I have been here for two years in January and one of the common things I have heard is, "You don't know what it is like now" and often followed up with, "if you were to start an account and not use any of your contacts..."
The problem is that this "experiment" is impossible because my contacts would recognize my content pretty fast. Or, do the conditions mean I have to shitpost? Memes? Forget what I know about the place?
Honestly, I don't think I could do what I have done again here starting now. It is not that it is impossible, I just don't have the energy to do it all again. However, if I knew what I do now and was to start from scratch, 2 years from now I predict that I would be in a similar position to what I am now. Steem-wise I would likely have a fair amount less because of various price reasons and luck reasons but, I would also be utilizing approaches that didn't exist when I started too. This means that I wouldn't be in the same position of stake but, I would likely be in a similar role.
Things I would do differently:
- It took me seven months to join my first chatroom. Seven.
- It took me over 4 months to start learning the system at even a basic level
- Use the SteemApps to post on, likely with an alt account
- Join / Start some initiatives
- Get an app idea or two developed
- Be part of more communities
- Learn about trading faster
Things I would do similarly for the next two years:
- work as hard on my content as I do now and have done all this time
- spend time getting to know people because, there are some great people here
- learn as much as I can and spend time writing about the platform
- answer comments and reward them with what I can
- don't shill but don't be negative because I don't get my way
- argue without getting overly emotional
- listen a lot to people and investigate
- be very curious about many things
- help people when possible but within reason
- find long-term thinkers and players and support them
- do not be a bleeding heart for every sad story
- never get used to any level of support as things change quickly
- do not delegate until I can continue supporting mine and other's growth
- post several times a day quality and often useful content
- keep up to date with change / release information
- understand as many of the factors that influence me
- engage as much as possible with people who know stuff
- help people learn when they ask as it helps me learn
- speak up on topics of importance
- take some risks with content and position
- build a valuable network of trusted people I consider friends
- engage with a wide selection of accounts
- comment a lot and don't leave them hanging too long
- use my stake to support people more than content
- be generous but not at the expense of overall personal growth
- trust myself and my decisions
- give things time to play-out and settle before condemning
- stay calm despite the fears of loss or change
- keep an eye out for opportunity
- make suggestions that benefit as many as possible
- focus on content, community, engagement instead of reward
- be serious but have a joke at times at the expense of me and those I trust
- keep personal conflicts off chain
- learn about witnesses, who they are and what they do
- ask a lot of questions from trusted sources
- think long-term when it comes to price
- treasure every STEEM as if it is worth 100+ dollars
- identify and watch people who are healthy actors
- identify and watch people who are unhealthy actors
- don't ask for unreasonable favors from people
- don't link drop unless there is a relationship and it is relevant to them
- never link drop own work for votes
- be in a position of trust
- do not break someone's trust
- do not expect anything from anyone
- break expectations consistently
- never carry personal arguments onto the blockchain
- find a personal style
- experiment with many styles and content types
- enjoy writing or don't write
- bounce content off other people's ideas
- do not tag people unnecessarily
- play own game without worrying too much about others
- stay away from Trending unless for research purposes
- convert and power up the majority of earnings no matter the amount
- understand that this is a community and be a part of it
- see this opportunity as a golden ticket to financial freedom
- see this opportunity as much more than financial freedom
- understand that current conditions can change
- understand that the past is never coming back
- understand that experiments and changes can go wrong
- understand that whether good or bad, nothing is permanent
- be consistent in quality and even-tempered
- care about the future, act in the present
- work as hard and as much as time and energy will allow each day
- DON'T BE A DICK
I am sure there are more I could add to the list, I am sure that there are some people won't agree with and everyone has to find their own path here, but people also need to understand that none of it is easy and whether one started in 2016 or tomorrow, opportunities like this are rare and are easy to lose of one squanders their position.
The biggest problem most people have is that they hold expectations of the way it is meant to be without spending time on the way it actually is. From this position, they look at others believing they know how and what they did to get to where they are and presume themselves correct. Just because one isn't willing to do a mass of work, doesn't mean no one is.
