We are promoting Steemit the wrong way. Here is what you need to know...

in steemit •  7 years ago 

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There are many initiatives to promote Steemit and in the past I was a big fan of them.
Every initiative that helps the STEEM blockchain grow, is a good thing, right?
So "more people" = "more success" - is that really the case?

The primary way these initiatives are promoting Steemit can be summed up with the slogan:
"Get rewarded for using Steemit!"
That's a nice idea, but it is also a flat out lie.

Let me explain, how Social Media works:

  • 5% of all people are content creators
  • 5% of all people write a comment from time to time
  • 90% of people are passive consumers

This is the case since the beginning of Social Media. You can observe this on every Facebook page.
Knowing this, I still thought, that it may be a good idea to bring in more people, because we need consumers who read our articles, just to realize, that this won't work out.
These people are lured into Steemit with the idea, that they will earn money through social media.
The fact of the matter is, that they won't.
Earning Steem through content curation - passive upvoting - is only something a whale can do.
So unless the newly won consumer buys in with huge amounts of Steem and becomes a whale himself, this consumer won't earn anything here. That's a fact.
What makes things worse though is, that "we" have sold them the dream of earning money and have now created a customer, who is deeply disappointed by our service.
He will leave Steemit and tell everyone, that it's a scam.
We just created negative word-of-mouth propaganda.

What we really need to promote...

I want to propose a different approach to Steemit marketing.
First we have to get perfectly clear, that Steemit is an elite network.
The way it works at the moment, Steemit is for the 5% of content creators.
These content creators will also read and comment on other niches (and also may sometimes write content outside their own niche).
It's not possible to re-educate the 90% of consumers into becoming content creators themselves. This is a fairy tale.
What you get, when doing so, is a pile of shitty content (useless memes etc) and basically nothing, real content creators will pay for with their voting power. This is the road to disappointment.

So after becoming clear, what "we" really are, we have basically 2 choices:

  1. Define our niche. Be the network from and for content creators. Get the 5-10% and be happy.
    or in case we still believe, that more consumers are needed:
  2. Bring them in with a different approach and not via the monetary rewards. Steemit is also about decentralization, learning about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency and a great community of people, who are devoted to free speech and different niches, where you can read quality stuff, that you won't be able to read elsewhere.

The one thing we shouldn't do, is to mix them up.
Let's do either 1 or 2 - whatever you prefer. Let's be clear and authentic.

Knowing that STEEM is much more than just the Steemit app, and with the introduction of SMTs later this year (or next year), there may be other ways to earn Steem, that may also create possibilities for consumers - but at the time being, let us please focus on what we can provide and stop initiatives that "get more people to Steemit" with the wrong selling points.
Your goals may be well meant, but are hurting the platform more, than you may think.

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These are very valid points! I’m also rethinking my approach to growing the platform. I’m not comparing Steemit to FB anymore. I’m comparing Steemit to a website blog. Steemit will replace your blog, not FB. I believe APPICS May have a legit shot at being a FB killer! Thanks for the post!! Resteem

Thank you @brettcalloway! That's straight to the point. I hope, Steemit Inc. will have introduced some filtering system by then, so that posts from other apps will show up in a different way on your Steemit account and not flood the feed like Zappl or Dmania posts do at the moment!

You make some really valid points as I flap around in the mud at the bottom of the pool despite creating quality content.

I tell myself daily cream rises to the top ~ then question how this is possible when many here can't tell the difference from curdled milk :(

I have posted the following several times during the past few days and each time it bears relevance:

less is more.jpg

Onwards and Upwards!

xox

Not to shill my own post, but I actually wrote a post on avoiding frustration on here that speaks directly to your point. Nutshell, there is both a perspective that's needed and some skillful actions that are needed to break out of the newbie rut of no one seeing your content to provide traction for your work.

It can be done! I've been only here only 2 weeks and am already building a good foundation and starting to see profits. But I can see how it could have gone very differently had I not met up with certain information really early on. I've actually written too very long articles summing all that up, and I hope they are helpful to you if you care to read them. Keep the faith!

Please do promote your articles here! They are absolutely helpful and more people should get the pleasure to read them! ❤️

❤️

"I tell myself daily cream rises to the top ~ then question how this is possible when many here can't tell the difference from curdled milk :("

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing my ass off over here because I've said the exact same thing!!

