This is quite a long read, but the post is divided into two sections. If you want to skip the strategy and go directly to the pics, you can jump straight to the My Top (Steemian) Picks section
With Smart Media Tokens incoming, I couldn't help but think about the similarities between the concept for that and the unique position we find ourselves in. Living on the STEEM blockchain means that we ourselves are in a position where people "invest" in the things we put out. Whether it's writing marvelous fiction, taking amazing photographs, making wonderful music or drawing magnificent art, we're not only producing output, but we're making a whole economy flow just by doing what we love. Of all my past criticism of the platform, this has always stood out to me as an overwhelming positive.
I still do feel like the love isn't spread around as much as it should be, but that's not something any amount of whining can change. What I can adjust are my expectations (thanks again @lukestokes for that perspective) and the content that I put out. I can't make people like the posts I put out, but that doesn't stop me from hoping that it would reach the eyes of those who would appreciate it. Sometimes, it often feels like people aren't even opening my posts because it was me who created it. I can't help but shake the feeling there's some prejudice there, like I'm wearing whale-repellent or something. And, if someone else more likable posted the same thing, it would get more attention in terms of votes and comments.
That had me thinking about altcoins like BitShares and Ripple, coins which have a lot of upside but are sorely being overlooked. The technology behind them is objectively way better than many other coins that are experiencing tons of greater success, and yet people aren't even giving them a second look. Perhaps they're not as attractive as the other bullish coins or they don't have the same hype behind them, but yeah, the same goes for many Steemians. But, at least cryptos get some pump-and-dump love now and again, which brings me to my initial thought.
Steemians = Cryptocurrency
Coins Source
Think about it. The folks that made Steemit were really on to something when they created this awesome platform. Not only did they sought to monetize posts and comments, but in effect they made the creators as investments. The creators themselves are the investments. As "investors" we either follow the investments and/or set up auto-voters so that we could re-up on our investments and, in turn, help them grow. It's not as simple as that, but you get where I'm heading.
While your own STEEM Power is low, the dividends (or curation rewards) isn't all that much, which is the same thing when you have low volume on stocks. In the same vein, you can comment on posts of and interact with potential investors hoping to get their attention and lead them to invest (or vote) on your posts. The returns here would be even more, and would help in increasing your STEEM Power so you could pay it forward and invest on other people.
This isn't a revolutionary idea, I know, and I'm sure that many other people have realized this as well. I'm just writing this for the purpose of those who have yet to realize the value of commenting thoughtfully and by investing smartly. You can't expect to grow if you're just pawning away yourself. This is a game of give and take after all. You have to give if you ever hope to receive. I pray that the spammers realize this and change for the better.
If you're one of those investments like me that feel like you're not making what you're worth, just keep at it and don't compromise the quality of your work. Sometimes you might feel like you should just phone it in and post about STEEM, Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency just so you could get votes with very little effort. Yes, the irony is not lost on me, but bear with me as I try to make a point. It's not like I post about STEEM every other time. Take it from someone who actually averages around the $10 range (I get lucky with streaks of pumps like in my recent posts, but that doesn't change the fact that I have low lows), it's not sustainable to make posts about things you're not passionate about. It'll reek of desperation and people are going to smell something fake a mile away. It's best to stick with what you know.
Before I get into my investment strategy, I wanted to briefly segue to...
A Brief Discussion About SUPPORT
If you're a trader, you already have a different definition for support, but for the purpose of this discussion, I want SUPPORT to mean a different thing.
STEEM + UPvote + POst + ResTeem
Please keep that handy mnemonic in mind as that's what I feel sums up the concept of support in the Steemosphere. I feel like this is how we invest in other people and how other people invest in us. It's something we can't live without, and it's something that we shouldn't be stingy about. We keep preaching that we're all in this together, so let's be together. Alright? Now, wasn't that brief? Let's move on to...
My Investment Strategy
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It's two-fold, since you're an investor and an investment. As you steadily build your portfolio of posts, you'll establish an identity and hopefully attract investors (followers). On the flipside, you have to invest on other people as well, even if that's just to help you get more exposure. Personally, I like interacting with people who interact back, and I feel so happy whenever they succeed. It somehow feels as if I had a hand, however small, in the success they reaped. Comments help posts become discovered, so I make sure to leave thoughtful comments about the post.
My strategy has been criticized before, so I just want to say that this strategy is my own and I'm not imposing this on anyone else. I don't think it's the best strategy (obviously), but it's one I'm comfortable with doing. I've made a lot of friends, many of which I consider a friend outside of Steemit now, and I feel that wouldn't have been possible without the strategy I've used. Sure, there are tons of opportunities I let pass, but it's the price that I'm willing to pay.
Voting
Personally, I care very little what a person's rep is. Whether they're an enormous whale or the tiniest of planktons, I'll vote 100% for posts that I feel really took a lot of effort, original and doesn't seem to be just an attempt to milk the rewards pool. I don't really have a hard and fast rule with this, because I basically just vote on posts that I enjoy. Since the rewards are limited, I try to dish out 100% whenever I can. But, that's just for posts.
I've been know to be quite the avid commenter. It's because I feel that the comments are the lifeblood of a post. If no one's there to interact, then how would you know if those views and votes have heart behind them? As such, I spend 100% votes on comments on my posts. They're not worth a whole lot, but it's my way to thank people for stopping by and leaving their wonderful thoughts. My heart is filled every time I read thoughtful comments from people who took the time to really digest the post I worked so hard to make. Comments have the same rewards as posts now, so you're essentially making tiny posts on other people's posts. Why waste it by leaving "Nice post" or a solicit to your own post? But, that's a discussion for the next section. I don't always leave 100% votes though. I won't say my reasons behind it, out of fear that it would be twisted, but it's really all up to you to decide how much you want to give.
Commenting
As I mentioned in the previous section, I consider comments as the lifeblood of every post. If a vote earning hundreds of dollars has a paltry number of views and only a handful of comments, doesn't that strike you as suspicious? Even when a post earns only a dollar but has tons of views and an active comments section, I still consider that something superior. Why? Because people are discussing it. Not many big whales might notice it, but it's something worth talking about and you can quantify the number of people who spend time on it.