I have been lucky to meet some of the people I have and lucky to get some of the support I have but, I have also taken the approach that no matter what comes, my work is always deserving of a vote in at least my eyes. If I wouldn't vote on it if it was from someone else, why would I expect anyone to vote on it because it was from me?
Some people get support easier than others, some have to do more work than others, some are more skilled than others, some have content that are in demand, some have a lovely personality. The thing is that we all have personal resources available to us and it is up to us as individuals to use them as we choose. Some use them more effectively than others, some waste masses of potential. At the end of the day though, it is us as an individual who must live in our personal experience.
I would rather have a terrible experience from trying and failing than living a terrible experience wondering what could have been if I had given it my all.
Waste it or not, love it or not. Your life is yours.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Found this just before midnight. Marking to be read carefully tomorrow - it seems there is so much to learn for my old head.
Wasn't the price of Steem 2 years back the same as now? Or is is because of the much lower inflation rate now that it's more difficult to make the Steems gains you made over these 2 years? The way things are going it seems there are more ways than ever to make Steem gains, especially since right now the number of active participants is low. Maybe more ways, but the ROI is lower than the 'old way'?
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/steem/#charts
Yep there are.
I wouldn't have the energy to go again. I probably would though but not something I would want to think about. There are just too many hours under the belt. It would be easier though but depressing.
Imagine what some felt like after they lost their Steem accounts...
One way to get rid of all the ghost followers though!
Very true but still shitty.
Yes, the proposition doesn't excite me much.
I pretty much did start a new account - after two years I swapped from @sift666 to @frot because I was curious - and it didn't take long to get to a similar place - but I don't do much on Steemit quite like you - you really work hard and constantly - I just mess about and do what I feel like - when I can be arsed...
One rule - always include lots of pictures!
All the best man, we are all different and you are a hard worker.
I think a big part of it is coming in knowing what to expect and what to do for a large part of it. It might be different if you came in and decided that from now on you were going to only post photos of ducks in comments without words and called it engaging.
Now you think I have a duck fetish don't you? :)
https://steemit.com/positive/@frot/re-shepz1-re-frot-i-m-being-all-positive-today-20181104t193721268z
:D
I was similarly resistant to Discord... it probably took me about the same amount of time to join a chat room... which then opened up so much possibility on the blockchain. It's so weird that another program puts the social side of Steem, a social media blockchain, but it truly does. I've made some amazing friends and I'm super sure that I have consistent followers out of my interactions on Discord... and I only resisted because I didn't want to download another thing... it took 2 seconds, what was I thinking.
When you say you wished you learnt about trading faster... what do you mean? Day trading crypto? Or something else.
It's not too late to get those app ideas developed!!
My "regret" is not chatting earlier for the same reasons. It is the social side of Steem. I didn't really even know about the chats....
vote trading
:D
No. Trading on exchanges. I took some liquids and tried after a few months and actually did okay but I didn't really understand much of what I was doing. Didn't know about ICOs and what was decent or shitcoin. I mostly just looked at the patterns I saw and guessed like Haejin except without the fancy terms and the BOOOOMS!!!
Some of the Apps are already made now. Just not by me ;)
I feel like I am starting again, been away for months and everything seems to have changed just a little.
Also my biggest problem is the chat rooms, I honestly just don’t have the time, I have been in a few times but end up having to log out within minutes, makes having a conversation rather difficult.
Because there is only comments on the chain here, a lot of people aren't as free with their words, it is less conversational.Chats are a big part of the social aspect but it doesn't take a huge amount of effort or time to drop in occasionally and say hi. even if only for a couple minutes it is worth it I think.
"never get used to any level of support as things change quickly"
So many people who were early adopters just got comfortable and thought the good times would never end. Then their supporters quit or delegated a bunch of SP out and lost their vote power. Next thing they know their blogs are making very little. You should always be looking to see who is up and coming on the platform.
Many of the people from the old days complaining about lack of support enjoyed blind support obviously as at the first chance to earn more, they were dropped in favour of voteselling. It never had anything to do with their content.
The complacency led to poor networking too I think, much like many of those who buy votes don't have real followers, only frontrunners. If they stop buying, they lose everything.
