I remember when I started on Steemit and how much of a noob I was. Now, don't get any ideas, I'm still a HUGE noob but I am less noob than I used to be.
And I remember what my state of mind was and what stupid stuff I used to say. Like many of you, new to this crypto-crazy world, it all seemed a bit out there, a bit like a parallel reality that somehow connected with our current reality. What's more, you could bring some of the gold from the crypto-reality to our day-to-day reality. Huh?!
I got lucky though. There's no denying that. Sure, the luck of finding Steemit early is the first and maybe the most important of it all.
BUT
Joining the Steemit chat was arguably equally lucky. It was the first time I used a slack. I did not know what SLACK was!! <--- noobALERT!
I like to chat so I got into a lot of discussions with people there. I know I must have spewed a lot of ignorant questions. I can't remember but I hope it was only ignorant questions, which I can respect and not ignorant advice, which I think it's a crime. The luck here was that my ignorant questions were answered by smart, knowledgeable and patient fellas. How did they put up with my stupid questions and answers. My constant FOMO. My giving in the FUD. My buying shitcoins and acting smug. Etc eTC ETC?
HOW?!
I am still amazed that they stuck around and took the time to teach me and guide me to knowledge, sometimes repeating the same thing again and again and again. I like to think that something stuck with me. I like to think that they got something out of it too. What, exactly, I wasn't sure until recently....
...recently, I got on a crypto-forum and read some stuff people wrote there and I was amazed by the level of ignorance, trolling, stupidity that I observed. No, I do not want to be all haughty. It's just fact. The people wanted to buy coins, without even understand what they were buying.
They wanted to trade, without understanding anything about trading.
They were all pursued by one goal: make money.
The problem is - make money - is not a strategy in itself. It's not even a tactic. It's a wish. And wishes don't make for smart actions all that often.
This one guy wanted to buy a coin that just started trading and it was at 5x of its initial value. I argued with him that this is not a good idea. We had a long chat about the pros and cons of his decision. For 30 minutes we dueled and it was ...fun. I was forced to have better arguments and in the process, understood MY poistion better.
He was forced - I hope - to face his own flaws in argumentation.
I was honestly thorn on what to do. On the one hand, these people and their ignorance is a reason why so many smart people make money in crypto. On the other hand, I believe that exploiting stupidity is not a long term value proposition.What I mean by that is that this "bubble" will pop if we build it on people stupidily giving away hard earned cash. Eventually, they'll say "no more"! and all the bubbles witl go POP! POP!.
But do we need that?
In poker, there's money to be made when playing with lesser opponents. The worse the opponent the better for me. Even there, I?feel bad to play i with people wh are literally throwing money away. sure, that's the purpose of the game and sure, i did not force him to play but still...
In crypto, the value comes - in my opinion - from the word-chainging potential of the tech. We don't need stupid people that throw away money to make money! I think what we need is more people to be #woke to the potential of this technology!
Upon reflecting I realized that I can do something. I can help a noob find his way around crypto and not get scammed. It's a bit sad that this is necessary that there are so many shit projects that are all too happy to take your money on empty promises and run. But that's human nature, can't fight that.
Yet, with knowledge, we can fight these scammy projects and maybe less people getting into it will lessen their motivation to exists.
Really, there are SO many great projects in crypto-world that I see no reason to join a bad one.
Of course, there are more bad ones than not....
Anyway, so what can I do?
I'm thinking commenting on Steemit posts and helping out/answering questions is one way to "help a noob". If I see people with questions or even with flawed arguments, I'll try to help and shed some light, if I can. Sure, many will not hear me out. I know I did not follow ton of good advice I hae received. Sometimes, we are not ready to follow good advice.
Learning as much as I can! That might sound counterintuitive but the more I know, the more I can share. A lot of times, bettering myself is the best way I can help my friends, my community, my followers. I shall try to be forever on the learning wave.
Commenting and chating with people in the chat or forums and trying to get them to understand some core concepts. This is particularly difficult, as a voice can get so easily lost with so many trolls yelling. But, in time, I hope that at least a few people might get something out of it.
I'm thinking and proactively trying to find ways to help as they appear. I think just having this "helping" mentality will help me manifest some opportunities to do just that.