Time, yes. That precious commodity that's arguably way more important than STEEM Power. Don't quote me on that though. As much as we want to, we don't have all the time in the world. Heck, it's so precious, we couldn't even use STEEM to buy some of it. With that in mind, we can only comment on a limited number of posts. It's understandable that many posts we want to comment on fall on the wayside. The dilemma on how to prioritize them is a complete and utter nightmare. That's why I base my priorities on my supporters.
This was a real sticky spot when I discussed my strategy before. I'm not sure why it wasn't fully understood, but I'll try to outline it better here to avoid misinterpretation.
I leave comments on supporters' posts first before I go to posts of other people I follow, then branch out and try to discover other posts. That way, I reciprocate the support and forge an already established connection without making people feel taken for granted. It's one of the worst feelings I feel, so I don't ever want to spread it to others. I want everyone to feel included, and that their voices are heard. People took the time to read and thoughtfully comment on my post. That's time they could never get back. The least I could do is to do the same for them.
Some people don't even take the time to reply to my comments, other people just vote on it and move on. That's cool, I mean, I can't dictate everyone to reply. It's kind of hard to see a comments section that all have replies though, with my average length, yet thoughtful comment the only one the original poster didn't reply to, but that's cool. That's their prerogative. Who am I to demand attention? What I'm saying is that, if you comment on my post, expect a reply and a corresponding vote. If your comment is thoughtful, then expect a vote and thoughtful comment from me to your post, without you needing to redirect me to your page. That's just how I operate. Again, this is my way to maximize my time.
I filter out people by those who comment on my posts, but I do give infrequent commenters a shot. What I do is that I leave a thoughtful comment on other people's posts about 2-3 times. If that doesn't lead them back to my profile, then that's cool. My posts might just not be what they're looking for or my attitude doesn't sync with theirs. I move on and find other people to support. No harm, no foul, no hard feelings.
I'm not obligating anyone to comment on my posts just so they could receive votes and comments from me. I repeat, and I really want to emphasize this because my words have been twisted before. How I arrange my priorities are up to me. I use SUPPORT to categorize people, but when the number of people becomes too much, I subjectively arrange them. I will get to everyone eventually, and I will not let the payout window lapse.
Like I said, a lot of other people don't even care about who comments on them, and they're the people who earn tons of votes and comments. What I'm trying to say is that if you feel like you can leave people who comment on your posts hanging, then by all means do so. I'm not guilting anyone or anything, everyone has their own way of maximizing their time. They're probably too busy to reply to minnows or they just reply on people that would net them more meaningful votes, and that's fine. That's just not how I go about things. If I eventually receive 100 different comments, I would probably change my strategy regarding this as well.
Resteeming
Back in the rough and tumble days of Steemit without any reputation or ranking, new users would be surprised to know that resteeming wasn't even a feature. Were you surprised? I mean, were you surprised though? Anyway, resteeming feels like you're hyping up coins or investments. When done correctly, it could serve as a way of helping your investment grow. But, if you flood your feed with tons of resteems, then people won't even bother checking them out. It's a delicate balance for sure.
For me, I try to resteem undervalued posts and posts which I feel deserve more attention than it's getting. I usually resteem posts that have stagnated a bit to inject some new votes and interaction its way. While I don't have a lot of active followers, as long as I bring a vote or comment someone else's way, I feel like I've accomplished a lot.
Don't beg for a resteem, because you're almost always going to get denied. If your post is worth a resteem, and the people are awesome, they'll do so without being asked.
Following
We get to another touchy subject, and one that I feel many people just take for granted. Maybe I just have a tendency to overthink things, but I'm becoming more and more wary of who I follow. There are a lot of people who have developed a strategy of thoughtfully commenting once so that people would follow them, and then they wouldn't return to any of your posts. As far as they're concerned, they've already hooked you in. It's a new age of spammers, and admittedly, I've been hooked by a number of people who do this strategy.
There are other people who spam resteems and flood your feed with other people's posts. That's cool that they're attempting to help other people, but when you lose control of your feed, you lose its initial purpose. I, for one, would like to vote on all of the people I follow. Currently, I'm not able to do so because I've followed a lot of people I don't want to follow anymore. Think of them as bad investments which seemed attractive at the time you invested in them, but they turn out to be nothing but empty promises.
I want a following list that actively engages with me. I don't post multiple times a day, heck I usually only post every other day, so I don't think I'm asking for too much in terms of comments. To that end, I developed an algorithm to weed out the people that I objectively want to follow, and I peppered it in with a few subjective exceptions just because I enjoy reading their work even though they don't comment and/or vote on my posts. I plan to make a post about it after the holidays, but I don't plan to divulge the exact algorithm because I've been thinking of creating an open source project about it. Also, I don't want other people to nitpick on the algorithm as well.
But, like investing in cryptocurrency, the best strategy is to buy low and sell high. Would you buy cryptos that are already at its peak (whales) or will you take a chance and invest on a coin that still poised for an uptick (minnows)? I can't dictate what strategy you should pick, but I know what I'm going with. Nothing wrong to play it safe by investing on blue chips, but if you really want a bang for your buck, might I suggest you pick among the more hungrier coins. Diversify your portfolio.
I want to emphasize that you can follow anyone you want, I'm just detailing how I sort out my "investments". Why would I spend time collecting "investments" that only cause me emotional grief and/or waste my time? Some people want to collect people they follow, and that's cool. To each their own.
My Top (Steemian) Picks
Image Source
Oh wow, I didn't imagine this post would be as meaty as this. So, I'll try to keep this brief. This section was actually my intended focus for this post, as this was just supposed to be a sort of endorsement post for the awesome Steemians that I feel deserve tons of attention. Yes, this is a veiled thank you to my awesome followers, under the guise of an investment tutorial. So here are my picks:
(This is arranged in no particular order)
BOOM (@meesterboom) coin. I was fortunate enough to get in on this coin while it was going from hundreds (Minnow) to thousands (Dolphin), and it has shown no signs of slowing down. A natural entertainer, this coin not only churns out the funniest posts on the platform, but this also returns comments and votes on your posts. It's never too late to get in on this coin, and you won't ever regret investing. I've got a lot riding on this coin, in fact you could say I went all in, and it has never failed me to this day. If you're looking for a complete package then look no further.
