Preface

7 months ago, I wrote a post called: The Truth About Ridiculously High Steemit Payout. These were the good old days. Now I've re-read that post, reminiscing on the feelings and understanding I had of steemit at the time. I thought that it would be interesting to come back and update it a little. Lots has change but much remained the same.

Sadly, back then, a lot people gave the impression to other that they were going to be paid from creating good content. If you've been here any length of time, you know that isn't true. The truth is much more complex and I'll explain why in this article.

My goal is to help the new comer get a fighting chance to go from Minnow to Hero on our beloved platform.

1. It's not about how much you work on your article

Some people get pissed because they work hard on a piece of content and then get very low payout. It's similar to the marxist idea of the labor theory of value. How much you work as very little to do about how much you are going to be paid.

Now, that doesn't mean that you can just create garbage content and hope the Whale will descend upon you. Creating good content is only the start of a much bigger plan you must have for yourself.

2. Reputation, Reputation, Reputation...

If the word for real estate is "Location, Location, Location"...in the Steem world the word is: "Reputation, Reputation, Reputation". You basically have to build a brand by demonstrating that your contribution is increasing the value of the Steemit.

How do you do that?

1. Become a valuable member of the community

You want people to esteem not just your content but what your presence add to the value of the platform.

Maybe it will be easier to understand through an example.

Meet my brother-in-law @lemouth. He is a scientist in particle physic who came here with nothing. He started posting his article and was a little disgruntle at first for not having his article being paid hundreds of dollars. But he persevered. Committed to do something with Steemit he went on steemit.chat and started looking for ways to bring value to the community.

He founded SteemStem with other scientists he could find on the platform. The goal of this project? "To Promote Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Postings on Steemit".

When someone does something like this, you showcase yourself has a valuable member of the community. People have to believe that by having you stick around, that the platform is, or potentially, increasing of value.

2. Stick around and produce consistently

I don't have much more to add to this. If you produce content that is pretty good and on a consistent basis, people will start becoming a fan. You'll start having more followers. You'll start having people who vote automatically for you because they know that when you post, other people will be voting for you.

3. It's a popularity contest

Yes, sorry to break it to you that way, but it's true. People have to like you, not just your article. People like other people when they feel that you are a consistent and valuable member of the community.

It is "objectively" true that Mr. X or Ms. Y is valuable to the community? No. But we are dealing with human and almost all of our decisions are based on subjective appreciation. Maybe an overview of the subjective theory of value will help people understanding this:

The subjective theory of value is a theory of value which advances the idea that the value of a good is not determined by any inherent property of the good, nor by the amount of labor necessary to produce the good, but instead value is determined by the importance an acting individual places on a good for the achievement of his desired ends.

See subjective theory of value for more information on that idea.

4. Make your article irresistible to click on

Now that is taken from my previous article but it remains timeless. So here we go...

If you have ever been at the checkout counter waiting in line at the grocery store, I am sure that at least once, you've picked up one of those tabloid magazines. But why? Next time you find yourself in that situation ask yourself that question.

But here are a few queues:

• The image was appealing and peaked your curiosity
• The headline was weird, interesting or shocking.
• The topic interested you

In some way, shape or form, the cover of that magazine stirred up your emotion enough for you to take action. That's the same kind of effect your want when you create a piece of content (if you want to maximize payout). If you do it well enough, people are even going to vote up even before they've read it.

I first choose a cool image that catch the attention. CONTRAST IS KEY. Also, I come up with many headlines for the same article and choose the one with the most "humph". People complain about clickbaits as being something negative. It's only negative if the article that follows is low quality and vaguely related to the headline.

In short, you want to have a seemless message. From the thumbnails to the conclusion of your article.

5. Faith

This is the final point and my conclusion.

Here is a story to illustrate the point:

In the beginning of June, I have a friend who is a professional writer. I told him that he could make a killing on Steemit.com if he would write. As a quick reminder, back then, the first payout was coming out on the 4th of July...so all the gains everyone saw on their posts were "virtual gains" yet be realized. He said to me: "I'm going to believe there is going to be a real payout after the 4th of July."

He gave up and never came back!

Now imagine how that friend of mine would be doing if he chose to have faith. The best definition of faith I've ever came across is from Hebrew 11:1 of the Bible:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

and after Jesus disciple failed to accomplish wonders, they've asked Jesus why and He said:

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

I didn't mean to get all Biblical on you since I don't intend to be Joel Olstein teaching the prosperity gospel of Steemit. But what Jesus said is true. For you to have the strength to carry through EVEN when you see no evidence of your success, you need faith. The evidence eventually show up as a result of your faith. It's an universal principle that is true with God as it is with something like Steemit.

Now, go forth with that knowledge and break some eggs Steemians!