In the end, I helped this guy not waste his money on a shitcoin and I felt really good. There's a lot of power in helping, sharing and teaching. I almost think it's a selfish act to help if you get the kind of satisfaction out of it that I do.
And I think I understand what my mentors and early helpers got out of it.
For one, I'll never forget them :)
My only advice for people to get into currencies is to start with Steemit. Risk free + it provides the essentials to get your feet wet in the crypto- sphere
Great suggestion to people unfamiliar with crypto! Start without investing a cent and get associated and comfortable with how things work. Once their hooked, (they will be) it will snowball from there. I'm going to start using that in my pitch to bring more people to Steemit.
Hi I just got approved today and I joined because I love being creative and writing poems and stories . but I am honestly nervous , not knowing what to post . I really like your idea to just get comfortable and see how everyone else is being creative in there own way . Thank you
Write about whatever you are interested in. At the beggining it's better to comment on posts of other people. Find others that have the same interests.
very good advice!
it just takes a LOT of time :)
Thank you onthewayout : ) that is exactly what I had in mind : ) taking it easy and enjoying other ppls similarity as mine : ) I have found a few
in time, you'll find what your niche :)
very true : )
I do that too, but some want to put in money of their own and don't like writing.
They can power up and start curating with a bot.
How does curating with a bot work? Can you point me to some resources to understand what that's about?
Thank you for helping welcoming us new people . and being thoughtful to pay it forwards :)
Yes that is good advice. I started leaning about crypto when Bitcoin first came out. I love the crypto space!
I've got a noob question.. Usually my upvotes are worth 2-3 cents, but upvoting this post kicked up the payout over $15. How did that happen?
I just started learning about this stuff in February and its completely overwhelming! I bought Bitcoin from Coinbase in February, and bought some Ethereum too before I even knew what it was! I'm trying to learn something new everyday, but I started at level 0!
Well that is surprising, my upvotes are also becoming more rewarding now. I wonder wow.
Also, when you don't refresh your steemit page and upvote. That upvote alone seems to refresh the webpage for you and updates the current upvotes and comments, at least that has been my experience. Might be totally wrong, has anyone experience this?
You are correct @becerra18 . Once the post is visible on your feed or you clicked on it, the vote counter and $ counter are stalled. It isn't until you vote that the page refreshes. In that short time frame (super short time frame if the poster has a ton of followers) 100 people could have voted and altered the payout.
Dope! Thank you!
great name!!!
and thank you for helping out!
Nice! I think it depends who you vote in the same time with. Also, you upvote 2 3 cents when you are first to vote but you give more as the rewards gets higher for every post.
I'm glad you are into it. I alwasy recommend people to watch this video:
https://www.ted.com/talks/neha_narula_the_future_of_money
thanks for info nice to see good blogger to earn good money without selling shit to the people! Have followed you too. Check out my Blog for life changing infos about blockchain platforms too.
Thanks for the response. I had the same question, but haven't been bold enough to ask it yet.
You are on it now dude. We are all in a great spot to learn and grow with the new technologies. Its exciting to me.
GREAT ARTICLE, I STRONGLY BELIEVE IN THE PAY IT FORWARD PHILOSOPHY!
Thanks a bunch for sharing such generosity and thoughts with us, we all win in the end. All for one and one for all! Namaste :)
namaste!!
luky
Glad you remember how it is for the noobs lol. It's a whole new world to me, but I am enjoying the learning of it! Thank you :)
sure. feel free to stop by with any stupid question you might feel you have. THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS!
Thanks for the post, Raz. I just joined today and I'm sure I'll be stopping by periodically to take you up on the offer and ask questions as they come up. The steemit community seems like a strong and welcoming one so far. I really hope it continues to grow.
I think there are a bunch of really cool people on Steemit. Worth finding and following!
Hi there, great post :) noob questions:
How do you know when to sell? Do you've a target set?
What will you do with the money after you sell it? Reinvest it to other altcoin?
I've heard people always saying about passive income and financial freedom with cryptocurrency / stocks but this doesn't make sense since you always need to sell, reinvest and sell.
I can;'t really give you a good answer to that...when to sell if ever is very personal decision. Please read this GReat advice here for a strategy...
But I think the most important thing is to have a big-picture strategy so you can decide what you want to get out of this.
My general advice is buy things you really believe in and don't sell too often.
