Welcome to the 84th weekly installment of my series on Steem income and growth!
Income on the Steem blockchain is generated by "investment" (the more currency you have, the more you earn) and by "work" (earning currency by contributing content that adds value). All my crypto holdings are in the STEEM currency. Now I'm working to earn more, by uploading unique valuable content to the blockchain.
Calculating weekly income
Considering income from accounts that I own, that my wife @MediKatie owns, and group projects using our funds (currently @greatesteem, @hempy, @girlsofgreen, @sativazeee, & @vantocan), here's the running tally:
Week 01 - 0840 (+ ? ) STEEM (+n/a%)
Week 02 - 0848 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.95%)
Week 03 - 0862 (+14) STEEM (+1.65%)
Week 04 - 0868 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.70%)
Week 05 - 0876 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.92%)
Week 06 - 0888 (+12) STEEM (+1.37%)
Week 07 - 0914 (+26) STEEM (+2.93%)
Week 08 - 0929 (+15) STEEM (+1.64%)
Week 09 - 0936 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.75%)
Week 10 - 0953 (+17) STEEM (+1.82%)
Week 11 - 0960 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.73%)
Week 12 - 0966 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.63%)
Week 13 - 0973 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 14 - 0980 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 15 - 0986 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.61%)
Week 16 - 0991 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.51%)
Week 17 - 0996 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.50%)
Week 18 - 1032 (+36) STEEM (+3.61%)
Week 19 - 1040 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.78%)
Week 20 - 1045 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.48%)
Week 21 - 1051 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.57%)
Week 22 - 1059 ( +8 ) STEEM (+0.76%)
Week 23 - 1065 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.56%)
Week 24 - 1073 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.75%)
Week 25 - 1079 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.56%)
Week 26 - 1091 (+12) STEEM (+1.11%)
Week 27 - 1100 (+ 9 ) STEEM (+0.82%)
Week 28 - 1105 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.45%)
Week 29 - 1108 (+ 3 ) STEEM (+0.27%)
Week 30 - 1119 (+11) STEEM (+0.99%)
Week 31 - 1151 (+32) STEEM (+2.86%)
Week 32 - 1159 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.70%)
Week 33 - 1166 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.60%)
Week 34 - 1172 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.51%)
Week 35 - 1177 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.42%)
Week 36 - 1183 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.50%)
Week 37 - 1196 (+13) STEEM (+1.10%)
Week 38 - 1204 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.66%)
Week 39 - 1220 (+16) STEEM (+1.33%)
Week 40 - 1250 (+30) STEEM (+2.46%)
Week 41 - 1264 (+14) STEEM (+1.12%)
Week 42 - 1287 (+23) STEEM (+1.82%)
Week 43 - 1300 (+13) STEEM (+1.01%)
Week 44 - 1312 (+12) STEEM (+0.92%)
Week 45 - 1323 (+11) STEEM (+0.84%)
Week 46 - 1351 (+28) STEEM (+2.12%)
Week 47 - 1372 (+21) STEEM (+1.55%)
Week 48 - 1394 (+22) STEEM (+1.60%)
Week 49 - 1410 (+16) STEEM (+1.15%)
Week 50 - 1436 (+26) STEEM (+1.84%)
Week 51 - 1481 (+45) STEEM (+3.13%)
Week 52 - 1505 (+24) STEEM (+1.59%)
Week 53 - 1517 (+12) STEEM (+0.80%)
Week 54 - 1529 (+12) STEEM (+0.79%)
Week 55 - 1540 (+11) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 56 - 1555 (+15) STEEM (+0.97%)
Week 57 - 1576 (+21) STEEM (+1.35%)
Week 58 - 1606 (+30) STEEM (+1.90%)
Week 59 - 1620 (+14) STEEM (+0.87%)
Week 60 - 1631 (+11) STEEM (+0.68%)
Week 61 - 1647 (+16) STEEM (+0.98%)
Week 62 - 1674 (+27) STEEM (+1.64%)
Week 63 - 1685 (+11) STEEM (+0.65%)
Week 64 - 1702 (+17) STEEM (+1.01%)
Week 65 - 1714 (+12) STEEM (+0.71%)
Week 66 - 1722 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.47%)
Week 67 - 1734 (+12) STEEM (+0.70%)
Week 68 - 1752 (+18) STEEM (+1.04%)
Week 69 - 1780 (+28) STEEM (+1.60%)
Week 70 - 1937 (157) STEEM (+8.82%)
Week 71 - 2080 (143) STEEM (+7.38%)
Week 72 - 2179 (+99) STEEM (+4.76%)
Week 73 - 2334 (155) STEEM (+7.11%)
Week 74 - 2368 (+34) STEEM (+1.46%)
Week 75 - 2379 (+11) STEEM (+0.46%)
Week 76 - 2424 (+45) STEEM (+1.89%)
Week 77 - 2479 (+55) STEEM (+2.27%)
Week 78 - 2501 (+22) STEEM (+0.89%)
Week 79 - 2517 (+16) STEEM (+0.64%)
Week 80 - 2535 (+18) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 81 - 2555 (+20) STEEM (+0.79%)
Week 82 - 2567 (+12) STEEM (+0.47%)
Week 83 - 2580 (+13) STEEM (+0.51%)
Week 84 - 2616 (+36) STEEM (+1.40%)
Average weekly growth (last 10 weeks): +24.8 Steem (+1.00%)
Our team was able to put out several posts during the recent week that paid out, and one of them brought in a few bucks, boosting our weekly income up from the dismal levels it has been for a couple months. Our 10 week moving average has stabilized at 1% growth, which is expected to begin rising next week as 3Speak income begins coming in again.
