop up that were over a year old, so, they weren't relevant to the changing platform.
Anyways, nice to meet you!! Love it! Keep up the great posts!!
Amy Honey
Thank you @thehoneys! That's kind of what I was thinking about when drafting it. Clearly, most people here have already stumbled through a lot of this themselves, yet those who're poking around, wondering if they should join might find this useful.
I had that same issue – everything I was finding was written 7 months or more in the past. I had no way of knowing if the info was still relevant. So it felt like a lot of reading, and reading more, and weighing articles against each other, and somehow splitting the differences between them.
The moment I felt inspired to draft this post, I was pretty surprised. It's not really the kind of authoring I'd ordinarily do. Took me waaaay too long, but I'm glad I did it. :) Thanks for your support!
We are glad you did too :-)
Such valuable information, thank you! Esp the part about the upvoting vs liking. I was making that same mistake, showing appreciation to anyone who showed interest in my post! The snail is such a fitting image. So...using a bot, even if its paid for, isnt cheating?
Glad you found it useful! :) And – no – I'm not sure the term 'cheating' applies anywhere on this platform. There are behaviors that are certainly frowned upon, but – the very nature of decentralization is that there are no pre-existing rules set out by some governing entity. We're all kind of making it up together as we go. As far as bid bots/promotion services, if you want to get some sense of who uses them, you can look into anyone's wallet and see. There are ways to do it with integrity (I've only just begun experimenting with them) and ways that are, in my honest opinion, gross and motivated by greed. Try to avoid the latter, and I think you'll be alright. ;)
This is my new account, btw. Moved to this username a couple weeks ago.
I had no idea you could look into a person's wallet at all! I guess there is a lot of research and experimentation right now, and hopefully it will continue with people such as yourself - operating with integrity. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge.
Good post, and nicely composed! I wish it were within the time-period for upvotes, else I'd give you one! Bravo! 😊
Thanks @thekittygirl! I'm glad you appreciate it. And...you can save those upvotes for future posts – I promise I'll do my best to earn them. ;)
By the way, I know your pain... LOL
Bwahahaha!! 😂😂😂 This is perfect!
A very much enlightening post about what we must consider as beginners in a page so big and so complicated, it pleases me to see that I was not mistaken when I thought you were gonna be one of my primordial guides through my first days in here!
I'll be reesteeming this post for posterity and to make sure this information reaches my network, thank you very much for this!
What a fantastic post! I too live with ADD and develop obsessions for certain /many things at a time! My head is like a messy garage some days, which can be exhausting and irritating... But I am me, a 40 something musician, (my main passion since a very young age) photographer, horticulturalist, bonsai lover, music teacher and doting father.
Your post really grabbed my attention straight away, and although I'm only a Plankton in this ever expanding ocean, I fully appreciate your effort here! After all, we're the chosen few now, huh?
Thanks for sharing! I also been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD and can really relate to what you write about. Good introduction to Steemit as well!
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