But again, that may vary upon your own needs and risk-resistance :)
I guess it's about financial freedom OVER time as stocks/crypto appreciates...
Thank you for these and maybe someone else can answer
Thanks for the link. Going to read that.
what better to post in steemit, I am new, posting everyday, but don't have good result, is the post seccuceful because the author has a lot of followers, or something else ?
A lot of factors: content, followers, subject...but it also takes A LOT of time. Steem on!!
how long you are in steemit ?
Raz, how long would you say it took you to build a following?
well, i am not sure i have a "following" :)) but I've been posting pretty consistently for 11months or so
I'm a complete noob... just joined yesterday. I'll take it slowly and try to learn. Thank you for writing this article.
I feel like I'm going to spend the rest of my life as a noob! I've been here for 6 months and still don't know a thing about crypto!
Haha! That's nothing to be ashamed of! Some people are just less interested in this..but that's the beauty of Steemit, you don't need to know anything about crypto to enjoy it!
That's great... I just keep writing (like I was doing for free on Blogspot) and get paid! It don't get no better than that!
I've been paying it forward on Steem like crazy with my graphics. This is an awesome post <3
Cool post...I hope you make more :)
I'll keep writing about crypto because I find it fascinating. Glad you enjoy it!
And I like it :)
I share things I've learned about crypto, and try to put a fun spin on it. I think people forget also that curation gets rewarded, and is just as important as good content for Steemit success.
you are right!! curation has been lately more of a sleeper-subject. Dunno why, as curation is basically a passive way to mine STEEM. At 3000sp I get 10steem/month for curating. That too must be factored in when you assign a value to your steemit time!
My account is worth $29 after 7 days here. In this short period of time I already went through all sorts of emotions.
How did you manage to achieve that?
ah...the steemit initial emotions..really a rollercoaster :D
I used to feel bad about it too until I realized they were going to throw away their money whether I was there or not.
fair point :)
So much truth here it makes me wanna cry, epic post man! Totally agreed. If everyone would just lend a hand from time to time, we'd have a much more diverse community and it would be growing so much faster.
:)) I am happy that I'm not alone in this thinking!!
Good advice. Is there any one site that breaks down all the current currencies in poloniex? I'd love a spark notes version of the platforms of all the currencies.
i like your post. Greetings from emonandels
Thank you very much for your great post @razvanelulmarin I #upvoted and resteemed & #follow you now greetings from Cologne Germany my name is Lars @laloelectrix
Thank you for your advice. Actually i am pretty new here, this is the first story I read, and my first comment! Woot... Whats a Slack?
Congratulations @razvanelulmarin! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honnor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPIf you want to support the SteemitBoard project, your upvote for this notification is welcome!
deserve resteem and upvote....
I've heard steemers mention Slack a couple of times. Is this in reference to the instant messaging application kind of like AIM? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
yeap. but for steemit we use rocket.chat
I like steemit idea.
Just think about what can I do and how I can help people with my posts.
I guess I will start from initial posts, one from each of from my background and interesting for me themes and will see what people like and what we can discuss for help each other:
#ico, bitcoin, altcoin and Stock exchange
#hd, humandesign, genekeys
#travelling
#programming
Will be glad for any suggestions how to start on steemit and how to find followers.
Thanks for this. Ill be back.
read this in Schwartzy's voice :))
gotcha thanks
GREAT POST! Noob here giving some love and respect. Followed and UpVoted.
Great question @skycornish
Feel free to follow back. Cheers
Thanks for all you are doing to move the platform forward!
I feel very inspired after reading this post. I have been using Steemit for about a money and going down the Crypto rabbit hole for just a little longer. I most certainly am a noob! I don´t have any questions right now, but when they come up, how can I address them to you? Thanks in advance.
best typo.
Thanks @razvanelulmarin. I think there have been many better ones in the last week!
Thanks for being one of the good guys. :) Ahem... what's a slack? NOOB ALERT! :D
it's a chat thingie. Every crypto project has one. It's almost a joke.
you can join steemit chat on steemit.chat
Gotcha. I'm on steemit chat, but it seems to be mostly people just posting their own links and leaving. Is there ever any actual chat that goes on? Maybe I'm not in the right rooms...
Thanks for sharing. Upvoted.
