I've been getting direct messages in discord from newer Steemians, the topics of these DMs are varied, but are mostly about how to become more successful in the platform. I have only been in the platform for a little over six months, and I truly wish I know the answer to that question so I can be more helpful. The question in itself is not very clear. There are several measures of "success", and it may vary from user to user. Here are a few things that I can think of as variations of "success":
- Increased and consistent Author Rewards
- Increased and consistent Curation Rewards
- Growth in Reputation
- Growth in Steem Power
- Increased number of Followers
- Improved content, and formatting
While the six things listed above may be thought to point towards the objective of earning more from one's Steemit activities, it is still largely dependent upon individual user's intent. For some the rewards are indication of acknowledgement of their work, for others it is food on the table or payment for a long overdue vacation, and for some other it is a motivation to keep Steeming on!
I feel quite unqualified to answer the question having very limited experience on the platform. I am still a student trying to learn this myself. While I attempt to help those that ask, I always tell them that I only know the things I tell them based from my observations from more successful Steemians, and how they can do the same. In this post I will attempt to answer the question in the tittle based on observations from other more seasoned Steemians I stalk. I will start with trying to answer the reverse based on activities and behaviors that I don't see from seasoned and more successful Steemians.
What Successful Steemians Don't Do
Ask/Beg for Follow or Upvote
A lot of the direct messages I get are from new Steemians who are asking for upvotes. I still respond to those as politely as I can, and offer other form of help. I often review their posts and offer some tips on how they can improve those, I'd tell them about really engaging with the community and avoid directly or indirectly asking for upvotes.
Asking for upvotes in my opinion belittles ones own work. If the time and energy are instead invested in honing one's skills, engaging with the community, and marketing your work in other platforms; asking for upvotes would not even be necessary.
Quantity Over Quality
There are days when I simply don't feel inspired to write. In those days, no matter how I try, nothing comes up that I can be proud of. I try my hardest to post only things that will make me proud, else, I don't post. I have learned early on to value reputation over the Dollar amount I see on my posts. I am not saying I don't want the rewards, it is most certainly attractive but I don't let that distract me from valuing my work.
I cannot offer a yardstick that would measure how good a content is better than your own view of the quality of your work. For as long as you are proud of what you've done, and you know you've done your best, that is enough. How many times a week does your favorite successful Steemian posts? Chances are, not very often.
Me First Attitude
I do not know if I've just been lucky, but I haven't really come across someone who's doing well in the platform who is selfish. Thus, understanding that this is a community meant to tolerate no such-selfishness early on may be beneficial for anyone who's just getting started.
Have you come across comments on your posts saying he/she upvoted your post, and invites you to do the same for him/her? Then you'd see no upvote from that commentor. Everything is recorded in the blockchain is another thing that I always tell those who reaches out. Everybody can see what you've been doing. Some of the most successful Steemians I follow would have benefited more if they use their own Steem Power in posting multiple times daily and upvoting their own posts each time they do. Save for some exception cases, I don't really see a lot of Steemians (who are already successful) doing this. I see this more often in fact with new Steemians who hardly even have Steem Power, not realizing that they would have benefited more by using their upvotes in engaging with the community.
Belittle Other Steemians
Most of the successful Steemians are polite, courteous, and are carefully selecting the words they leave a permanent record of in the blockchain. They do that either because they are smart, or are genuinely nice people, who knows. They tend to be not overly selective on who they engage with. Look at the posts of your favorite successful Steemian and scroll all the way down to the comments. Successful Steemians responds to comments from anyone regardless of Reputation Score, or Steem Power holding.
Limit Themselves in Small Circles
Don't take me wrong, there is nothing bad about supporting a specific community. I tend to be partial to Steemians from the Philippines largely because of proximity. When I was just starting, I almost exclusively engaged with only Filipino Steemians. When I started widening that reach, the result was just great. I still am partial for Philippine based Steemians in our @steemph family today, but also engages with my fellow cohorts in @sndbox, other @utopian-io contributors, and the many nations represented in @steemgigs.