DREEM (@dreemit) coin. One of the best investments I've made this year. I watched this coin grow from a couple of cents (Minnow) to the thousands of dollars (Dolphin) it's worth today. This is one of the hardest working coins I've seen here, and apart from its awesome fiction and philosophical points, I feel it's most important feature is that it makes everyone feel included. Did I mention that this one has photos and poetry as well? It's a mixed bag of everything you need in a coin. You will never regret positioning yourself in this one. I surely haven't and I went all in on this.
FYN (@ryivhnn) coin. One of the most underrated coins out there. This has a lot of similarities with the DREEM coin, but instead of fiction, you get art, and a whole lot of heart. If you're in this for the interaction, then I'm not sure why you haven't invested in the FYN coin already. An added bonus is that this coin has recently spawned sidechains that I feel is a split of its different personalities. If you're a completionist, you might want to give the GORC (@gorc), TRIX (@pixietrix) and CUB (@shadowlioncub) tokens a go.
XTIAN (@artistchristian) coin. An up and coming coin, you might want to get in on the action early before you miss out. This coin was called RUNR (@allstarrunner) back then, but has pivoted with a renewed sense of purpose. I see a huge breakout looming in 2018 for this, so get in before everyone else does. Like FYN, this one's art-based and has tons of interaction that goes with it. Why invest in one when you can invest in them both? I surely have, and I'm thankful that I went all in on these coins every single day.
NAQ (@naquoya) coin. It's a coin that has experienced a massive bull run before but has dipped off a bit, for reasons I don't want to get into here. I just have the utmost confidence that this coin is going to bounce back stronger than ever in the coming year. If you're looking for fiction, then this one's a great bet.
EZZY (@ezzy) coin. This one's a no-brainer. I've invested on this coin when it was still obscure. It got a lot of boost when it won a Golden Steemit Award, and it has shown no signs of stopping from then. Now that this coin's a juggernaut, often times like I feel like it's too out of reach for me, but for this one I know that it's worth a shot. I was lucky I got in on this blue chip early, but this coin is already too well-known and hard to reach even for an early investor like me.
FOXY (@lukestokes) coin. I have a special affinity for this coin, mainly because I've gotten the pleasure to work with its founders even before their ICO. One of my blue chip exceptions, this coin has tons of upside with no noticeable negatives. Another thing it has going for it that sets it above other well-known coins is the MHTH (@lukestokes.mhth) network it's using. While you won't get tons of comments, you can never go wrong with this one. Quality over quantity.
TRAF (@trafalgar) coin. This coin practically prints money. Another blue chip exception, this coin is reminiscent of one of my favorites, the BOOM coin. Tons of laughs and tons of witty retorts. Personally, I've received vote dividends from this in the past, but it's quite variable in my case. Others are lucky to receive one every time though, so who knows. Take a chance and maybe you'll be luckier than I am. This coin also has a tether (@traf) which is like a bite-sized version of the main coin. Invest in both and thank me later.
TERRY (@surpassinggoogle) coin. Personally, I haven't received a lot of dividends from this, but many others are reaping the rewards for their investment. Community-driven, this coin is worth a look if you're looking for a bonafide bullish coin. I've been rethinking about my investment to this for months now, but I will never regret having it in my port for the past several months. Like the EZZY coin, I've witnessed this coin go from obscure to mainstream, until it's too out of reach for me.
As much as I want to go on and on, I feel like this post has become too long. I didn't include the obvious blue chips because everyone already knows them well. I'd much rather invest in unknowns and undervalued coins and watch them grow. Here's a mixed bag of blue chips and up and comers that are worth a look: DOM (@verbal-d), PAUL (@therealpaul), HAN (@hanshotfirst), CUR (@beginningtoend), IRA (@irastra), EXP (@finleyexp), DEB (@kiwideb), SYKO (@sykochica), MERE (@merej99), DAD (@dadview), ZEPP (@zeppelin)
And, if you would be so inclined (and if you liked this post), I hope you could spare some room in your portfolio for the JED (@jedau) coin. I feel like it's often overlooked and severely undervalued. But, that's just my opinion.
Did you feel like I missed anyone? Sound off in the comments section if you have more investment options to add.
I wanted to get this in before the holidays, as I might not be able to go online until after. So, let me take this opportunity to say...
Happy holidays to all and none!
Hey brother! Thanks for the mention! But if it comes down to the ultimate in community spirit, innovative excellence and tireless dedication, nothing compares to "Jedcoin". The best of the best!!!
Invest now and reap the mountains of rewards later... :)
I'm not sure I agree with community spirit, because I'm not even part of any group here haha but I will gladly accept the other two compliments. Coming from you, you know that it truly means a lot! Sorry for getting back so late. I've been out of the country, but now I'm back and trying to catch up. Nice to see the great @ezzy on my comments once again!
I've got room in my portfolio for the JED coin!! I consider you a true friend matey chops. Oh the times we have riffed back and forth within the comments. Countless joyous times.
In fact I will go so far as to say you are Top Donk! (Top Donkey if you're not in the know) That's is an accolade that isn't handed out a lot.
I do agree with so much in this post. I am guilty of visiting friends blogs over my feed time and time again when time is short. Did I say time? Perhaps I did as my time is severely limited. lol. I still trawl my feed but it's by friends I am more concerned with first.
Comments are king, and views obvs but comments. Oh man, I am so distressed when I have a post littered with spammy nice post bastarts.
Enjoy your festive break and possibly some snow muckeroon!! :OD
I feel so fortunate that it's the case because the BOOM coin is one of the best investments I've made! BTC can suck it! The BOOM only knows one direction, and it's UP! I never thought I would ever regard people I met over the internet as true friends, but now I have a handful of them. I'm happy to count you among the few, matthew BROderick! I put you, @dreemit and the others before most of my non-internet friends every time!
One day, I do believe, that people would look back at our epic comment threads and be inspired at the friendship we have forged. Quite unlike any other comments I've seen here! Oh you know I'm in the know! You are Top Donk up there with me as well!
Comments are king, and no matter how people manipulate votes and views, genuine comments are hard to fake. It's an undeniable sign of interaction, and it really makes posts come alive after posting! I'm so lucky that I made that poem about your photo when I did haha!
They really are and I am glad you have touched upon that. The views and the votes can all be messed around with but the comments, real comments are the gold in which this house is built. They are the flat that underpins the earth. THEY ARE LAMENT!