I have been here for nearly a year and still a noob, loads have tried to hwlp me move forward but its just not clicking. Well done you :)
Thank you for your advice. Some great advice for noobs like myself. Will follow you and hope to learn more about the steemit community.
I am so new to all of this, its like everything I read is a foreign language, but i can feel to the core in my bones, ALL of this is something I NEED to know! But its so hard to grasp it all. Especially when one does not have infinate time to read, watch vids & study. A mentor! That is something I am in need of, or a download straight to my brain would be the ultimate!! :)
Discovered steemit few hours ago and I think this is really valuable site and crypto. It gets you to take more action than you would usually do watching youtube, going on twitter, instagram etc. and that itself is enough reason plus more quality and value you give to other people, more you get back!
It's a fascinating project and I have faith that it might change people's perception of the value of their own time :) Be glad you found it early!!
Just landed my approval yesterday & I'm enjoying every minute of information there is to obtain! Your blog was very informative. Thanks for sharing.
glad it helped!!
I just found Steemit a week ago. Got access and posted my intro. Learning my way around the system. I heard someone say the fastest way to success is to help other people succeed. Hopefully this will be a rewarding experience for everyone.
The potential of this tech is more important than worrying about some quick bucks. This tech will allow people in impoverished places to have their needs met. Imagine if everyone simply had money just because they interacted with this tech.
I'm a noob. Please send help :(
great post. I appreciate
What is a slack? :-( I'm a steemit noob.
Thank you from a fellow NOOB. I'm a busy mom and we are fortunate to be blessed - so I have a deep love of learning and I'm raising the next generation. I have NO idea what crypto-currency is, but am trying, reading, doing some experiments (k-I am a biochemist-I love experimenting!). I married Mr. Cybersecurity and this has sparked some great discussions! I'm all health nut and all things biophysical....but the two world have stunning parallels. I have a deeper appreciation of human brains now! And I don't want to raise ignorant NOOBS. When we got hitched, it was a fierce commonality of two adults who don't just live in the moment. We have tried to be savvy, prepared and capable of adapting to change quickly. Financial status means nil to me. Money is a tool and I did at one point experience rock bottom in homelessness. But I hope to learn this, stay out of the globalist system, teach my family to innovate. I do much of the homeschooling (awesome supportive mate!) and really want my kids to learn coding through STEM. Bitcoin a year ago made my cranium feel as though it had an atom bomb fetch flight. It's less ethereal and less about $$ now. But that $$ is how I hook other NOOBS into trying it. And then attempt to educate them. If I croak I don't want to leave any debt for kids...or anything the nanny state can seize. But I want to leave it better and a more educated/enlightened place than it was in the eighties.
I try to give any individual willing to spark the conversation about cryptos at least .001 BTC. If I had purchased more in 2012, perhaps I could scrounge up a few more steemians! This is a fantastic, enjoyable portal to a parallel universe. Thank you for your most excellent indulgence!
great article
Excellent point about investing in cryptos - don't focus on the percent gain of the project/coin, focus foremost on the true value of the crypto - the technology of course! I've only been here for a few days and I'm already learning a TON from great folks such as yourself. So from a fellow noob, THANK YOU!
great post, thanks. Helping people is a thing we should do, all day, every day.
I'm new here too & still don't understand it😉😂
I joined steemit today, I posted many spammy things, my post was even flagged. But now I promise to whole steemit community to play fair.
Your post is amazing, dude. Posts like yours are helping me a lot on my research on this amazing platform with amazing helpful people. Currently i am a noob but hope to learn a lot !!
Hello there , how much of a Difference is there if i post and have $0 dollars in steem Power as apose to say $700 dollars worth of steem ? also does it matter if my funds are kept in Steem wallet or steem power ? what is the diff or value in steem power , and is it ever depleated
Learning is the best way to get excited about cryptos, the more I learn about it the more excited I get!
I'm such a noob that I can't even put my finger on the reason I feel very fortunate that this is one of the first Steemit posts I have interactive with... thanx
My first day at Steemit and this is the first post that I read! Quite literally this is exactly what I wanted to read, I can relate to your 'noob' phase very well right now. Thank you for lending a helping hand. :)
@razvanelulmarin paying it forward is the way to go in all aspects of life :D I love this man!