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Thank you! Yes, even knowing the difference between good content and shitty one doesn't automatically mean, that you get the recognition you would deserve. Life's too perfect to be fair. 😉
On the other hand, I let my readers decide, what good content is and what isn't - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - but this doesn't mean, that if you don't get enough recognition, that your content is bad either.
Maybe then it's just basic marketing for yourself - building your personal brand - defining more and more, what you are all about. Thank you and much Love! ❤️

Haha, ok, this time you might not agree with me. But I think we shouldn't forget that all is Light energy. The Universe will faithfully provide us always with exactly that which we need. The more we try to think out a way through this 'quagmire' the more we end up overthinking it, which resists the natural flow of things.
My life experience has been again and again that whenever I meddled in the universal flow of Being by thinking and then Doing, I merely hampered the most wonderful natural solution to unfold most rapidly. I always delayed it, and later I always found myself thinking: "I should have let it unraveled in its own way." The external always adjusted most quickly most wonderfully in perfect timing when I didn't meddle in and instead focused on my present moment without past and future attachment to outcome.
For our thinking mind this is difficult to accept, because it thinks that process is achieved by physical action.

Having said so, of course there will still be people who lure other to this platform. But as you say: the more people do that the more obvious it becomes that personal benefit is the ulterior motive, with the peril of being 'ambushed' with the label of a greedy community.

So I can only speak for myself, but I'll lay my focus on incremental progress based on the pillars of heartful dedication, patience and stresslessness. Everything else will align perfectly when it is time.

Take it for what you will! :)

I can't disagree with that one. 😀The thing is, that what you are writing is way over the head for most people.
Most need a very clear structure and (made up rules) to live by. I'm just trying to communicate on a more "down to earth" level here.
Reading the comments here and interacting on this level, is a worthwhile undertaking.
I just could see, that even the topic of "self-upvotes" needs to be explained in a different context, as an act of self-love - more inspiration for future articles. The game is to communicate with people on the level they are at and take it to a new level from there. In that sense, I'm a transformation trojan horse and even this article lures people into a world, where they may never come out the way they got in - without even knowing..
Yes, everything is the Light, and so is greed - another great topic to explore, mash it up in our cosmic mixer of Love and turn things upside down in a magic trick of epic proportions! 😀
Sorry for not being able to disagree with you. We may find other topics, where I'm able to... 🙏

Haha, we have to create mutual Separation then😃

I 100% understand the "down to Earth level"! I just needed to butt in again in my own way...☺

I like it how you deduce the inspiration for future articles out of comments! I do the very same! Often, I write long comments ( not this one above) and before I click on "post" I realize that I could use the entire piece as part of a new article! So I note them down and safe them in my records.

Yesterday alone I did that, put several pieces together and tinkered with them here, added some expressional ideas there. And finally I had 5 longer articles conjured up, all of which I'll store until the right time has come for publishing, together with the two to three dozens of others I have.☺

To the self- upvote: I agree with you absolutely. Self-Love. On Facebook the principle of self-likes was rather common even without rewards. Ok, you had more likes, but ok. Why should we change that only because now it brings rewards? Many mistake Self-Love for arrogance. And vice versa ☺ But who cares? We know best! :)

Great stuff ~

I agree wholeheartedely and thankyou for the reminder this morn @alexaventuria

This is what I try to do when not forgetting to do so ;)

Off to check out your work now.

xox

Intersting article @amosblack and I agree that getting mixing up the 2 messages is confusing.

I came here in mid December and already I can see a marked declined in content quality. I came expecting to "get paid for what I was already doing", as the ad said and had no idea just how hard that was going to be.

I still have very mixed feelings about being here and putting in all the effort that I am. For the time being I keep going because of the conversations I am having and the people I am "meeting". But I find it impossible not to get drawn into the money side of things and to compare how I'm doing with how others are doing. It's very discouraging to see I work harder, i.e. post and comment more often, than a number of people who started at the same time but who use delgegations or bots and earn way more than I do and have way more SP.

Silly to complain about it because that road is open to me too of course.

I personally don't think Steemit will survive if something doesn't change, especially once SMTs give us more options.

