Potato Thoughts #1.1: How did I earn $110+ in my First 2 Days Steeming?

Hello fellow Steemians!

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This is my 5th day in steemit. I wanted to post sooner but for these past few days I've been experiencing irregular palpitations on my nape and my chest. Its quite scary so I needed to rest.

I know you want a straightforward answer on how I earned $110+ in my first 2 days, but please do spare sometime in reading the long introduction.

Me Before Steemit.

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I was a 'tambay', a couch potato. My parents are both employed but they didn't go to college so what they earned is barely enough for us. While me, in my college days worked as a part time tutor. But it only lasted for 3 months. I taught Engineering Math and General Physics.

I studied in a public university but dropped out one year before graduation. I become addicted in poker and games. I even sold my laptop and other personal belongings to fund my addiction. For a year I lived like a pig. Thankfully, I woke up earlier and realized that I was losing everything. My family, friends and other relationships were crumbling and my will to live was slowly being chipped off. I need to change myself. I need to live not for myself but for loved ones, especially my family. It was my life's steepest turning point.

More than broke.

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It was never too late, but what was gone cannot be replaced.

Few months after that realization, I was slowly regaining my good former self. I needed to start again. I needed to land a job, save some money and go back to the university. But where would I start?What was left for me was just some cash around (800 Php or $16) and an android phone, an older model with relatively poor specs. The internet was cut off so I paid for data (50 Php or $1 for 1 GB , valid for 3 days). And believe it or not, I've been steeming through this phone since the beginning.

My first post was my first mistake.

Obviously I'm not a pro writer, I only write poems as a hobby. But I am a wide reader, everyday I want to learn something new.

I read about Steemit in BHW and it caught my attention. I hurriedly registered and waited approval. I was approved one day after. While waiting, I browsed the trending introduceyourself posts. Those guys earned tens, even hundreds of dollars just by saying hello, writing a little bit about themselves and posting a picture. I become conceited. Expecting the same results as them, I wrote many things about myself, I wrote a poem about my country and even included my cat. But like fire over water it was not very effective.

Later did I realize the problem. I was too excited to make money. I forgot an important thing, reaching the readers by introducing myself in the sincerest way possible. What I lack was sincerity.

I only earned $0.16 had very few views and comments, which was really disappointing.

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My first $7

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Feeling terrible because of the failure of my 1st post, I hesitated to continue my Steemit journey. What if it's not really for me? Pessimism filled my mind at that point. But the desire to prove myself was stronger.

My next action was that I posted several of my original poems. I had waited for hours just to see values like $0.00, $0.01 and $0.03. I was devastated.

I decided to stop, breathe and just browse the site. I commented on popular posts hoping that someone would upvote me. And yet again was still disappointed.

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I was planning to close my browser to play clash royale. For the last time I went back to my homepage. Something changed, my reputation which was originally 25 went up to 39. I braced myself, a bigger fish upvoted me.

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My poem titled You are Free had just earned me $7. Thanks to sir @surpassinggoogle and 9 others. The good sir also suggested a guide on how to introduce myself more effectively to the community, I also learned how to properly cite my sources. Once again, thank you very much sir. I am planning to do a reintroduction on my 7th day.

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Realizing my 2nd mistake

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While reading the comment of Sir @surpassinggoogle I realized something. I never read any guide, a fatal mistake for a newbie like me. There are many friendly guides in the platform. I've searched and found most of them helpful, especially the ones made by @donkeypong, @kevinwong, @teamsteem, and @stellabelle(my favorite).To these guys if by any chance you are reading, thank you very much.

Having some knowledge from the guides of these whales, I could again feel the hype. I wanted to write something but like being electrocuted, I remembered my 1st post. I calmed down a bit.

What to write? How will I build my brand?

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While reading the trending posts I noticed a very interesting blog. The Did you know series by @steemknowledge. The guy is earning an average of at least $20 from his posts.

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His titles were very cathcy. It always started with, Did you know? #n - Title. In his post he always have an image of a typewriter captioned 'Did you know? #n' at the center. I quickly realized that he is distinguishing himself while building a brand and his reader base. I told myself that I need to do the same.

But using that same format it would not do good for the both of us. Also, I understand my own limitations. My grammar and sentence construction is subpar compared to average writers.

Instead of ''Did you know #n - Title", what alternative can I use? That question popped in my mind. Then I came up with 'What if' which I felt would stir the curiosity of the reader. 'What if you bought bitcoin earlier?', I believed that titles like this would really be effective. But as I browse, I found out that there are some people doing the same. My title blueprint should evolve further if I want to stand out. I came up with "Potato Thoughts #n: What if...". It might sound funny but in my case it's very effective.

