An article on my journey through "Steemit denial" and how I plan to recover
Greetings, Steemit readers and bloggers alike!
I, like many, found Steemit after hearing about the first payout on July 4th. I was immediately drawn in by the idea, hoping for Steemit to become the next big social network. I had high hopes of writing quality articles about my passions and getting rewarded by attention and "Steem". As of yet, I've only written two articles on Steemit: one on Pokémon GO, and the other, a quick introduction in introduceyourself (I daresay, without even one photo!). Both articles gained little to no traction amidst the huge flood of articles released each day here on Steemit. As a result, I, being my often easily distracted self, had already lost some hope in becoming a somewhat big writer/blogger on Steemit. I put off writing another article, churning up ideas in my head that never made it onto a webpage. I was in what I shall now call "Steemit denial".
Days eventually turned into a week without any activity but the rare upvote every so often on an article that interested me. As the value of Steem began to rise, I'd begun to worry I'd already missed my chance at establishing myself as a writer in the community. What was I doing wrong? Naturally, I blamed my own writing. I decided to look into what Steemit's highest earners had to say on the subject:
- "The Truth About Ridiculously High Steemit Payout" - @cryptoctopus
- "Format Your Steemit Articles/Create Article Content And Gain Steem Power!" - @cryptogee
In this article, I will be putting the above articles' advice to the test by using them. Not to disprove them, no, not at all, I enjoy and fully trust the mentioned writers' articles. This is just a playful/slightly jokey/experimental article to test the effects of the above advice on my writing.
The Advice
First, lets take a look at the advice that appears in the above articles and how I've acted upon them
- Coming up with what to write about - make it irresistible, find a niche you know and focus on it, look at what's hot, and choose your voice or format.
- To this I say: true that! My first article on Pokémon GO was named "Pokémon GO - Review and Info". How boring is that?! I've since renamed the article to something more enticing, if you want to go check it out yourself. Next, to find a niche. The niche I'm writing in right now is Steemit Meta, but I really haven't found a specific niche to stick to. I took a look a hot niches, and I found that people were writing meta articles on Steemit itself. The format of this piece I would say is a casual... filler? Opinion? I didn't think this through.
- Writing your article - make it your hobby, not your life; format well; draw in your audience, with photos etc.
- Now, I've already failed on the first one, as I've spent a lot of time thinking about what to write, but struggling to put it on paper. But whatever, I guess I spend my time how I want to. Formatting? Well, I'll try my best, am I doing okay so far?
W H I T E
S P A C E
- Adding photos is something I definitely missed in my introduceyourself article... Whoops. This article, however features some original art. Enjoy!
- Outside of your blog - promote your articles and gain a good reputation.
- I'm a public introvert and private extrovert. That means that in public I'm pretty shy and keep to myself. But on the internet, I can be quite the handful! Anyways, I have yet to promote my articles on any other social networks, since my audience isn't very large anywhere, but I will be trying my best to keep a positive reputation here on Steemit!
Where I plan to go next
So where do I plan to go with this advice? Well, I've already applied it to this article, but hopefully, instead of going back into "Steemit denial", I will be able to continue writing my passion and entertaining what audience I have! I also want to find out the best times to post; when the Steemwhales and everyone else is online to curate. I will most likely be dabbling in writing in all categories of my interests to find a niche to stick to. Looking forward to writing and reading more on Steemit!
nice post, I believe that the whales are in the east coast, not sure where part of the world you are in , but i'm talking about u.s. time zone, hopefully as steem grows there are more whales out here in the west so we can get paid late at night.
Nice illustrations!
Thanks! I'm thinking of doing a webcomic or something exclusively on Steemit.
Way to jump back in with both feet. All we can do is all we can do. I always believe consistency wins no matter what you're doing. It creates the habits that make us a success or failure. Check out my "hacking steem" post and see if you agree.
I agree, great way to get back in the game. I think creating a habit of passion in your content that is displayed in a lovely and clean way; will instantly translate to the end-user when their attention is directed your way. Great post.
Thanks for the kind words! I will make sure to check out your post!
The key, for me, is to consider it like any blog or social network. I never made a buck from them, and neither should I expect to make anything here. If I do, that's just a massive bonus.
So, I think the secret is, to do your best, be honest, speak from your heart. If you're lucky - it'll make you rich. If not, you'll never have any regrets knowing you did your best.
That's some awesome advice! I completely agree, and will definitely keep that in mind!
Finding your own voice is a big part of writing. It is unique, it is you, and it is what will make people come back for more. Find your voice. All the best !
Thanks for the advice! Happy Steeming!
Good post and it paid off, now your at $35, well not thousands, but that's better than what I get lol :)
I enjoyed your steemthoughts :)
All good suggestions that apply to Hive also.