In the meantime I'll hang around and learn all I can about block chains and crypto and a million and one other things I wouldn't learn about elsewhere.

Ha, ha, ha. After writing my comment I noticed that you are one of those who has been around a similar time to me and is doing much better. And also uses bots. 😊

I have no problem with people using bots I just don't really get how they help since most places I read about them they say you lose money, unless you're one of the really big players.

You also have a really big delegation. So you're a great example of what I was talking about. 😊

I find myself thinking . . . I just don't get it!

Certainly posting and commenting doesn't seem to be enough, which is also another point you make. 😢

Yes, I'm using bots, but not because I get more money out of them than I put in - it's just paid advertisement - that's all. I know, that there are lots of sentiments about bots - I have none - they are just tools and do one thing: get yourself seen. No need for a philosophical buildup around them, as many people have 😉
The delegation is something I bought for 3 months, so that I'm able to grow faster - also no real secret here. 😀
The other reason, why I'm doing quite well is, that I know my niche (spirituality) and after many years in this field, I know what people "need". It's totally natural for me and yes, I know the difference between good content and shitty one, because I listen to people - they tell me, what they like - so that is very generous of them and also makes my job a lot easier - it takes the guessing out of the game....
The other thing I'm very fond of is marketing. I do that for a living - also writing blog articles for marketing and SEO purposes. So yes, sometimes I dare to write even about that here...
So for me the slogan "Get paid for what you are doing" is totally right. The point is, that most people are not used to write blogs or create any content at all - maybe this is the case for you...
So what I'm hearing is, that you want to learn more about that and become a successful content creator yourself. That is beautiful and I think, you are already on a great path. Most consumers are not really interested to walk this path though. They only want the rewards and don't see, that there is a huge learning process in front of them.
Don't give up, dear @gillianpearce - I think you got what it takes to succeed and be a content creator yourself! ❤️

I would consider myself a content creator already. I have had a number of blogs over the years. That's not where I'm lacking.

What I lack is the understanding of strategy, like using bots as advertising. I've seen that written in many places too but I'm not sure if it would work for me as I don't have a clear niche as you do.

Whether delegation works or not also seems to be a matter opinion. I have seen a couple of other people who were pretty much in the same boat as me but then bought a delegation and now are doing much better. However, when I looked at the figures I couldn't get them to work so I'm probably not understanding this either.

That's what I find disheartening. I actually work harder, in terms of posts and commenting, but I'm not doing nearly as well as people who are much more strategic.

I came with the impression that being a content creator was enough but it doesn't appear to be.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm whining on at you about it. That's not going to help anybody! 😁

But . . . thanks for listening! 💙

No problem - I don't see you whining, but a brave soul who wants to succeed.
You may just have to figure the marketing part out - which we are doing right now.
About the bots:
You just need to find a good timing for your posts and have a look at the Steembottracker. Preferably choose the ones with at least a slightly positive ROI.
(The real ROI is not actually positive in the sense of you getting more SBD back than you invested. Remember: It's advertisement and not an investment startegy!) You will need some ad budget in SBD to do so.
About delegation:
To make this a financially positive investment, you have to upvote yourself more often. Forget all the people, who claim, that self-voting is bad.
Self-voting is a form of self-love. The more you love yourself, the more you have to give to others!
You have to fill you cup first! I want my followers to be Steem-rich, so I love it, when they upvote themselves more often. This way, they get "rich" quicker and in the future, when I get an upvote by them, I will also profit. No one profits from "poor" followers. So love yourself more often! Do it right now, with your comment! It doesn't hurt. It's a social act and may even feel good! 😀
I have to write about this aspect once, because so many people have this upside down. Especially when you buy a delegation...
Much Love!

I'm not going to upvote myself right now although I have done in the past. I'm Ok with it. But I'm playing a little game to see if I can move myself up a commenters league. Don't have the post to hand right now to show you.
Anyway, last week I was surprised to find I was one of the top 200 commenters this year (especially as the vast majority are bots) so I decided to see if I can move even higher. Self voting gives you a negative score so I'm not doing it at the moment.
Such games help keep me engaged. 😊
I think my next step might be to invest in some Steem as I think long term, whatever happens with Steemit, that this might be a good move.
And that's a whole 'nother learning process for me as I haven't traded yet.
Thanks for the education and for your support. 💙

While I agree with you that most people are consumers, I think the thing that makes steemit special is that it shows people that they can do it too. At the very least people could be using steepshot and zappl to post while consuming longer form posts from creators.

