My question to you is why would a successful and talented blogger from another site come to Steemit?
When the value of steemit was soaring and the market was soaring the number of signups was soaring. From when I signed up in Dec to 40 days later the number of people on the site went up 50%
Most social networks are paved with the forgotten multitudes that came early, got worn out before the value ever made it. FB, IG, Twitter etc. They came they used it and then when the multitudes came they were already gone. Sometimes we joke that these are hipsters and how they say I was in before it was cool and left when it got too cool. Obviously Steemit isn't to the cool part yet.
When businesses bring money I think that will be big. And why? Because many business HATE the bate and switch scam that FB became. If they see a way they can interact better with their audience, run contests easier, comment better... have more gauranteed interaction they'll come... and they'll invest their money even and perhaps put a premium on influencers over here. It's not a given that this is happen but you have to admit the path for it to happen is very viable on steemit.
In general when news hits and markets soar and a few bigger influencers invest their time and attention even in the face of realization that it's gonna take work to tanslate their audience. Those are a few defining moments that would change things fast.
It's then you have to be ready for big things to happen. Right now we're just playing in a frustrating early adopter land... early adopter sounds cool to those looking back on the past. They don't realize early adopter means playing in a sand box with a few friends waiting for the rest of the world to finally decide to come and play.
I build a following here even though i have vast amounts elsewhere in part as a speculation of this future boom time. It happened in Youtube and Instagram and many other places. Where those places were deserts until they weren't. And as me and my friends lay foundations for projects like @photogames in a community of mere thousands (only hundreds truly active if that) we realize there are hundreds of thousands of photographers if not millions that could one day get the word that this is the place. Even if it's only tens of thousands it's still a bid deal.
Right now we are impressed by followings of 10k or even 1k and we see the impact those followings can have. (or not have) You simply can't have accounts with 1 million followers because there aren't even 1 million users. You can get a following of 1 million on youtube NOW days magnitudes easier now days than even back in 2013 when most of my friends were starting to do Youtube full time. There's just that many more people on youtube. Would you rather be starting in youtube in 2013 or now? My friends would almost completely choose 2013 or before.
There is a mindset that comes with early adopter success... it's this sort of Entrepreneurial spirit that makes them eventually successful.
You're right they don't just work hard they think smart and they do things different and they keep trying new things until one works.Mere good videos didn't do the trick they were consistent and it seems like they all eventually found their brake... which came because of the months or years of failures basically took them there. OR they found their road to success pretty quickly.
OK I've talked too much already... Maybe i'll polish this up and do a post at some time if I get some time.
but in short there are MANY reasons why the people will come here... and it's just a fact that half of the people here reading this right now won't be around for when the big boom hits this social media. So maybe they need to change their mindset. This isn't the era of the gold rush. This is the moment right before the gold rush when people should be claiming their deeds to their mines and sharpening their axes to get ready for the gold rush.