Monster Bug Wars is one of my favorite YouTube channels, this is where I got my topic. Basically, the channel is about how bugs fight with other bugs and I must say that the narration is exceptional.

I wondered, what if this bugs were as large as me. In the middle of day dreaming about myself in a fantasy world (of giant bugs) a flash of insight hit me, that this is a good topic to write about.

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Applying what I learned from observing the platform and reading the guides, I created Potato Thoughts #1: What if insects are larger us?. I put gifs and images that were relevant to the content. It took more than 15 hours (with long breaks in between) of writing and research but I was satisfied.

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I was not expecting too much but I do expect to earn some rewards. Even a dollar, few upvotes and few followers would do.

It had been 5 hours after I posted. And if I recall correctly the stats were $0.01, 2 upvotes and 1 comment. Seeing the data in front of me I remembered my first heartbreak.

I was losing hope. I had waited for another two hours but there was no change. At that time it was not about how much would that vote earn ($, upvote, comments, followers). I just wanted my post to be read by other people, to feel that I am a part of the community. I looked at the views and yet I got only 5. I had no words to say. This time I failed again.

I needed to move on. So I took a break and when I came back I searched for other opportunities. I happened to read about the meme challenge by @fibra59, I usually read alot of memes but it was my first time making one. I experimented by posting other memes before submitting my entry to the contest.

A thought came to my mind while making memes. Because they were fairly easy to do, I decided to make a few and post them. The results were very negligible.

My third mistake

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While finding inspiration for the memes I came to know that the Steemit community in the Philippines is quite large and steadily growing. They are hosting a challenge about making original poem/prose/song in Filipino language. Of course, I joined. I am pure blooded Pinoy.

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To join I needed to connect through the discord channel. I didn't know that there is a discord channel. If I knew earlier it would have been great, my 1st post wouldn't be a tragedy. I chatted and made few acquaintances. It was the first time I felt relief, finally I have someone to talk to. It was really fun chatting with my kababayans.

Ripping Rewards

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While shifting between discord and chrome, I noticed something that was very evident. My reputation that was supposed to be 39 a few hours ago went up to 49. I know that this was something good based in my previous experience. My mind processed the information in lighting speed. I first looked at my followers, I still had 14 followers (all are newbies) nothing changed. I scrolled down and I was shocked in what I saw. My blog Potato Thoughts #1: What if insects are larger us? had just earned me $50+. It was 10 hours ago after I published the post and earlier I already gave up on this one. I was very excited. I refreshed Steemit just to clarify if it was real and to my surprise from $50+ it went up to $90+ which literally gave me a mini heart attack. The post was placed 4th, trending in the science tag (the rank slowly go down). I can't recall completely but there were 2 or 3 additional followers. Until now the value of this post is still increasing. I predict that it will stabilized at $110.

A present at the end of my 48th hour

Before the end of my 2nd day another surprise came. The poem I submitted to the local contest earned me $5+. Thank you very much to @donkeypong and 11 others.

So that is how I earned $110+ in a short span of two days. Just like many of you who stayed reading I am also a struggling writer with English as second language. I believe that if I can do it once, I can do it twice and many other times. And believe me if I can accomplish this you also can. You just have to believe in yourself and do not stop writing.

And my first 48 hours on Steemit was concluded.

This post in a nutshell... And other important things to remember

1. #Introduceyourself is very important don't repeat my mistake. Join your local Steemit community and interact before posting.
2. READ THE GUIDES
3. Do not expect too much. The higher the expectations, the stronger the disappointments.
4. Do not lose hope.
5. Luck is always a part of strength. It may not come, but when it does you'll know for sure.
6. Read and Reflect. Observe what good authors do. How do they catch attention? How do they make their readers stay? How can you do the same?
   7.Accept constructive criticism for it was of good intent and it can make you better. Ignore destructive criticism it would not do anything good.
   8.Comment and Reply. Comment to add value to the post and not the opposite. Reply politely.
   9.Followers that naturally follows are the best followers.
7. Write with passion and be yourself.
8. Make a catchy title and put relevant Gifs and images.
9. Be patient.
10. Language is a barrier that should not be feared. Crack it slowly with practice.
11. Do not forget your mother tounge
12. And forever remember what Mr. Gates had said.

Content is king.

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Thank you for staying with me. And I hope you get something from the post.
Here's a potato from Potato Land.

I have given you the most ordinary potato in my kingdom. You want better? Then upvote, resteem and follow the potato king @lordkingpotato

See you again in my next blog, villager.