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@missioncontrol I agree at the moment the post promotion is not coming near having its cost paid by the post payout.

  1. post payout still has 3 more days to go. If picked up and promoted by a few influential whales, the post payout would skyrocket overnight
  2. I have picked up some quality new followers and become follower of quite a few as well. You could place a numeric value on that, or you could say it's good investment in the future, or you could say it's part of the intangible fun and community building that is what we are here to do
  3. I think generally you have to take the big picture of the positive opportunity for exposure and what you would enjoy contributing and exploring long term.
  4. yes I agree it would be nice to score a good "payday" but the Steem I would get I would accumulate. And use a small part of it to promote, do contests and giveaways.
  5. In my experience you can occasionally get lucky with a high paying post but you can't evaluate each post solely in terms of payout. I say try to get good payouts, try different things to promote, but keep in mind the creative and social elements that draw you to the site and keep those goals and activities front and center.

Plus there is some minor but not insignificant payout from comments. That's an overlooked aspect. I encourage everyone to give plenty of upvotes to comments and make intelligent or relevant comments of your own. It adds up!

@billsurf it doesn't really seem to be working out...

You'd get more lucky with a minnow though...

Minnows are some of the best supporters and they grow bigger over time!

what is a minnow? is that new members like myself?

Correct @allthatmoney! People who have been on the site for a relatively long time gradually acquire more voting power. So the payout is not a direct function of the number of upvotes for a post. "Whales" are high influence people whose upvote carries more value. This post has gotten lots of good minnow response probably because I did The paid post promotion which got it in front of lots of new people. That's why I said that you couldn't evaluate a post or a promotion solely in terms of its payout. This post has reached new people and increased the number of people following me and interested in the stories, so I declare success! We all start as "minnows" and it's great to be one. In fact, there are giveaways and post promotions which are open only to minnows if you search for "minnows" or "minnow help."