If my team's funds were in a single account, it would be the 4150th richest. We had been moving up about 50 positions per week, but lately we're scarcely making ground against the rest of the pack.
Just for fun, our reputations are now: 66, 56, 53, 51, 51, 51, and 50. Mine puts me at about the 2500th most reputable Steemian (not that it means much).
As I mentioned recently, the value of STEEM (everybody's sole reason for using this blockchain) continues to slide, now at the lowest purchasing power in history.
While that's great news for investors who are looking to buy (if anyone's brave/foolish enough to do so), it's a death sentence for content-creators, and for investors who have already gone all in. I'm a content-creator AND an investor who already went all in (2 years ago). If I had sat on that money for the past 2 years, putting several hours a day into a different project, I'd be able to buy 100 times as much STEEM as I have. But if I could go back in time, I'd tell myself never to get involved in the Steem blockchain. "Self, don't waste your precious time or money there. You'll lose both, for little/nothing in return."
But I did get involved, and I've lost everything (including 2+ years of full-time work). Besides, I'm unbanked (the government thinks I owe them money) so there's no possible way for me to withdraw these funds from the crypto world. My only hope is that they'll some day be worth something again.
Until then, I'm scaling back participation in the blockchain. I've already powered down our alternate accounts (friends who gave up on the blockchain, group projects, etc) and will be transferring all funds to DRutter and MediKatie. We'll also be winding up our cannamodeling under @GirlsofGreen and putting that account on ice as well.
Those who are reading this are the minority who are still here. Everybody else has left. The blockchain is quiet, empty, boring, and primarily contains posts about itself. Nobody from outside is interested. We aren't innovating and haven't been for years. We killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Content-creators have been systematically deplatformed here - not because they're not allowed to post, but because posting here is posting to a void. Steem is an animal farm. It is what it set out to defeat, and to never become like.
And because anyone reading this is a believer, they (you) likely don't agree with what I'm saying. You believe this place has a bright future, like I did 2+ years ago. You're all in. You think Steem will protect you from censorship, and still give you a massive audience. You think the STEEM price will recover, even though it has been falling, NONSTOP, since the very first day 3.5 years ago. You see your SP and rep creeping up, and that's progress to you. You think I'm overreacting, or money-focused, not tough enough, all that. Fair enough, it just means you don't know me.
Even if the STEEM price recovers, which is doubtful, content-creators will never be welcome here again, thanks to the rule changes in HF20 and HF21, which also ensured new accounts can't get started here, cutting off any hope of future growth.
These changes will save our team at least an hour a day of commenting and curating. If it's not making us any money, and what I say isn't being heard by more than 5 or 6 people, it would be ridiculous for me to continue to devote so much of my life to this place. I should have done this long ago, but I'm stubborn, and really wanted to make it work. I put in at least 18 months of full-time effort after I realized this place was doomed. That's downright altruistic.
I'll continue to post and comment for now. MediKatie will keep her account open, but probably won't be posting as much. GirlsofGreen is being phased out and our models let go. Our other accounts are powering down and disappearing. I'll keep [MAP] running (although it too is looking for a way out), and monitor Steem's progress toward oblivion. If something positive happens, I'll be the first to jump back to full strength here, but since it has been a few years without anything like that, I'm not holding my breath.
The joy, excitement, and hope this place once brought my team and I seems so far away now. We wish nothing but the best for everyone, and don't blame you for sticking around, hoping beyond hope. We really know how that feels.
DRutter
This was inevitable. Many of us have put years and thousands into this place onto to come up with almost nothing to show for it (money or audience). For various reasons, it just failed to thrive.
You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em.