I really feel like everyone has something to give, it's whether or not they want to put in the time and effort. But content creation doesn't have to take so much time with short form content options. I think we just need to show people that their content is valuable, whether through votes or interaction. Most people get here and get no interaction on their stuff and just leave because it's hard.

Maybe I'm dreaming, I definitely agree that most people only consume currently, I just think it would be a cool shift to see people believing creating was an option again.

Yeah, I agree - this would be great. I really don't know how things are going with Zappl and Steepshots - do people really earn money there? In other words, do people spend their VP on short message and quick shots stuff? I haven't seen much of these posts lately...

I've seen quite a few people succeeding with steepshot, zappl less so, I think we need a way to filter posts by app and more adoption before they get bigger. Once we have people solely using one platform over the others the VP should come

PS, did a post on Matt Kahn finally! I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

I guess I missed all the ads for Steemit, so I arrived thinking it was a blogging platform that would allow me to get paid for my articles. I know I'm a good writer, and at that time expected I'd have to work hard to grow a following to get my articles seen, because I've already blogged on Medium and Huffington Post, and had to there. Even when I guest blog for a publication I have to promote my own articles, so that was assumed by me when I came. Hence, I've started promoting myself with bots from the start and am about to also buy some delegated SP.

I've also started inviting other spiritual writers I know to come join me here. I've been teaching them the ropes so they can get off to a strong start the way I have. I'm a total newbie, not even a minnow, on here just 2 weeks, yet I have dolphins and even whales following me! So I know from experience there is a way to succeed on here even if you arriving knowing no one and have very little money you can invest. (I traded $200 of other crypto I had to buy STEEM to powerup and SBD to pay bots.)

I've got a couple really long articles on all of this, so I won't try to rewrite 5000 words in this comment. Long story short, it is good to attract serious writers to this platform, but show them the ropes if you do. But we must definitely not be telling people they can come and just click for cash!

Yeah, you are living the life of an elite content creator! 😀
Seriously, as you said it, you were already used to create content. Most people aren't.
I don't want to say, that special people like @gillianpearce above are not able to create good content or not eager to learn more about the marketing part - there are these people for sure - it's just that most consumers won't bother and won't have this motivation. I don't think, that we should automatically assume, that then we need more education for them. I propose to question, how we see Steemit as a platform and what our goals are.
Maybe Steemit was never made as a consumer platform like Facebook?
When this is clear, our take on marketing becomes a different one...

I agree. I guess I've just never come across the "click for cash" marketing angle that tells people to make money here curating. As you said, the only way that works is if you're a whale and are always upvoting only your own comments and ample posts! That's just gaming the platform.

This is a place where good content creators can get paid for creating. I think that's the selling angle that's true. But it still requires doing that well for the way the platform works. And I think it also requires a little upfront investment of your own cash, like any business would.

"Earning Steem through content curation - passive upvoting - is only something a whale can do.
So unless the newly won consumer buys in with huge amounts of Steem and becomes a whale himself, this consumer won't earn anything here. That's a fact.
What makes things worse though is, that "we" have sold them the dream of earning money and have now created a customer, who is deeply disappointed by our service."

Bingo!! Unfortunately, you are exactly right about this, and it does much more harm than good.

.... Unfortunately, those of us who are continuously creating content (because it's an addiction and it's what we do), are sitting here trying to get our content seen.... and it's not. Seen, that is. Which leaves an ever widening gap between those that have (the whales) and those that have not (the minnows).... remind you of anything else?

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I don't have much to add... Yes, it seems, as if the moment people are coming together and there is some monetary reward in play, the shadow aspects become obvious very quickly.
We have to face them in a loving way, without falling for the trap of pitying ourselves.
This is the game we play. Thank you for reading! ❤️

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Can't agree more. Unfortunately, most people try to bring people here promising riches and money and as a result we have too many content creators that suck balls, usually don't improve, get frustrated and eventually leave the platform with a bad taste. These people usually get bad hurt and go on other places saying steemit sucks, achieving the exact opposite result.

