Before I begin, I'd like to give a few shout outs to @steemstem, @mountainwashere, @shaka and @geopolis. The level of support that I have been greeted with from these communities and individuals has been overwhelming. When I first joined Steemit, I had no idea that I would be able to write about something I love, much less write in general and find success in it. I still believe it’s too early to assume I could make this a full-time gig, but it has most certainly given me the motivation to write and be focused at a pivotal moment in my life. Again, thank you all for your support. I hope in the future I will be able to return the favor.
Image Source: Author of article
Over the course of the past two months, writing on Steemit has been, in my humble opinion, a game changer. I’ve always considered myself to be a writer, but only as a hobbyist. However, when I stumbled upon Steemit and realized I was viewing a social media platform that rewards its authors, I became wildly intrigued. Almost immediately I signed up and when I got the notification that I had been accepted, I began to post content, but still lacked direction. It wasn’t until I decided to test the waters and write a short post on a geological topic, did I find my calling here on Steemit. A fellow geoblogger that goes by the name mountainwashere gave me the advice and tips I needed so that my content actually was viewed from the communities it was geared towards.
My first couple of in-depth posts regarding geology netted me just over $360.00 SBD and received quite a bit of feedback from the community. I was ecstatic to say the least. This was when I began to see Steemit as a social platform that had a ton of potential. From that point on I began to suggest Steemit to friends and family of mine I knew that had something to share with the community. All being said, I’m sold on the idea of Steemit, but I do have my reservations. In this post I’ll be going over the challenges, goals and first impressions of this platform.
Goals
My overall goal on Steemit is to build a blog that will help me learn more about my field of study, which is geology; while at the same time using it as a means to network and as a source of income to pay for my education. As an American, getting a college education is no easy feat due to the price tag that comes along with it. Many students in America leave school in massive debt and that was a hard pill for me to swallow when I was younger. For nearly the first decade of my adult life I put off school and decided to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Over that time, I found the line of work wasn’t satisfying my ambitions so I decided to go back to school. It’s been a fairly difficult road to follow, but Steemit has certainly helped me get back on track. In time, I hope Steemit can help me achieve these goals.
Challenges
As of right now, I’m proud to say that I have finally reached 100 followers. This took me nearly two months to achieve, which isn’t a massive amount of progress. Nonetheless, progress is progress and I’m most certainly looking forward to the future. However, I’m realizing that in order for me to achieve my goals that I mentioned above, I’ll need to have a much larger following.
Unfortunately, using tags such as steemstem and steemiteducation doesn’t always guarantee your hard work will be noticed. I’m unsure if it’s possible to build a rapport with groups such as steemstem, but as of right now the jury is out. This is in all likelihood due to the fact steemstem consists of many curators; some of which may or may not like your content. Furthermore, the geological community on Steemit is rather small.
As a result, I’ve had to broaden the topics I discuss in my blog. In doing so, I’ve also had to go out of my comfort zone. While challenging myself can only make me a better and more knowledgeable writer— not being able to focus solely on geology has in many ways spread my attention thin. I suppose that comes with the territory of any new venture, but this also means the rewards I receive aren’t very consistent.
Viable Source of Income
As I mentioned earlier, the rewards I receive are all over the place. Now this isn’t something I’m necessarily complaining about, but it definitely makes me consider if Steemit is worth having my undivided attention. When writing an article, I always ensure that the quality of the post is held to same degree as the rest of my blog. This would appear to make very little difference in getting upvotes. For instance, the post I wrote earlier this week regarding freezing rain, received $18.15 in SBD. In comparison, a post that I wrote about the cultural geography of ancient Egypt received $47.62.
All being said, the extra income has certainly been helpful in reaching my goals. However, it’s difficult to justify sitting in front of the computer everyday for 2-6 hours writing, only to hold onto the hope I will receive a reward for my efforts. It’s truly a gamble. Even while I sit here writing this article, I have to consider the amount of time I put into this post.
In the end, I believe Steemit may be a long game effort that will require a certain level of consistency on my part. The platform is still in its youth and mass adoption isn’t there quite yet. There’s no doubt in my mind this will eventually occur, but once again, can I justify working on my blog full-time? Only time will tell, because at the moment I feel as if I’m rolling the dice with my time.
Pros:
It’s an amazing platform for content creators from all walks of life. The potential of the rewards system justifies that picture you captured, poem you wrote, research you conducted or opinion you feel so strongly about. From a present looking into the future perspective, it leaves social media platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, Reddit and Facebook in the dust.