Sorry, got lost in my thread a bit. You know what I mean! :OD
LAMENT is the foundation to which our epic friendship is built. No matter how many conversation we would have in other forms, the ones we had, are having and will have in the comments located in the STEEM blockchain will forever be unmatched! I await one half of the plaque we are due. You should be receiving your half three or five days before I do, because our customs bureau here is shit.
Ah the lament. The sweet sweet lament.
I look forward to my half of the plaque. I shall hand it on my wall in silence and then...
lament!!
That shall be the title of the book that documents our friendship. It'll be out in stores some time in the future, and cryptos are the only mode of payment. The book itself will be made of waterproof material because of the inevitability of people spilling their drink while reading it.
Great post, Jed! With SMTs coming, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these "coins" actually become real tokens in the future.
Relationships are key. For them to matter and be genuine, they have to be mutually beneficial but in a gift economy sort of way, not a cold, calculated financial transaction sort of way. That relates to expectations or following strict formulas (which, if done wrong, can seem like manipulation).
I'm glad you've found something that works for you. I also hope more of us take an attitude of everything is a gift and nothing should be expected.
Something else I've been thinking about lately relates to how people of similar class/wealth tend to group together. I need to do a whole post on this, but I think it may be an overlooked facet of why some people get high SP votes and others don't. If that is in play here, it may be an age-old human struggle with no easy answer.
Happy holidays to you, Jed. May JED coin have a major breakout in 2018!
I'm looking forward to investing in a lot of them for sure! Relationships are key, right alongside compassion and mutual respect. And, you're right about it being mutually beneficial. I hope that this post doesn't come across as something along that nature. I've never done a crypto post before, and I just wanted to play off of it by using people as coins and investment strategies as a hard and fast rule. The relationships I've made here are born out of honest to goodness organic interaction with not even a tinge of calculation.
Whenever I can, I do preach your teachings in whatever way I can, so I hope that I do my part in getting that realization out. It's a tough sell for sure, as even I had a tough time grasping it at the beginning. But, once people embrace it, I feel like they'll have a much more enjoyable time here. I mean, I surely have! And it's thanks in large part to you :)
Man, if you could quantify that, I feel like it has the potential to break the wheel! Or, at least it could get people who just vote with the masses to rethink their approach. In any case, I feel like that idea really does have merits.
I do hope the JED coin breaks through all the resistance levels in 2018! Thanks for that vote of confidence, man!
Also, congrats in breaking it to the Top 10! I hope that my constant endorsement put at least a couple of votes that went to that :)
@jedau Totally agreed! That's why I love steemit in the first place! It actually empowers the user! Only platform that I know of where you can practically help another user by rewarding them substantially for their work and not just giving a ''like'' with no actual value.
Highest Regards
@lordneroo
Right!? Surely Steemit woud only be a pioneer and many other services would follow suit. But, we're lucky that we were one of the first ones using the service. Currently, the rewards are a bit skewed, but the potential is there. One of these days, I hope that a balance would be struck. Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts, man!
Wholy crap.
I love the way you made sense of how to use this site. I've been really getting back into posting on this site after getting my head out of my behind. This really helped me out!
Thanks for taking the time to make it!
Mind you, it's all still up to you. I won't ever dictate how anyone else should use this service. I do hope that you become active again not because of the recent surge in STEEM, but because you truly enjoy the content you put up. Thank you for taking the time to read it, and most especially for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it!
I honestly didn't know there was a surge in STEEM until now. Only reason i've been back lately is because my computer was broken for a couple of months. I got it back two weeks ago and i've been treating this site like a full time job.
Actually SBD was the one that really hit big. I think it rose to $14 a piece, if I'm not mistaken. Now it's "down" to $8 but it's still x8 than what we normally get. Everything's a gift, and we should take advantage of it when we can :)
I agree 100%. If it wasn't for my business partner at Kimchi Socks, I NEVER would have gotten into cryptocurrencies like I am right now!
Steemit is actually a LOT of fun!
Nice! Glad you stumbled upon it!
Hi, happy day @jedau.
Excellent informative contribution, as a Christmas gift.
The new ones are learning to develop this new way of rewarding talents.
I've had six months of travel in Steemit and I value the little gained, but that has meant a point of support.
We will be following the advice. I like @surpaassinggoogle.
I wish you a happy Christmas!!!!!
I do hope they learn quickly, before it's too late for them. I hope that this little contribution from me goes a long way. Check out all the other users I recommended as I feel that they offer a lot of different things. I hope you had a happy Christmas! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment :D
What an awesome post and a great way to view at things :)
I hope, some people are thinking voting in me is also investing in the growth of this platform (I try with @welcoming). That would be even greater than the monetary reward :)
Merry Xmas, thx for this post once again!
Thanks for the compliment and for the huge upvote! :) That's a great idea about @welcoming! Quite too often, the other resteeming services are milking newcomers for their hardearned earnings. Good for you for offering it up as a great entry for newbies. I hope you had a merry christmas, and thank you for stopping by! I appreciate it, man :D
Ich finde die Idee super. Aus irgendeinem Grund komme ich nicht in den Chat. Klappt irgendwie mit der Anmeldung nicht. Mir geht es nicht primär um das Geld. Aber es ist eben schon hart, wenn man sehr aufwendige Beiträge postet und sie in der Versenkung verschwinden. Da muss man durch. Ich wäre schon für einen wöchentlichen Treff. Man muss ja nicht teilnehmen. Ich habe hinter mir ein paar weitere neue Mitglieder hinter her gezogen, die es noch wesentlich schwerer haben werden
Are you talking about Steemit Chat? The registration there is separate from Steemit itself. It's tough when you're just starting but just keep at it and don't be discouraged. You should go to other people's posts and leave thoughtful comments there. I've had posts that earn almost nothing, with only one or two comments. And that's when I had already spent one year here, so it's not something only new users go through.
What a terrific post and one that has been weighing on my mind a great deal of late.
Ironic, I wrote a post about the value of commenting the other day, not so much from the individual perspective although that was weighing on my mind. My entire point about commenting is that it lengthens an article which helps when the google bot comes through. From what I understand, google cannot tell the difference between the article and the comments (nor does it probably care) since it is all part of the same page. It is looking at key words and comments that pertain to the article will only serve to hit those words.
As for the feed, I live that nightmare. I went follow crazy when I joined four months ago and I am paying now. I got up to 1100 followers which killed my feed. I since am back to 850, so I am moving in the right direction. What you state is true...you cannot truly follow those who you want with a feed filled with resteems and people who write content you really dont care about.