We need to bring more real content creators, the consumers will follow. Fortunately, this seems to change. We already have some really talented people onboarding the platform, like @furiouspete123 and @tjkirk

As for the rest of us, normal people, all we can do is try our best and produce the best content we can !

I don't consider us "normal people" though. We are content creators. We are able to read, understand and make comments, that also make sense. We know the difference between good content and shit.
This is not something you can say about everyone - a fact, that you can observe in even the comments coming in to this post. "Normal people" don't even read, what is being said here nor do they understand.
I don't believe, that everyone can be thought to create content. The numbers and experiences from other social networks show something different. I don't even think, that we need to educate people to become content creators either. What we need, is more clarity what the different roles are and what we can (and can't) provide for these different roles.

I like the idea of steem being a unfiltered, record of knowledge which protected from censorship and manipulation.

Wow. This is totally correct. As @nonameslefttouse points out, if we start just getting traffic from outside because the content is great, that will do us a huge service. From there, people may be interested in joining in order to more effectively participate, invest, and, after SMTs, buy some of what will be increasingly available here.

How do we get people talking about? It'd be a game-changer. This is a huge shift, and likely the right one. A lot of people would be happy to have a simple blogging platform where once in a while they can have a "hit," too, but aren't looking for long-term building.. like you said, as in all social media.

Thank you! ❤️
Yes, if we know our core values and focus on them, everyone will be helped.
You have a beautiful blog - I follow you and thanks for getting in touch!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I think this is the most informative a concise post i have come across, in my short time here. I was railing against self-upvoting, but you have me rethinking my postion.
Your writing is exemplary and your uncensored directness, very refreshing on here. (steemit being a kind of Stepford Wives guide to etiquette).
Thrilled :)

Thank you! blush
I'm honored by your words and I plan to write another post about some things on Steemit, that I may see differently later...

As I was mulling over your post and comments @atmosblack, I found I have another question . . . when you talk about using bots as advertising so you can be seen, are you referring to spending enough on them so to be seen on the trending and hot pages? And, in your case, are you talking about the trending and hot pages of the spirituality tag, for example?

Thanks for your elucidation! 😊

Yes, this is one way of seeing it. There are a lot of added benefits though.
One for example is, that all your "real upvoters" get curation rewards from your bot-promoted posts too, which again will make them return and upvote for your articles in the future too. Another benefit is, that people tend to read posts more in depth and interact, when they see a bigger number next to the post - basic psychology and self-fulfilling prophecy in a way. So you are not only achieving one goal with that, but several.
Btw. also the self-upvoting part, that I equaled to self-love above, has also a way deeper importance, than you may believe - it's not just an lighthearted analogy, but has an importance, that is routed in the system. If you want the system to work for you, you have to figure out the rules and once you play by them, the rewards are way beyond what your mind may make up through calculating and thinking about the topic. Just try it yourself - it's no secret here - everything becomes very clear soon. Blessings!

Thank you @atmosblack. You've given me much food for thought. I will come back tomorrow and read through all this again. It's dinner time now! 😍

Hey @atmosblack, great post! I enjoyed your content. Keep up the good work! It's always nice to see good content here on Steemit! :)

You got a 3.93% upvote from @buildawhale courtesy of @atmosblack!
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I will promote steemit to grow fast. it indirectly helps me to grow. I am looking for a longer vision . I will save every penny till 2020 . I am expecting big in 2020 . just waiting for the moment to become a whale :P. lets promote steemit vigorously and grow together.

11.36% @pushup from @atmosblack

posting is very useful for me new beginner

I read the article with pleasure !! people leave abandoned when they can not make money there are lots of abandoned profiles. quality first then money does not matter

Sneaky Ninja Attack! You have been defended with a 12.45% vote... I was summoned by @atmosblack! I have done their bidding and now I will vanish...Whoosh

A little over a week ago I almost died. Well people on Steemit were more concerned than others. The poetry uplifts me and I express thru my blog. I feel like I fit in here. It's not totally false advertising. Especially compared to infomercials. :). Great idea to be honest to build a good structure for the future. Joy

Thanks

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