Steem needs a USP.
A Unique Selling Point that is easy to convey, readily understandable and has wide appeal.
I've been on Steem for 18 months, I know pretty well what goes on and how it works, I'm invested and I have bought into the vision.
But when people ask me "Why should I join steem?" I'll be honest I struggle to give a simple answer.
Earning money from posting is yesterday's story. Talking tech doesn't win over the average Jo. Lack of censorship has minor appeal to the masses. And communities, maybe - but they are everywhere.
So what is the sales pitch?
Is it all about Gaming?
Are games the answer?
DrugWars has taken Steem by storm this past week. It's raced up the State of the Dapps rankings and certainly got a good number of steemians well and truly addicted.
But DrugWars is the not first gaming success on Steem. Steem Monsters laid the groundwork and has had a massive impact in the Steem ecosystem. It also demonstrated for the first time a successful business model without the need for delegation support.
If we add a B and L into the mix we move from gaming to gambling.
Dice Wars has proved highly popular and has been quickly followed by the likes of SteemBet and now SteemLuck. There is also SteemSlotGames.
Let's go wider
Gaming and gambling both have massive potential audiences.
But their appeal doesn't stretch across all demographics.
Steem can offer much more.
We have contests, we have competitions, we have challenges aplenty.
Steem has something for every taste.
Contests for every interest
If you like food there are restaurant review contests with @tasteem or @jeffjagoe's Steem Food Tours, there is @plantstoplanks weekly Fruits and Veggies competition and if you are just looking for a quick sandwich you can try @jaybird's Steemit Sandwich Contest.
If music is your thing you should check in on @luzcypher's long running Open-Mic contest.
Do you like sport? Look out for @acidyo's regular football fantasy league.
Prefer pets? Enter your dog in @supernovastaffy's Dogs of Steemit.
Are you a budding writer, there are writing contests popping up regularly on steem. Maybe try @freewritehouse for starters.
Or maybe graphics are you thing? Logo contests abound.
Video? That's covered. Just take a peek at the 1000+ STEEM given away in @surfermarly's recent '60 Seconds of Steem' contest.
Art? Of course... Photography? Need you ask!
Then there are dozens and dozens of random contests on the go at any one time. From @guiltyparties Treasure Plate contest to @runicar's Art Caption Contest to @themarkymark's Get Shit Done Contest.
Did we mention children? Hop over to @spunkeemonkee.
Content with a Purpose & Money in the Bag
Contests can deal with two birds with one stone.
Many people are not natural content creators. They fill compelled to make posts on steem but they don't know what to produce.
They want to post to earn rewards. So they end up creating content with no purpose and all too often with next to no rewards.
They get disappointed. They leave.
Bring on the next bunch of recruits. Rinse and Repeat.
Contests can provide the answer.
Write this post, take that photo, design that logo, compose that piece of music, film that video, review that restaurant, make that sandwich...
The content has a purpose. The content gets exposure. It can still get voted on. And it may win the prize.
Job done. Everyone's happy. The creator makes connections, maybe wins a prize and is encouraged to stay on to have another go.
In summary...
Steem has a unique proposition.
It is an ideal platform for gaming, gambling, contests and competitions.
There is something for everyone. Everyone likes to win.
This can grow numbers, improve retention, encourage developers.
With concerted and co-ordinated marketing it can create a buzz.
With a buzz comes eyeballs. And with eyeballs come advertising dollars.
And dollars come growth.
Life is a game. Play it on Steem.
[ graphic by @pennsif ]
Man its awesome that my little contest made your list. The game approach is definitely a good one. Covers everything the chain is about.
Yes, great USP. You can add the inherently social aspect of gaming where you can know your fellow competitors better through their posted content. A true community with depth and breadth.
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@garudi is a whack job cunt who has spent a few too many days off her meds. @garudi it's time to take a trip back to the hospital where you belong, they'll take good care of you there and make sure you don't harm yourself. Crazy cunt needs some meds!!!
Yeah, I like it.
Go the whole ‘gamification’ angle. Because that appeals to bloggers/writers too.
There are so many contexts you didn’t even entire where an aspect of ‘game’ has played a part in it.
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I think you gave some good points about the recruitment of new users.
I struggle with reasons as well and for the gaming part it makes absolutely sense - especially in combination with "free" money by playing games and contributing to contests and accomplishing challenges and so on.
