If you didn't like writing before, Steemit probably won't work for you.

I'm not trying to be a downer.

I've been playing around in the Bitcoin space for some time now. I've helped market coins. I've made a couple bucks here and there investing by buying into new coin releases and I came really close to getting a mining business off the ground but it's probably for the best that I didn't -- I was a little late for the party there.

I'm just saying there are no magic bullets or free lunches

"Well, wait a second," you might retort, "What about Jeff Berwick making over ten grand on his first Steemit blog post?"

I'd say that he already had that social capital / equity from his years and years of amassing a following in the anarchy space and from creating content on his own in other areas. As you all know, he's a successful businessman, video blogger, investor, and generally quite a cult of personality.

So why are you wasting your time? Who the heck are you?

Man, the hypothetical you is really making some great points. I'm writing here because I love writing. I honestly don't expect to make any kind of serious cash on this site, but if I saw evidence to the contrary, if any of my posts seemed to defy my expectations, I'd probably put more time into creating content here.

My name is RJ Parker (not the science fiction author that goes by the same name). I created the brand Roads to Liberty and I also create video content on my own YouTube channel.

So, are you hating on Steemit?

No, far from it. I'm just pointing out something I know from spending years as a marketer:

• Critical mass: You need to get a certain number of users of a service in order to reach a tipping point. After this point, word of mouth and return users essentially keeps you afloat.
• Spokespeople: It really helps if your brand can gather some social proof by way of endorsements. When well-known public figures endorse and use a product, it makes others feel compelled to do so. I'm a good example of this as I created this account over a month ago, but wasn't compelled to come back and make a post until I saw it was catching on.
• Not all content is valuable: Heck, this post might also languish in obscurity. If it does, it will be a data point for me and it will prove the point I'm making. Regardless, I'm already seeing a ton of posts in the "new" section that are essentially content creators asking or even pleading for help. "How do I make money on here? I really need money."

I'm not trying to hate on anybody who had high hopes for Steemit and is finding out that they're not getting rich quick on the site The thing I'm ultimately trying to say is that I believe that nobody is going to pay you to create content until they're getting value from what you're creating and also when they actually believe in you.

It's a tough task to make yourself present, consistently, to the extent that you can amass a following. Heck, what I'm saying I believe is exactly the premise of Steem -- you need your peers to deem your content valuable (by upvoting) in order to get paid. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have thousands or tens of thousands or millions of followers on other platforms that you can link from in order to drive traffic to your Steem posts.

Don't be discouraged, I'm not telling you to stop making content

Just make sure that you'd be just as happy expressing yourself and taking part in this new crypto-enabled content platform even if you're not going to make any substantial amount of cash doing so. In the end, you or I making $100 on Steem would be about the same -- relatively -- as it is for a millionaire like Berwick making $20,000. I think he's a millionaire anyway...