Great article...thanks.
Yeah i read that post on the importance of commenting and upvoting your commenters thank u too for that....
Do you mind linking that post here? I'm very interested to read your thoughts about it. I have just read, voted and commented on your latest one, but I can't seem to find the one you're talking about here.
That's interesting about SEO chances. For other sites with comments, I'm not sure if that contributes to it, but it's definitely interesting if that's the case here, considering that the comments are tiny posts themselves. Considering discoverability though, I'm sure there are tons of other things to help it rank up on Google.
850 followers!? That's still unheard of for me! I won't be able to keep up with everyone at that length. I'm targetting around 40 or 50 soon. Trying to avoid those who resteem like crazy though. Thanks for taking the time to read and for the lengthy comment! :D
I think this might be it
https://steemit.com/steem/@taskmaster4450/steem-solution-we-need-to-do-this-to-make-steemit-a-huge-success
Thanks for the link!
Awesome post, made better by the mention of the little known Naqcoin :) . Many thanks for that. But overall your done a great job detailing your thoughts, explaining them, and then proceeding to share the love by mentioning many great Steemians (and included me in that list - blush).
You have to be one of them most community minded members here (and there are many of those), and it is always a pleasure to read your thoughts, as well as your stories and blog posts.
Little known!? Ha! It had a big push last year but the people behind just went through a rough patch. Just you wait, it's poised to make a comeback!!
I would have to disagree with your statement about me being a community-minded member. Respectfully, of course. I feel like I don't even belong to a community here. No team, no country, no nothing. I'm fortunate to have made strong connections with awesome people, but I can't count myself as a community member just yet. I've been on the outs in terms of groups all my life, and it seems like it's the same thing here on Steemit.
Likewise, dude! I find your writing one of the most compelling I've read ever. Always great to receive compliments from writers I admire and look up to!
Yes, perhaps you are correct. I didn't choose my words completely correctly. I think what I was trying to say (awkwardly) was that within your area of support (both inward and outward) you are active and generous. And I am a part of the area of support, so I speak from my experience.
I haven't fitted into the overall community either, but that is quite normal for me. So we have that in common.
Oh yeah, for sure! Unfortunately, my vote isn't worth tens of dollars (though I've seen it score above a dollar now!) so I show my support through encouragement in the comments. I don't know how to go about it without being genuine haha!
When I spotted this post a couple of days ago (oops, maybe it was 4 days ago!) a few things came to mind.
I haven't read the many comments, so maybe this has already been said many times. But never mind, saying it again is all good. I fail to see how anyone could find you unlikable. You are kind, thoughtful, loyal, supportive, creative just to name a few admirable qualities. Though maybe one fault is not thinking highly enough of yourself ;-) If your posts sometimes don't reach as much of an audience as they deserve, there are a multitude of reasons why. Trust me, it's not because people don't like you.
It was a great list of the top ten Steemians to invest in, which I heartily agree with. And when I found my name amongst the mixed bag at the bottom, I was very touched that you included me, despite my dismal performance in the last 6 months. Thank you for your faith in me.
Oh man, sorry for getting to this so late Deb! This has gotten lost because I was looking from the bottom. I wish I had read this before the end of 2017 because this comment really tugged on my heartstrings. Not gonna lie, this made my eyes glaze up a bit and completed my day. So, thanks for that!
I do have a low opinion of myself, and I guess it projects to other people some times. I've had a terrible going socially for years, so I feel like I've been always carrying that weight. It has only been a few years since I decided to cut loose, just have fun and be as genuine as I can be, but the spectre of the past still haunts me from time to time. I appreciate all of the compliments, and I just feel so lucky that I have friends here who pick me up when I'm down :')
The only reason why the names at the bottom feel like a mixed bag is that the post has already gone too long, I didn't want to pander by making a part 2 for this, and my time was severely limited. I hope you don't think the people I gave a shoutout to without much detail are considered less, because I certainly don't. If I could, I would've gave tons of details for every one I gave a shout out to in a heartbeat.
I think us introverts are not good in social situations, and it takes a long time to get better at that. We can't beat ourselves up about it. Maybe online though, our true natures can shine through. At least if we're in a safe place to share a bit of ourselves, which Steemit has been, at least for me. I'm glad my comments made your day.
You know, when I think about it, I guess Steemit has been the same way for me. I just had too high expectations for it. Once I throttled it down a ton, I feel like my time here has been very fruitful. It's a good barrier between us introverts and the extroverted world.
Wow. Thank you for the recommendation. Now, i'm pressured. Lol followed all of them that are not on my list yet. 🤘🤘🤘
Haha! They already know you from A Day in the Clouds so no need to be shy! Bonus points if you introduce yourself as Dadier and they know who you are haha!
Wow, man. Wow. You knocked it out of the park with this one. You threw an 96 Yard bomb, you returned a 106 yard kickoff, you hit the game winning 3 (ok, i'm done now). Seriously though, even aside from the fact that I am stoked to be one of your coins, this is legit one of the best posts I've seen on steemit EVER - and that is no exaggeration. This should be a MUST READ for anyone who is new to steemit, I think it will help them to enter into this world with the right mindset.
I especially loved when you talked about posting what you are passionate about as opposed to what steemit is passionate about (and thus getting more votes) - that is something I have struggled with on and off; if I do art for contests on steemit i'll make $10+ but as soon as I post my own stuff it dips to $2; then I find myself in this conundrum where I end up doing art that I'm not as stoked to be doing if it was my own art (but, one of the contests did end up creating Commander Elmer, which I'm really happy about - I think we haven't seen the last of Commander Elmer lol).
Oh man, that "Support" you broke down in steemit terms was genius. GENIUS!
I literally have so many things running through my head after reading this that i'm forgetting stuff that I was going to comment on and jumping straight to other things.
Once again, thanks for the XTIAN coin and I look forward to seeing what the JED coin does and what the JEDXTIAN coin does, ha! (when we make our "cover" for the current collab we should put JEDXTIAN as our label, like "Marvel")
You can never go wrong with sports terms, brother! With that top notch intro, it feels as if you banked in a mid-range J with few seconds left to make it a two possession game, you hit a curve ball straight into the stands at the bottom of the ninth with all the bases loaded.