And what is up and coming.
Definitely can't follow that one.
Please, never again write a bullet list...
I honestly have no clue how most of these people got success on here. I wasn't here when there were insane rewards for posts and comments and no bidbots yet. Now...it is what it is I guess.
I almost regret not abusing the system with bidbots, because that was the system and is the system still to a large degree, but I didn't want to support people that were running services that were rewarding such shitty level posts. Not even my shit level posts. Often like REALLY shit level. Like my worst ones, times 10 or 100.
One can lament the system that we're in currently, and I will, but many people realized that the best way to grow was to buy votes, and they did, and they grew. In some ways that was really smart of them. But I didn't want to support that, and I didn't. I held off at least until a non-profit bidbot launched more into the public view. Now I think all bidbots are going to have to move toward lower and lower profit to compete.
Maybe I should have just gone with it...but I'm stubborn, and I didn't want to support something is such obvious conflict with the responsibilities of being good stewards of Steem. It's proof of brain, not proof of bribe.
there is being a dick and then there is BEING A DICK. You are just a dick.
Maybe add this one:
I know right? I don't like lists at all. Out of the 2000+ post I reckon this is maybe the third one that has any type of list more than a couple points.
I wasn't here for insane rewards either. The first 6 months were a lot of 0 - 5 dollar posts. there were a few higher around the 10-15 that were during 7c steem though.
THe worst thing about most of the bidbots is who is behind them in my opinion. Perhaps with different people I might have used them. The community ones are/will be different again.
And once the RC markets, SMT curation investment, oracles and the like come, it changes again.
Lol, yeah :D
It changes...but everyone's talking about SMT's like they're going to change the world and be so great... I think they will change things here, but I'm not sure I buy into the idea that they will change everything so immensely. They will likely take months to be adopted by most tools after they are finally implemented.
Most are going to fail, especially the early ones. But the market of them and the RC pools bites into the draw of bidbots potentially so changes it again. Some SMTs might use an oracle to not distribute to bought votes. Who knows.
You do realize what the issue with your opening is, don't you? You assume people read. They don't, they skip through, they vote because you're you. I know, it's a shitty concept, but it's truth on this platform, for most of us, at any level.
now, I don't know who your contacts are, but they read you because you're you, because they know you. I doubt they spend hours each day going through newbie posts. Because that's the only way they'd recognize your content.
This is the issue and why the test is impossible. Because knowing what I do, I will find ways to put myself in front of them anyway as there are a limited amount of manual curators on the platform and a limited number of ways to be seen by them. There is very little chance a new account can just post and be found for consistent support now, there never actually was much hope for that.
Being here for about 10 months now it is great seeing this list as it let me know that I am not alone in the learnings (good and bad) of the journey thus far. I also see similar things I do which means that it can signal that I am on the right track since you are a great example of what success is. Thanks for sharing!
It takes tim here and more and more if not willing to buy in. Prices are the lowest they have been in over a year yet most people are still unwilling. That is their choice of course but some are buying in.
So many of your dot points are not steem specific :D
I'm kind of feeling your last sentence right now (not on steem and it's not terrible hence "kind of" XD).
I know they aren't Steem specific which makes me wonder what people do in their real lives :D
or do you mean the last bulletpoint ? ;D
I usually try not to be a dick XD
I feel like they'd be the serial complainers maybe?
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complainers, scammers, maximizers, spammers... you know..
If you put aside thinking in terms of price and instead think in terms of value, $100+ is not at all unreasonable.
it is not unreasonable at all if we consider the potential flood of investors in the next 5 years.
I agree with most of what you've posted here because I have gone through some of it and nothing is more unsettling like the experience that comes with it. The rest I have mixed emotions over it as this community is different for everyone.
Posted using Partiko Android
The community is not actually a community, it is many. Often people try to be part of a greater whole that doesn't really exist as it is and likely always will be sectioned across interests and behaviours. Some people belong to many communities though so get the feel of a much more together operation.
Part of the reason I've never joined a chatroom is that it seems fraught with politics (sometimes toxic politics).
Besides, what is wrong with chatting in the open on the blockchain?