The main problem in my opinion is the confusing key-system and the missing user oriented interfaces. I think they need more guidance to find their stuff, better tag-overview or something like that.
Thanks is for taking the time to think about this problem for us all and the effort to write this post. I think it can help others to convince friends, family and strangers :)
Peace!
If this was to be a way to market Steem, it would benefit greatly to have a dedicated interface to guide people coming in via this marketing route.
In effect it would be a sort of niche community portal - presenting games, contests etc and hiding the rest.
Clean, simple, easy to understand.
Although that still leaves the keys etc to deal with - but maybe some dedicated instructional info or videos might help get over that.
Yeah it would be awesome to have such a clean and easy entry point. Perhaps someone is reading this who is able to create such an interface and maintain it :)
The key stuff is really confusing to some people even if there are some tutorials already ^^ I am excited what @steemonboarding will do and how their start page will look like. The team (including me ^^) made a
Episode about the keys in many different languages.
We will see in near future ^^
Peace!
Yeah I agree gaming is going to be next key tool of getting the next wave of new Steemians and hopefully keeping them here.
I feel the next big wave of dapps will come out on Steem Blockchain, specially with SMT or Steem-Engine tokens and more smart contract capabilities coming soon. I see a very bright future for Steem. ♨️ On
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We may need a wider appeal that pure gaming (and gambling).
We must remember entertainment for the broadest audience.
Definitely but would be a nice way to get people here to see everything Steem has to offer.
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You can do that already without a blockchain, the main ground is to make money.
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Tbh: I do not think "money" will convince my friends nor my family.. The "money" we get here is nothing compared to a job and private time is not supposed to earn money for people in a full-time job (at least here in Germany..)
Iny personal opinion, the community and audience factor is counting. There is a big chance to reach an audience, no matter on which topic the content is about. And much more important, here is a supportive, new community on the blockchain.
Just my 2 cents.
Peace!
Your answer will be totally different if the price will be much higher.
👍
All really great ideas!
Great
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I have played the same game on Desktop called Dopewars and on FB, MafiaWars. I was addicted for a while then and now with DrugWars I have spent a lot of STEEM just to upgrade Drug production.
Gambling game never appealed to me because I tried it and usually had bad luck with it so I am one of those that will avoid anything associated with gambling.
The formula is(I guess) just copy classic addictive games and put STEEM POWER.
If DrugWars had tokens to buy in game item and activities like in the original desktop games for flight and bribing police, I will buy it. There are thousands like that too out there.
I agree, @pennsif, as you rightly write above :
not just games or gambling...
Steem should have a USP for investors, but not for users.
A user shouldn’t join steem because of steem, a user should join steem because of a single dapp. Maybe a friend told him about Dtube, or he just randomly ended up on Steemhunt and loved it.
Then he’ll want to create an account, so he will. Then he will slowly realise that he is actually part of a huge ecosystem with many dapps, and maybe try using some of them.
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Congratulations @pennsif! Your post received a small up-vote from @wod-game as little gift.
We are a small group of people who want to create the next big Video game for Steem.
Want to know more about us?
Steem: @wod-game
Discord: Click here!
Have a nice Day!
Thanks for mentioning #fruitsandveggiesmonday! I agree that contests really are a great way to foster a sense of belonging to a community and creativity. I know it definitely kept me on the platform when I first started. There are many times I am still inspired to post something new to join in on a challenge!
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Great article with some really valid concerns and suggestions, Chris!
Nicely summed up! I bet that's the challenge we - those who try to market / promote Steem - are all facing.
Besides the gaming and contest approach I very much like the idea of building. Something like:
To me personally Steem is a bridge between my day-to-day real life activities / my life off-chain and opportunities in the digital world and the blockchain space.
The fact that we already have a lot of communities on Steem plus the technological basis for construction, this place is the ideal playground for new businesses that want to experiment in the crypto space.
Steem can be many things to many people while the common denominator may be: building socially relevant projects.
Thanks for this thought-provoking piece of content!
Thanks for the mention lol.
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I've been calling it the role along game of life... Funny thing is its going great! Here is to earning and stacking and then growing the Cannabis community! And steemit!
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great post and excellent way to look at steem. Sharing on twitter :-)
few contest were a "lifesaver" for me in my first months on steem. also good for creating connections with other participants
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