The Dilemma:

Should you focus your content on the topics that historically result in the highest payouts? Or… should you just be true to yourself and focus on the topics that represent the real you?

Good News!

More than likely there is a niche you can fill that will allow you to do both. Your challenge as a Steemian is to ponder, write and experiment until you find that niche.

Study How Success Has Been Achieved on Steemit

To get started you may want to take a look at the topics/tags that have historically resulted in the highest payouts. You can find that information here.

I have sorted the listings to show the tag payouts from highest to lowest. Here are the top forty:

What cannot be determined from these stats is which tag results in the highest average post payout. Now that would be really interesting. Regardless, it gives you a good idea of what tags are rewarded the most.

Note: Do not be tempted to abuse tags. Only use tags that match the content of your posts. In his Notice to Tag Spammers, @dantheman warned that he would be flagging any post that applies inappropriate tags.

To Thine Own Self Be True

While it may be interesting to look at these statistics and use them as a tool to help you maximize your earnings, my advice is to always be true to yourself and write about topics that are truly interesting to you.

Ask yourself the following questions: What do I have a real passion for? What makes me tick? What do I love so much that I will do it for free, or even pay to do it?

Once you have identified your true passion(s), determine how that niche can benefit your fellow Steemians the most. You may want to study the successful posts in that topic or similar topics. Try to determine what components those posts have that made them appealing. Do they catch the eye with an interesting photo or title? Is the photo unique to the post or the person who wrote the post? Did the author provide helpful information? Did the author make you laugh? Make notes of your findings and prepare to provide the same level of quality in your next post.

Take Your Time

You will need to do a lot of research and take your time. Write your post and then edit it until it conveys the message you want in an appealing way that provides value to the reader. Give yourself some time between edits. It may even be best to sleep on it. You will be amazed at the errors and insights you identify when you look at your writing with fresh eyes.

When you are ready to click that Post button, consider the time of day. You may not want to post a 2:00 a.m. when the most influential Steemians are likely to be asleep.

Conclusion

In short, provide quality content and seek to contribute value to Steemit. By doing so, you will help provide a richer user experience for everyone. It will help us increase our user base which in the long run will help us all increase our earnings.

I believe the Steemit founders, developers and whales are in this for the long haul and want to see the user base grow and provide quality content. New features will be added over time and the user experience and earning potential of quality content will be fine tuned.

The next time you are feeling envious of those whose posts have made their way to the top of the trending page, remember that you have the same potential. You just need to put in the hard work. When you find your niche your dilemma will be solved and you'll be Steem rollin'.

Cheers!