Credits
Cover Photo Background Image - Pixabay
Student Reading a Book - Pixabay
Three Apes Figurine - Pixabay
Approved Gesture - Pixabay
Penguin in Fridge - Pixabay
Kids with Caucasian Fellow - Pixabay
Hand Sign Circle - Pixabay
On the subject of asking/begging for upvotes , I totally agree that it belittles your work and is not a good practice. I came across a youtube video from Neil Strauss about The secrets of addictive writing who mentioned that one of the dangers in steemit is measuring your work by the number of upvotes versus how good it is. He continues by saying that your work is done once you have finished what you are writing and if it gets acknowledged or upvoted that's just a bonus. Here is the link to the video. I am also new to steemit and have found this video very helpful.
Thanks for sharing the video. Will watch, and share that in a series of meet ups we are organizing. :-)
You're welcome. Goodluck on the meet ups that you are organizing.
Salamat po sa inyong magandang pabatid. Malaking tulong ito lalo na sa mga katulad kong baguhan pa lamang dito sa mundo ng steemit.sana hindi po kayo magsawang magbigay ng magagandang impormasyon.God bless po!
Salamat sa pagbasa at suporta kabayan! Lahat po tayo naging baguhan, ang totoo po marami pa din akong hindi alam tungkol sa Steemit. Tyagaan lang po talaga sa umpisa. Steem on!
this is what newbies need to read and learn sir red. with perseverance i know they'll also so good here ❤
Jie! Both Danda and I are very excited to finally meet you. See you soon!
yay! i'm excited too! 😊😊
kumusta Red! :) some great guidelines and tips. I can definitely relate to all of these.. especially the not knowing what to or if I should post one. I actually made the decision to post about my trading daily.. that took a lot of pressure off me to know just want to write about everyday.
I also noticed that we (the Steemians who joined last year) ARE kinda the seniors, no, more like the juniors of steemit.. at least here in PH.. how did that happen?? :P
Sir @chinito, I know what you mean. It feels like only yesterday when we joined, and don't really know if we're doing it right. Taking some time to give back to this amazing community through education and meet ups. Thanks for your support.
yes. and that is so nice of u to give back.. :)
this is definitely a beautiful reminder , thanks so much ma'am 😍👍👏❤️❤️❤️
binasa good girl tlga hehehe
yes naman!ana ko sayo eh 😘
I am glad you liked it @zephalexia. Hehehe just sharing things I learned so far. There's too much to learn pa. I've just been in the platform for about 7 months, but I am really enjoying theit journey so far.
Another informative post from you sir Red..
I've learned a lot from all of your post
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post!! God bless!!!!
Thanks for always visiting my blog @cejero021. Really appreciate your support.
These are amazing tips to achieve success in steemit. I agree with you that quality matters than quantity. And collaborating and contributing is the real way to go ahead in steemit. Thanks for sharing.
This is very helpful blog.
Thanks Red, a good reminder for me as well.
regards,
xoxo
@sunnylife sorry now lang nakareply. Been very busy organizing the meet up, and with my day job. Long time no see sa discord ah. I guess you've been busy too. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Great article. Thank you so much for this.
Thanks for this article, it helps me a lot to understand more what is best to do here on steemit
I enjoy reading this kind of content. I learned more about steemit. Thank you for sharing :)
great post especially for newbies like me! keep it coming :D
@steemitph Thank you for sharing your experience with steemit.com, I only had one month and the platform has already given me many blessings. You can read a post where I comment the results so far achieved. regards
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@felixgarciap/my-first-month-in-steemit
Thank you
It is very nice to read post that give inspiration to someone new on Steemit. The reason I joined was because of the community that is here. Your advice was very good for a new Steemian looking for help. I wrote a post not long ago called 2 Cents From A Minnow It has a lot of tips I learned while waiting for my account to get approved. I hope it could also help someone who is looking for advice.
@magicalmoonlight