Know when to walk away.... and when to run!
sad reality but oh well.
Looking for a way to put this account on auto vote or something, then not log in for a while.
This really sucks. I thought investing in Steem was a great idea, and the year felt so fun and productive (at least at the start anyway). It's especially sad for Mission Agua Possible - they've been so patient in Venezuela and we've been working so hard, and it's just water and they still can't get it. At least Steem is an ok blogsite to make content and link back to it if you were lucky enough to get in at the right time, etc.
If we aren't profitable (in fact, we're LOSING money just posting here), and by "we" I mean you and I specifically, then it simply isn't possible. We've put in FULL-TIME work, for 2 years, and shared incredible content (photos, videos, modeling, documentaries, research articles, thoughtful comments, etc). We handed over five grand in Bitcoin, to power up our accounts, and support the community. Now our holdings are worthless, just a few hundred dollars, we have an audience of maybe 100 people, tops, and every rule change here moves the goalposts further and further away. The pattern is clear - we aren't in the club, and not only won't profit here, we'll lose everything we brought with us.
Annnnnd, it's gone. :(
You're right, the first year was pretty fun. There were cracks appearing, but at points it did seem like we'd be able to do it. This past year or more has been really rough.
And it's definitely not just the price. Sure, that would change a lot, to have it back up to $7+ again. It's the fact they're purposely making content-creators obsolete. It's the NewSteem cult, vigilante whales and dolphins, forcing their morality on everyone else, and keeping themselves profitable. This place is literally sick.
If new members were joining up, sure, there'd be hope. When was the last 25 rep account you saw? Or even below 40? Nobody new is joining. It's really hard to sign up here. Not that anyone really wants to.
Very sad for [MAP]. I had that vision and it seemed so clear. Where did things go wrong? I still have hope for it to complete, but the path there isn't clear right now, and so many people are suffering in the meantime. What a shame we can't bring water back to a Steem family in crisis. :(
On the plus side, this will free up some time and resources. We can put some of that into more baby time, and if there's any left, into our other projects. Maybe even start something new. We're always producing, creating, working to improve ourselves and the things we do. Each time we've cut out things that underproduced (like Steem), we've flourished. This sucks, but it's like a good pruning. Healthy growth will appear in abundance soon.
SPLINTERLANDS (formally Steem Monsters) is doing great. I am glad I moved some of my Steem investment into this project. It is growing and they have some very exciting updates coming in the near future. It is still early days for this project and I believe huge profits are on the horizon for early investors. Even though steem is way down, Splinterland card values are WAY WAY UP! ...... AND it only takes 10-20 min a day to do my dailies :) Not hours making a post that some jack ass will down vote because you copied your title..... It is to bad the water project never completed :( If you get into Splinterlands ask aggroed if there is any way for the SL community to help finish this noble en-devour (maybe some tournaments with fees or a special card where the proceeds go to this project). I will bring it up on there discord in the maverick channel today :)
I think I'm still here simply because it's something for me to do. I've cut back my posting to about once every 3-4 days, but that has as much to do with lack of good content to write about as anything else. I don't have very much fiat invested in steem, most of my SP was generated by posting, so if this blockchain falls apart, I haven't lost enough money to bother to worry about. The "magic money" of steem only becomes real money if you power down and cash it out. At this point, the value of steem is such that it isn't worth the hassle to power it down, I wouldn't get much from it. I'm just going to let it ride...
What a sad victim mentality you have. You blame others for your lack of success, and then alienate people who actually support and engage you.
Do you feel blamed? If so, you can let that go, I'm not blaming you for my outcomes. Maybe consider why you feel so defensive, though.
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LOL..... funny that this showed up here! :D
Apparently your failure isn't due to lack of trying!!
Wasn't it really always this way? Even back when Steem was worth $7?
No! Back when STEEM was $7, the blockchain was busy, interesting, and..... primarily contained posts about itself. :P
Every new day is a blank slate. At the beginning of the day, one takes inventory and decides what to do going forward with what's at hand.
What is the best use of time and talent and resources today?
it was true in the beginning - but now it is not - sad but true... but back then we were a true community and there was no central government... it is inevitable because the paradigm in which it started was a paradigm of whales - and they let a few of us struggle to the top and rest of us remained minnows and now it's all gone to shit.
Such a sad state of affairs in steem now as I had high hopes like most did and since I invested money in to steem the value has continued to drop. I still have a little hope things will turn around.😒
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I have that hope, too. It's not impossible!
But I can't devote myself so fully to something that is only a hope beyond hope, in the future. If my voice had reach here, it would be fine to post for free. But I can't PAY to post, and lose my investment, AND not reach anyone. That's just folly.
Yes I understand.
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