Huge compliment, brother! I feel undeserving of it, but I'll take it wholeheartedly. Nice to feel appreciate for the effort! I really wanted to give a more grounded overview of the platform. There are way too many posts hyping up the interaction and the earnings, but I feel that does more harm than good. If everyone is coming in with a realistic expectation, more people would be satisfied with the experience.
I feel like you shouldn't be too hard on yourself regarding making posts that you're not passionate about. These are exciting times but these are certainly tough times as well. Whatever we can do to increase our exposure, we should. I mean, look at this post. Months ago, I would've never thought of writing this. I would consider myself selling out. But now, I feel like this is a means to an end. All I wanted really was to give a shoutout to the people that make my Steemit experience awesome (you included of course) but it turned out to be so much more.
Commander Elmer was indeed serendipitous! But, if joining contests would get your other art more views, then they're worth doing. I know what you mean about forgetting stuff. Sometimes when that happens, I pull up a notepad and I start writing my reply as I'm reading the post. The SUPPORT thing was something that came to me as I was writing this, so that was a great coincidence haha!
I strongly believe that the XTIAN coin will have a breakout 2018! I do hope that the JEDXTIAN coin helps boost the JED coin as well haha! I feel like my coin picks are going straight to the moon and beyond!
I'm going to give this post the attention it deserves, but for now I cheated and skipped to the part where I was sure to be hahaha!!!
It was fun reading myself as a coin. No doubt that the Jed Coin is one of my top picks out there and will be to the end of my days!
I hope you are having the merriest of holidays and we'll have lots to catch up on after the New Year!
Love you bro!! xxoo
I know DREEM was the obvious name for your coin, but I was thinking DMT would have been good too ;)
That sounds like a timezone to me haha!
I see what you mean there! I was thinking of dimethyltryptamine, the 'Spirit Molecule'. ;)
Haha! Sounds so close to LSD!
Looking forward to reading your thoughts when you find the time to read this, sis! It was an elaborate ruse just so I could give awesome people like you a shoutout at the end. If I could put you and the Boomer side-by-side, I definitely would every time since that's how I regard you both in real life. I would put you two ahead of friends I made physically any day!
I wanted to say way more in the descriptions, but the post is already lengthy enough as it is. I fear that the length has already driven many people away haha! I will HODL the DREEM coin for the rest of eternity, so that's good to hear that you'll do the same with the JED coin haha!
I'll still be online until before I fly, and maybe when we've settled there I might be able to go online during nights or early mornings. The internet connection there is one of the fastest in the world after all haha! Lots of love, sis! I hope you and the family are crushing it during the holidays!
I can always count on you for a great read. I loved the first part of the post where you talk about the steemit users as the investment. I love the concept.
Then the latter half stole the show. I love how you gave everyone coin names. Some of these coins I have yet to invest in. I may have to drop some SP into them and add to my portfolio.
Also like the shout out at the end as well.
Not surprised that this post has a lot of upvotes, views, and pay out! Get in on the JED coin. .. it is headed to the moon!
Man, thanks for that encouraging compliment! You don't know how much that means :) The idea just came to me. While I wasn't able to trim it down, I'm glad you loved the concept. I really wanted to give you a description as well, but yeah, the post was already too long. Sorry about that. Looking forward to getting to know you a lot more so that I could give you a more detailed shoutout, Darryl!
Woohoo! If the JED coin is heading to the moon, I do hope it launches alongside the DAD coin! Thanks for taking the time off your busy schedule to read and comment, man!
My coin is still sitting at the bottom of the well. Hoping the wish that was made when it was tossed in comes true!
At least there are some great fish swimming close by.
Dude, those are not ranked. I hope you don't think that just because of the order that I think any less. If I did, I would've not included you in there :D Looking at your most recent posts, I see that you've been on fire as of late. Hoping to catch up on everything I've missed, though I don't know how feasible that would be.
Woohoo! I made the list! I've been using a similar strategy, as I made a list of the 'coins' that I felt were likely humans, and had actually commented or replied from time to time. Now I have a newer list, it's longer and so some get missed from time to time, but seeing the coin in front of me keeps me clicking eventually.
Man, if you commented more, I could've added more descriptions to the PAUL coin haha! It's nice to see the PAUL coin rise above every day. I really enjoy reading about your thoughts and I feel like the PAUL coin would definitely surged if you commented more. Thanks for taking the time to read this though! This is one of my lengthier pieces so far haha!
I knew when you started with 'this is long' that it was going to be just that! There's some things I like about being a lesser known coin; I feel like I can still post what I like as things are, but if I had a bunch of supporters I might feel obligated to try to please them specifically, instead of just doing what feels right that moment. I do feel like the PAUL coin has surged since it was mentioned here though, seriously. Thanks for the promotion!
Man, you know I'm always happy to help you out. I just wish that my votes were worth a lot more to give you more of a financial boost. Your good people, man. I wouldn't spend time commenting on your posts if I didn't think you're worth it. The PAUL coin will rise even more. Just a bit more elbow grease to break that annoying resistance barrier. We'll be flying to the moon side-by-side soon enough, brother!
what a great post. I do the exact same things and follow the exact same logic and even further some times ( for not my own good) For Starters i wanna clarify to that i crave for comments,i want badly to see comments and interact with others and not some just shitty ''good post'' ''keep it up''.
The first thing when i enter on my account is to check my replies and answer them as soon as possible. I like not only the good one comments but if something for some reason, someone didnt like it i wanna know it and why so i can become better. In fact i have posted a couple of months ago that i prefer to just have some quality comments than upvotes.
After all that i check my feed and when i mean check i literally take about 2-3 hours per day maybe less maybe a bit more to check all the posts of the ones i follow, i try to read it or at least a 75% of it and then depending on the subject reply to them and after all this is done i check how my posts are going in terms of money. Then it's time to find some new people or welcome a couple of new members of this community
Anyway i tend to write a lot in my comments sorry about that, the idea with the coins-followers you made is quite funny and amazing, someday i may use it too!
Thank you! Glad to see someone else follow the same strategy :D I do stand by my belief that comments are the lifeblood of any post, and it's a shame that great posts are thrown by the wayside just because not many people find it fascinating. Sometimes, comments are driven to the post because a certain post was put up by a popular user. All the while, there are similar posts that were done by less popular people out there gathering dust, even if their posts are far more superior.