The community on Steemit is very supportive. There is so much positivity here that it allows very little room for the negative. Groups such as steemstem go above and beyond to help scientific creators get the attention they deserve.
The widespread adoption of Steemit could potentially make that blog you’re putting so much effort into well worth your time. Especially if you intended on using it as a reference on a resume for prior work or to display your skills as a writer.
Cons:
It is very difficult to search out very specific tags and the UI is a bit clunky. Over the course of time, I hope Steemit revamps their UI. This is especially important for mass adoption.
Depending on what your interests are, you may receive significant to little feedback or rewards. To make matters worse, some whales and dolphins post work that isn’t nearly as thorough as some minnows, yet will make thousands of dollars on a single post. This leaves minnows feeling defeated and in all likelihood will not continue to use Steemit.
Inconsistency in rewards, despite being an accomplished blogger can make Steemit a bit of a gamble depending on the circumstances. I believe as Steemit grows, this will be less of a problem, but as of right now, it can be disconcerting.
The rewards system and lack of security features leaves users vulnerable at the moment. If you upset the wrong person, specifically a whale, you could find yourself being downvoted with no way to combat it. This can lead to potentially disastrous ramifications for a fellow Steemians (Steemite?) account.
Let me know your story and how you feel about Steemit in the comments below!
All points I agree with, perhaps you saw a similar post I made a week ago and I detect a similar tone in your words here. That is you really appreciate the support you get from people like @steemstem but your kind of surprised that some of your posts flop for no apparent reason (to yourself). Don't worry your not alone, and you will move past it (people on here gave me encouragement). I felt the same with my Mars post which kind of flopped - there was a lot of work in that (doing the Mars diagrams to scale and in the correct phase, plus original images of Mars and it's moons).
Keep in mind you likely have a deeper appreciation of the subject than most of your readers, so they may not understand or appreciate how much work or how original your work is. Once you understand that it will make it easier to accept. Keep in mind you would get nothing on another platform (although if you write for magazines you sometimes get money, although whether they pay up is another thing).
Regarding people downvoting you, I am now of the opinion this is a minor risk. I had a Electric Universe guy spam one of my posts and ended up downvoting him which got his post hidden. There is flat earther that spammed one of @fredrikaa 's thread's, luckily fredrikaa had enough SP to downvote him, but one of us might not be so lucky. For this reason I think it is important to keep accumulating SP, which also helps in other ways.
Anyway keep in there, and 2 100% upvotes from me (one on your story and one on a comment)!
I actually did read that post of yours and in a way it did inspire this post. I thought you made some very solid points. Originally I was planning (ahead of time) on simply writing about the fact I reached 100 followers, while also showing appreciation to those who supported me from the beginning. In the end, it evolved into something a bit more extensive. I hope this post didn't come as me being frustrated because the exact opposite is the case.
However, I do find it odd that after having quite a few (the majority) of my in-depth posts being upvoted from curation groups such as steemstem, I would have built some form of rapport. At the very least, I was hoping those upvotes would have translated into follows. For instance, some of my posts have 100 + upvotes, but I'm lucky if I gain substantial number of followers.
I definitely considered the possibility that the material I write about may simply not resonate with others as much as it does with myself. It would be unfortunate if that were the case (it most likely is), but I have a feeling as the platform grows, that may not be an issue. Groups such as Geopolis should help resolve that problem. Also, it's reassuring to know that downvoting may not be that big of a deal. I need to formulate a game plan to build up my SP— I think I'm going to begin dedicating a couple posts a week specifically for that purpose.
At the end of the day, I'm just happy to be getting any sort of attention. With that being said, thanks for the thoughtful reply and words of encouragement. It definitely put some of my worries to rest, while also showing me some of us are in the same boat. Thanks for the support!
To my fellow aspiring geologist: good to find you on qurator! I didn't know there are geologists in this platform. Not that I looked for them. I have way too many around me everywhere I go :). Let me know if I can help you in any aware form of fashion. Good work and good to find you. You have earned my up vote.
Certainly a nice summary, and you seem to have accomplished a LOT in a relatively short time.
For us (as a small organization, not an individual) this represents more of an "opportunity" than something to rely upon for income. And even though we have a lot of social media and blogging experience from elsewhere, it has been difficult to get much traction here, perhaps because this is more of a techy/financial community, less receptive to spirituality and metaphysics.
It does get a little disconcerting at times to see a well crafted post with good information earn $1.42 while someone's 433rd repetitive meme about cryptocurrency is earning $80 for two minutes' work.
