Expecting overnight success on Steemit

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I'm not exactly well placed to give advice on Steemit, I only started blogging a couple of weeks ago and I only started reading other people's work a few weeks before that. If you're looking for the magic key that will instantly propel you to Steemit fame, I advise you keep looking, because I don't have it. If it even exists that is.

However, I'm seeing a lot of complaining about people not getting a lot for what they are putting into their work. The problem is, this is the same problem you are going to face in any kind of online work. Unless you are extremely lucky, you will most likely have to work harder than you could possibly imagine for months or even years. Those who were in right when Steemit started might have had it easier to get noticed when the platform was small. But for the rest of us, unless you have a lot of money to invest to become an “InstaWhale”, that's just the way it is.

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I have numerous friends who work online, mostly bloggers and one small but rapidly growing Youtuber and they all put in insane hours to get where they are today. Of course you get the people who are an overnight success but they are usually very lucky, very charismatic or so incredibly talented right from the get-go, or some combination of all the above. For most people working in these fields, they had to work very, very hard to establish themselves and gain a following or a clientele (depending on what area they are working in). You don't see all the blood, sweat and tears that goes into maintaining their lifestyle and their career. You just see them programming on the beach in Thailand with their laptop next to them, or vlogging from home in fluffy socks with their dog curled up next to them.

Steemit is no different. You can't come in and see someone like Jerry Banfield and expect to achieve his level of success in short order. Most likely Steemit is just going to be a time consuming hobby for you for quite a long time until you get some success. And I really recommend that is the way to see it to avoid getting really frustrated really fast!

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I have wanted to work for myself for over a decade but was 1. too scared and 2. too lazy. I am an extremely lazy procrastinator by nature and when I heard the hours so many of these “digital nomad” types actually had to put in, it continued to put me off.

And that is the crux of the decision you have to make if you want to earn a living online. You have to accept that it's going to take a long time for you to be able to support yourself and that you are most likely going to need other sources of income in the meantime, unless you are lucky enough to be able to be supported by family or a partner. Is your freedom worth crazily long work weeks for a year, two years, three years? Because whether it's Steemit or something else, you probably are going to have to put some crazy ass work in to get anywhere. The myth of the get rich scheme is just that, and no matter how many excited vloggers have told you Steemit is the latest get rich scheme, the truth is you will be lucky to make a couple of dollars per post for a very long time. And if you really want to make your living online, I suggest you look into other ways to make money in addition to Steemit, don't put all your eggs in the one basket!

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I understand a lot of people are desperate for money, I myself am very anxious to get out of my current living situation, but I know fine well that Steemit is not my way out, at least not right now. Maybe I'll get lucky in future, maybe I won't but I still can't put a price on the ability to post content and get my thoughts on to paper (so to speak). so I'll keep doing it because it's fun, and investigating other ways to make extra income online.

With all that said, although I do not have the miracle way to make hundreds of SD per post, I have one big tip: engage.

You can't very well complain that no-one is reading you if you are not reading anyone else. I see a lot of people just posting, and not bothering to read anyone else's posts. And yet expecting to get hundreds of dollars per post they make. If you don't engage no-one is going to click on your profile, that's far more likely to get you views than the fast moving “new posts” page. Vote (even though your vote is worth little), and leave a comment that actually refers to the posters blog. Copy/pasting, asking for follows or linking your own work is not likely to be well received. I am guilty of a few “beautiful picture” comments, but that's partially because although I like to look at photography and art I'm a bit of a philistine and know nothing about it, so educated comments on such topics are usually beyond me. But wherever possible I try and write a longer comment, picking up on something I liked or want to discuss in the post I've just read. You get what you give, and if you aint giving you can't expect to get!

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Also, put some thought into where you place your votes. Being the first to click “like” on a whale's new post might net you a tiny fraction of SteemPower, but your vote will be buried and likely so will your comment. There are a lot of bigger accounts I like to read, but make sure you read some of the small fry too, often they are more motivated to make unique content and you can find some real gems you actually want to read instead of slogging through a 3000 word post on a topic you have zero interest in. Supporting the little guys is just more likely to get you support back, a 1c upvote is better than no upvote at all! I'm not saying don't vote for a whale post if you think they deserve it, but you might have more success with people noticing you on littler Steemit accounts.

I'm not saying Steemit is without it's problems, there's a lot of spamming and plagiarism going on and a lot of the wealth is concentrated in the top accounts, so it can seem hopeless. But I intend to give this platform the best go I can, which concentrating on other ways to make cash as well. I know it's not going to be easy, and due to my night shift work and other obligations I'm not always capable of commenting on 50-100 posts a day, but when I have the time I like to make the effort, because I like to see the same effort of people actually reading my posts.

I just want to say to everyone that I am so grateful for the people that do read and rate my posts, and I am really enjoying being here. I am also so grateful to the bigger accounts who voted on my two more successful Steemit posts. I'm truly grateful, I hope to continue to grow here so I can give more back to the community, and all the best to everyone reading. Hearts and puppydogs to you all!

Have fun and keep Steemin'!

Oh, and the first person to post a copy/paste reply is a rotten egg.