I do the same thing!! I head straight to the Replies, and then I discover awesome posts from the people who commented there. What I do is when I see a thoughful comment (much like this), I head on over to that person's profile first to check on their posts before I even reply to their comment on my posts. It's not the perfect strategy, but it has worked for me for months. I have discovered tons of awesome content and people that I would've otherwise not noticed.
Awesome of you to share your strategy here! I appreciate it very much :D You have such wonderful thoughts on the subject matter, and I apologize for getting back to this so late. Also, you never have to apologize for writing long comments, at least on my posts. I do the same, and I have been chastised for it before, talking about writing comments longer than many other posts. Feel free to just go all-out in the comments :D
i cant hide my excitement right now :p it's really really hard to find people with not only similar beliefs regarding steemit but with the exact same. Long term i think it will only benefit both us and the people around us. Another thing i am just starting doing is give some tips via steemit-chat to new members that i feel like they have potential and much to offer but they have no clue how and where to start. You don't have to apologize about ''late answer'' it's the holidays season i get it and from what i checked you took quite some time and replied to everyone and with not just a thanks or a like so that raised you in my eyes once again!
Sorry for getting back so late. I've been out of the country, and have only started to get caught up on everything that I've missed. I know you said not to apologize, but it has been way longer than the holiday season. I've spent the turn of the year in South Korea, is why I've been mostly offline.
i will say it again! you don't have to apologize to me. i have read the other posts and i know you where in South Korea! i hope you relaxed and replenished your powers for more steemit up ahead!
And yet I still feel like I need to haha! Looking to get more Steeming done soon. I've been catching up on what I missed when I was away haha!
After reading your post, I feel more optimistic though sometimes I feel that nobody likes my post coz I'm a tiny newbie...but for me it doesn't matter whether they read it or not, what I want is to continue on working hard until I reach what other steemians have reached. The knowledge about cryptocurrencies and other internet generation stuff is priceless as it is the trend now. I feel that I'm 'IN' - somehow lol! We need to be patient and persistent inorder for us to stay strong here. We'll benefit from this- I'm thankful I have known steemit.com
It's hard to be a newbie here, especially since people have been grouping up. Heck, it's even harder to be a 1.5 year old minnow here haha! Newbies get a boost because whales want to ramp newbies up quickly. But, for old minnows like me, there just doesn't seem to be a place here anymore.
You just have to put yourself out there and leave thoughtful comments in other people's posts to get noticed. Looking at your profile, I see that your last post was 2 months ago, why is that? Just post about things you're passionate about, comment on posts that you feel share your interests and don't give up. These are exciting times we're in, and we have to adapt to the turbulence if we want to survive.
You have the right mindset there, with regard to patience and persistence. Just keep at it, and you'll do great!
great post dear @jedau I get all the points I wanted to understand before ....you really give all the information we need ...thanks for sharing
Thank you for stopping by! I'm glad that you found this post useful. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment :)
Amazing how you think @jedau ..i almost got drifted by desparation lol i won't want to use that words but thank you for this...i'll follow this strategy....and ofcoures resteemed and followed looking fowarding to more interesting post like this.
I'm not quite sure what you meant about "drifted by desparation" but thank you for the compliment! You can use this strategy as a blueprint, but in the end it'll be up to you. Thank you for the resteem and I do hope that you get the chance to comment on other posts as well :)
Ok...well...thanks for the strategy...
You're welcome, man!
This is very very making sense, I have already resteemed, thank you so much for the info it will really help newbies like me
Nice! I appreciate the resteem. I'm glad that it translated really well. I really do hope that more newbies find this useful as they are the ones that I had in mind when I wrote this.
Great analysis, one reason why I love this community because great minds share ideas on how to help you grow.
I would definitely take note of this points you have highlighted here. Thanks so much
That's a great sentiment. I appreciate the compliment, man. Thank you! I do hope you found the points I stated here useful.
essential information.
thanks for sharing @jedau
Thank you for leaving a comment! I really hope that you found this post useful.
Wow thank you for this well written post and I totally agree! I'm so happy to see comments on my own blog posts and I definitely want to share this happiness with others and try to get interest in the culture of other steemers.
You're welcome, and thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I do hope we succeed in spreading the love. It would be a shame if Steemit would be filled with selfish people hoarding the money and interaction.
This is well detailed and an eye opener to newbies like me..... Investment is key.. Steemit is truly the future.
Building strong relationships is key as well. You have to put yourself out there instead of just expecting people to come to you. I'm sure you have your head on right and you'll do great here!
Great post. I'm just new here also and your post really helped me on how to utilize this platform. Happy holidays!
That's great that it had that effect, pre! Just continue leaving thoughtful comments on other people's posts, and the interaction will come. Patience and persistence--that's all you need here. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Thanks again! And by the way, I love A Day in the Clouds.
Thank you for reading! I hope that you could take time to comment on it whenever you can. I would love to read your thoughts on it :)
I couldn't agree more sir @jedau!!!
I noticed you commenting in one of the undervalued coins i know (Kuya Zep @zeppelin)
Somehow, I believe we share the same strategy. The strategy of investing in friendships. Steemit is a relationship-driven platform, and I believe without building a strong camaraderie in this platform, one could fail to stay for longterm.
It is important to note that we should appreciate others as much as we want to be appreciated.
I was actually the one who brought @zeppelin over to Steemit :) It's great that you found him and his posts enjoyable! I'm glad that we share the same strategy. I've been preaching this on and off during my 1.5 year stay here, and I'm glad that people consider the same things important. I burned out before when I tried to do much, so adjusting expectations is key to longevity here.
Do unto others what you want others to do unto you is a great rule to follow :D Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
I actually had fun reading the comments and replies in this post. Your ability to engage with others is truly commendable!
I've been known for it for a few months now. Commenting is one of my main strengths here haha I consider every comment as a post unto itself, that's why I don't just comment willy-nilly. Unfortunately, it doesn't really assure people coming back to my posts.
Nice post. Steemit is really making people rich and will keep assisting people financially
Well, for me I think money is secondary, but we all have our own goals. I do hope that you find another motivation to complement the financial aspect. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Hey Buddy, thanks for the mention. I enjoyed seeing all your coin reviews and will certainly be checking them out. Also appreciate your views on the various aspects of steemit, especially resteeming, something I should be doing. Hey, I can resteeming this!