Thanks for your response! I'm actually proud of what I've accomplished thus far so thank you for taking notice! I think with time as more people pick up on what's happening on Steemit, we will see the type of communities you mention growing; specifically the d.tube feature. I think like anything else, with time the better content on Steemit will shine through. We have to figure that just because some of these individuals were early adopters doesn't necessarily mean they are great creators. I wish I had known about Steemit a couple years back. Still, I love where Steemit is going.
Congratulations for the success your having on steemit! first of all thanks for the follow...
for me has not been so easy to get rewarded for my posts, i guess a main reason can be because i don't have a concrete subject that im constant with so i don't attract the same people with all of my posts... still trying and enjoying this community and bringing my friends and family in...
Now i'm experimenting with curie curation and it takes a lot of time but i hope soon to be better at it and be able to help other users to get noticed and get some reward by doing it :)
i'm also gonna follow you to...
hope you can make a living from this soon ;)
Thank you for the follow! It's much appreciated. Just keep at it and you'll get noticed eventually. More and more people are joining Steemit and it would appear early adopters are the ones who benefit the most— we're technically early adopters. If STEEM were go to up to $150, we would have a significant amount of power to help us fellow minnows out. I'm betting this will happen at some point in the near future as the platform picks up steam. :P
Maybe you don't have a lot of followers but you are really successful, your estimated account value is 600USD$ and that's a lot of money, at least for me, keep it up!
You are absolutely right about everything, and the system is not going to change any soon, sad but true. What I do to find good content and avoid the crap that is making it to the top I use https://steemfilter.space/ it really helps to find interesting content fast
Followed and Upvoted
Wow, thanks for the link share and follow! I'll definitely have to give that a try sometime soon. I'm proud of how far I've made it on Steemit thus far. I'm definitely going to return the favor to the community once my power grows more.
I'm happy steemit has been working for you! It's a long slog to build up that audience and steem power, but just keep at it!
I think we are a part of something truly special here, and I welcome you! Another early adopter to this amazing technology.
I'm not gonna make you rich, but you're on the short list of people I read. You actually got somethin' ta say!
Ah thanks man, I appreciate it. I enjoy reading your posts as well since I'm interested in van life. I'm hoping we'll all be able to make a legitimate living writing on here without the need to have big wigs help us out. It's the only real downside with Steemit atm. Then again, putting my effort on here is far better than dealing with the narcissists of other social media platforms.
Congrats on the 2 months and the 100 followers!
It's hard to say when a post would do better then another, as there are a lot of variables to consider.
For instance- the time in which you upload a post. If you post at a time when most of your followers aren't active, there is a big chance it would go unnoticed. I've found this tool very helpful in checking the best times to post: https://joticajulian.github.io/steem-activity/ Just insert your Steemit name in the search line. The first part shows your own activity and the second- your follower's activity and when exactly they are more active.
Also, though there might not be that many geologists here on Steemit, there might be others who are interested in your geological articles, so don't feel discouraged! I, for instance, am an aritst, but I'm interested in reading many different scientific articles here on Steemit! I beleive in exchanging ideas and inspiration from many different fields. This is what helps us grow! And though I've just found you here, I already enjoy reading you :)
Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide to do in this platform and in your studies!
Whoa! That is super useful information. Thanks for the sharing that link :) I'm realizing that I just need to stay consistent with my posting and let everything happen organically. This post was mostly a critique/me simply wanting to write about the platform a bit. I'm honestly taken back by how thorough and supportive most of the replies have been— I love it! By the way, I followed you back. It looks like you post some very interesting content. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I appreciate it!
Yes, the people here are so supportive it amazed me too! It makes all of us want to do our best and support others as well. There are pretty awesome people here :)
I am happy that you received all of this great feedback that showed you how wonderful this place is ^_^
Oh, thank you very much! I'm happy to hear you anjoy my work <3
Steem on!
Coming from other alternative social media sites, I will say that Steemit has the most unique feel to it. Any profit is nice, since it allows me to reinvest into reference materials, but I'd say what is the biggest draw for me is the the steemstem community. I doubt my content will ever be featured on the stem page itself but the steem science community in general is probably the most active I've come across off of the big social media websites. That's ultimately what's important to me personally, the interesting conversation you can find around here.
I'm sure your content will be featured at some point. Just work hard and they will certainly take notice. Sometimes our content will slip through the cracks, but this is largely because they have so much content to curate. The Steemstem community is definitely impressive to say the least. I'm glad I stumbled across its path. :)