I've been having a conversation with another Steemit user recently, someone who allegedly makes a full living from Steemit. They're having trouble trying to understand that I don't want to make any money here. This is just a short post to explain my reasons.
In any kind of financial field, there's a conflict of interest. It could be your Bank telling you which of it's savings accounts might suit you, your financial advisor telling you which bonds to buy, or even your mortgage company suggesting which insurance company to use. Someone somewhere is making a buck off it.
I try to help other people make money, by learning from all the mistakes that I've made. In order to do that with a clear conscience, I must remain impartial. And to me, that means not asking or requesting money for the information, or any kind of reward.
If you follow me already, you know I always rail against YouTube University, the millions of 'learn to trade' videos on YouTube. The reason is because almost always, there's a link under each video to a broker, or an account manager, or a training course. That's a clear conflict of interest. The person giving you that information is trying to sell you a product, so how trusted is their information going to be ? Bear in mind that the vast majority of financial institutions are set up to make money, when you lose ! How good do you think that information is now ?
I know that if I suggest something to do someone, it could actually cause them to lose money, possibly money they can't afford to lose. I could never make a profit off that, it's just not me. That's why any money I make from Steemit is given to a charity, all out in the open and checkable, no secrets. I understand the permanent ledger, which is why I write at the bottom of every single post that I'm giving the proceeds to charity. That means that at any point in the future I can't secretly change my mind and pocket the money. The evidence is right there for everyone to see from day 1.
I believe in full transparency. If I'm giving advice that I think people might take, then I want them to know how much it's going to cost them. And in my case, it's provably nothing, zero, free. That way, you know that if I give anyone advice, it's genuine with no ulterior motive. It's because I genuinely believe what I'm saying, and it isn't just a con to take money off people. Compare that to other people who offer financial advice (here and elsewhere).
I love my job. It pays me very well, I could never hope to make 1/100 of what I do on Steemit, no matter how long I was here or how popular I got. I've worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot to be in this position now, and I'm very grateful for it. I just have a lot of free time and I like talking to people, which is why I'm here. I also have a hatred for scammers and con artists, who prey on people who can't afford to lose. That's why I like to try and help people.
I would rather have comments on articles than upvotes. However, if you do upvote me, then at least you know that any money you give will go to a charity, that's who you're 'paying' for the information.
There is only one caveat to this, I'm currently trying to build up SP, so I can actually reward people for posting good content. My current vote is worth $0.00. It sickens me that someone can upvote their own spam post and make $800, when that could be spent on rewarding and encouraging 80,000 genuinely talented people with even a $0.01 each. Not much I know, but it's something. It's very easy living a spoiled Western lifestyle to forget that a couple dollars a day could be a lifesaving amount for someone else.
So that's it really, just wanted to clarify my reasons for not wanting to take any money from Steemit. Some people just can't get their head around it, like it's such an alien concept. I came to Steemit to hopefully share success, not try and find it.
Header image credit : wordpress.com, found via google image search
About me -
I'm a full time financial trader, mostly in Forex and Commodities. I write for fun and try to help beginner traders get started, avoiding all the mistakes that I made. I'm always happy to chat or discuss ideas so please just give me a shout in the comments !
I'm currently trying to build up SP but everything I earn from Steemit is donated to a Steemit charity or worthy user.
You have proven you can earn in the financial markets so it will be hard for me to believe you will not earn on steemit. I look forward to you giving me and others many dollar upvotes one day. Keep up the good work. Thanks.
I would love to be able to reward people for their informative comments and articles, and the sooner I can the better. Not just me, when everyone can do it. Otherwise there's little incentive for anyone to do anything.
Keep at it and you will get there. Thanks.
Just by reading this i can tell you are a great person. looks like you are one of the awaken ones. and you are correct. everyone is trying to sell some indicator or some course that only works when you back test it. they do not display their loosers only the winners 100% and more. truth is, anyone making 100% and more all the time would not care about taking someone else's $40 dollars a month. This people sell this product because it simply does not work. If i had a gold mine i would not be selling it.
Well said, and important. Transparency is very important. I have been meaning, for a long time, to do a post about YouTubers and bloggers who shill coins. Perhaps I should bump that one up my priority list. I'm not totally opposed to it, but there are certainly caveats.
It is the importance of transparency to me that leads me to write whether I own I coin or not when I review it (like I did with this or this), because while I try very hard to remain unbiased and honest, I still want people to know that I have a vested interest in that which I am speaking about. I would hate to have fingers pointing at me later accusing me of being dishonest, I abhor dishonesty!
I look forward to maybe one day earning a $0.01 vote from you! 😀 For now that lofty height remains but a pipe dream for me too!
Here, take my $0.00 vote for writing such a good post! 😄
Don't worry man, you're on my 'trusted' list. Not only do you say what you've invested in but you also say when you've made a mistake or a loss. That shows the moral integrity that's sadly lacking in a lot of people.
You have my 100% support and trust! I hope you get the support of many people!
thank you ! :-)
There are ways to make a living on this forum. It takes investment and a lot of it. You can invest money to build up your Steem power. I have just invested my faucet earnings into building up my Steem power. I also invested my failed Bitconnect investment into this forum. Also you can invest computing power through being a witness which pays in Steem. Those are really the only ways to make any money that I can see. Even if you have the best content in the world. You have to have the upvote power to make your posts worth something.
I think giving to charity is a good idea. You produce great content and I love reading it. I think your account will grow, I have had my frustrations with growth on this site, but it has been a hard road to walk. It took me for ever to get my vote to $0.01, I am knocking on the $0.02. Maybe I will start to see faster growth soon.
Meh, if I can help one person then I'd be happy.
I watched an interview recently with the guy who started Minds (they're experimenting with crypto now) and he said Steemit was great except for one thing, the whale economy. The only way to be successful here is to find a whale and get them to follow and upvote you, that's the only way to make money on Steemit (his words, not mine).
It is a true statement.
Now that Mind is flirting with crypto, I expect to see a large exodus from Steemit, their monetary system is a lot more egalitarian than here. All votes on Minds are 'equal' no matter how high or low you are. I've been on Minds for about a year before here.
Only way to make money on steemit is to pay a bot whale to vote for you. because all whales sell their votes. no one here cares about quality of contents, and those who do dont have enough voting power to make any difference. all those people making big money are buying votes. Steemit is a failed system.
Be careful, I criticised Steemit recently and you should have seen the ensuing shitstorm that happened...only from people who were making money off it of course, everyone else agreed with me, lol.
LOL