Don't mention it, bud! The shoutout is well deserved! I appreciate the resteem, it's an honor! I do hope that you get to know the other coins better. I've had a fun time trying to get them all together :D
This is a great post I must confess. This is so inspiring to a newbie like me. Having gone through your post, you are a man with a large heart. Thank you for not discriminating. Happy holidays do have a wonderful time
Thank you for the compliment! I'm glad you think so! I hope you found this post useful :) Just keep trying to make quality posts and the interaction will come!
wow!!!! I must confess, this a great job you did here, I need to resteem it, some people need to see this
Thanks, man! I hope that people who get to see this take the time to comment as well. I appreciate you getting the word out!
You're welcome @jedau I will do it over and over again
That's great to hear! I appreciate it :D
Talk about Long post! I agree with the way you look at users as investments. Especially about looking at minnows as crypto that have a lot of potential. I haven't looked at it that way before, though I certainly am aware of it. Just never used that type of lens. Good call on that! Part of this also reminds me to invest in myself. And that requires less effort in other areas of life to free up your time to do more creative things. Resteemed!
Yeah, sorry about that haha! It was shorter in my head, which sounds like a sexual thing haha! It just clicked for me, looking at coins that were worth very little but are pumping as of late. I appreciate the resteem and for the comment!
I couldn't be more surprised when I saw your first comment on my post. I simply didn't expect it. I know, I know, I attached myself to your Traffic Koans competition, which I liked very much. I appreciate your thoughtful comments and suggestions on my posts very much, you are the only one who reads and leaves a comment on my post that makes me think. There have been few others who commented I don't always reply on your comments, because I'm not the person who always wants to have the last word. So, if I find that your comment has said it then I don't add anything. To find myself in your bag of chips is an honor as much as this post is a surprise. Thank you for your support and happy holidays to you and success with the take off with your coin.
Well deserved, man. I think that you just need to find a niche for your posts and it'll take off. You're very passionate with what you write and it really translates to your posts. Just need to tweak things a little and I'm sure that the interaction will come.
In what way you think I should tweak things?
I've mentioned some notes to you before, but at the top of my head, I guess, adding in more pics, dividing thoughts into sections, making discussions interactive, those sort of things.
The problem is that I tried to use markdown but half of it didn't function - like placing the pic on the side or in the middle, and such, so I ended up with the simples tand working solutions, but yes, I could add some titles to paragraphs.
That's the spirit! Markdown takes time to get used to. Fortunately, there are a number of online editors available for free so you can edit your post there first and then just paste them on Steemit when they're ready.
Thanks, would you be so kind to tell me which online editors are the most simple to use?
thanks @jedau for this post. i used to think it was just posting.... now I'm getting to know the dynamics to steemit. this has been helpful
I'm glad you found this useful. From here on in, I hope that you expand your repertoire and change your approach for the better. Thanks for taking the time to comment! I appreciate it :)
Tnx for the info.. It really helps me especially im a newbie of the community..
I'm glad to see a lot of newbies finding this useful. I do hope that you put what you read to practice. Just keep at it and the support will come. Thanks for reading and commenting!
thank you @jedau. This post has helped me a lot since I am a newbie here
I certainly hope that you'll put what you learned to practice. Just keep at it, keep continuing to leave thoughtful comments on other people's posts and eventually the interaction (and support) will come. Thanks for the comment!
Cryptocurrencies are the future and thank goodness that we are part of it..good post..
Thanks for the compliment! Exciting times we're living in indeed. I do hope that we truly become pioneers in this brave new world we find ourselves in. Thanks for the comment!
This is very great work done @jedau and agree that That pertains to expectations or consecutive stringent formulas (and that, if succeeded unacceptable, can appear like administration).
I'm overjoyed you have discovered thing that one advocate you. I still cherish also of us receive an sensibility of the whole lot is actually a reward and not anything must be expected.
Keep it up Steem On
Thank you for the comment! I'm glad the post resonated with you. Just keep a good mindset and good things will come. I appreciate you taking the time to read my post :)
Dear @jedau
Thanks for reply and boost up me. Take care and stay blessed
Keep level up
Take care and stay blessed as well! :)
Oh goodness it would appear I am indeed a coin! [chokes on silent laughter because it's too late at night for the rolling on floor variety] Everything would have made sense if I checked posts first but replies first is how I roll XD And sidechains! I have sidechains! [hyperventilating] XD
Love how everything is wrapped up as investment advice, and it would appear we have similar strategies :O Maybe I could be a half-decent investor after all XD (as long as it's people and art, don't even ask me about the other stuff XD)
Love the SUPPORT acronym/menmonic, nice work there!
I have heaps of time and space for JED coin, it's one of my favourites!
Sorry I got back to you so late, matey chops. I'm glad you like it! The FYN coin is definitely one of my faves as well! You know what they say about great minds, right?
I'm actually out of the country in my quest to experience snow for the first time :) so I might not be on that much for a week or so.
No worries at all! Ooh where you going? Or will you tell us when you get there? Enjoy your snow experience :D
I went to South Korea! Where the kimchi flows freely and speaking English sounds silly. Like my SG trip, I plan to do a series of posts on it, but with a way different twist. It'll be easily digestible, and not posted daily haha!
Thanks for sharing.. GBU
Great post, following you now for your steem coin picks!
I've never thought about it like that, but that's why in cryptos I buy ones on the way up and leave whales like Bitcoin to people who think Bitcoin and crypto are interchangeable terms
We have the same trading strategy then! Oh man, I really wish we were able to interact more. I always wanted to comment on your posts as much as Deb's, and while I commented on some of your posts, I think I stopped because you never visited mine. Which is a shame. Hopefully, we can rectify it this new year. I have trimmed my following list, and I hope that you're one of the new people I follow! Sorry for getting back to this so late. I've been out of the country, and I suck at using Steemit on my phone.
Apologies for not giving you any feedback - I'm a bit slack at that but will make more effort to pay attention :)
No worries, bro! It wasn't meant to call you out on it, I just felt like giving a reason for my absence in your posts haha! I'm sure that'll change in the coming weeks.
Aiming to be more on the ball now!
Haha you always include the most relevant GIFs or images!
Thanks - that's my Steemit trademark - 3500 comments with pics so far!
Cheers mate :)
Cheers, man! And a belated happy new year! I hope all is well :)