Welcome to #DolphinSchool, Lesson 2

So,last time I gave you some homework to find out how transparent the steemit platform really works. Let's review:

• Choose a profile you want to learn more about
• Click on anything in the header
• Get instant data, from how much their worth to what they've posted on their blog and commented on others blogs

So, I did it

I did kind of a case study on someone whose profile here I admire. He's a professional writer making great money from his stories, so, I thought if I could crack his formula, maybe I could duplicate his results and we'll get to that in a minute.

First, Let's talk about what makes a dolphin!

I read a post today that outlined the data from steemit and grouped profiles by how much they are worth, showing which groups have what percentage of voting power, etc. Here is what I found out.

• I thought I was a minnow, turns out, I'm a plankton! Plankton=profiles from $0SBD up to $100SBD
• Profiles from $100-$1000 are considered minnows.
• Profiles from $1000-$40,000 are considered dolphins
• Profiles above %40,000 are considered whales, although I have seen higher valuations on this.

The dolphin class of Steemit users only makes up 1-2% of all accounts

And the control almost 35% of the voting power. Groups like #Minnowsunite are attempting to tap into this, getting minnows to upvote each other to build steem and collect a little coin.

So, wanna move up? Get to $100, you're a minnow, get to $1000,you're a dolphin.

It's been suggested that a dolphin generally has enough steem power to add at least one cent to a payout, with a single upvote. I've noticed that I have managed this with posts that already had sizable possible payouts, but can't do it singly yet.

Here is my best assessment for ways to move up daily

• Upvote quality content, especially as the first voter on posts at, or past, 30 minutes old, when the curation reward increases.
• Leave a meaningful comment, ask questions, further the conversation, say something funny. This builds curation rewards as well.
• Consistently post two to four quality pieces of content daily! Some authors seemt to be doing well with choosing a time and sticking to it.
• Encourage feedback by responding to replies on your posts, and engaging in conversation

*In theory, finding upvoting and commenting in engaging ways on whale posts couldn't hurt, as I am about to show you, it is the single way to make the big bucks. *

So, here is my case study on EricVanceWalton Author of Alarm Clock Dawn

*I chose Eric, beccause currently, he is averaging over $4000 a day in payouts, according to his account. This is one of the best in Steem at the moment for authors. *

Walton started blogging here about a month ago.He started off with a pretty big bang, earning a nearly $400 payout on his introduction post, which was his third post.

• From there he had a string of low paying (less than a buck) posts on non-fiction topics, from writing to philosophy. This lasted over two weeks, with daily posts, twice a day.
• Then two weeks ago, he started hitting on all cylinders with a personal story about his dad and his early career choices as a writer.
• From there, it has gone up to where most of his curent posts are paying out at over $1000, with his best post to date, earning him a $2400 payout, or about $600 in SPD.

So, how did he do it so fast and what is the secret to his consistency?

I was hoping to find a secret commenting,or upvote strategy, but it seems we plankton have so little impact that upvoting or commenting on whales doesn't do much, and he didn't do that.

He did mention knowing one influential dolphin when he came to the site, which likely helped.

• I looked for whales, or even big dolphins in his "followed" or "followers" list and was disappointed. Mostly Plankton and Minnows
• He didn't seem to write a lot of "look at me, this is steemit" posts
• He sticks to quality writing and is building his brand, which is him
• He started with non-fiction articles, which did little, he shifted to personal stories, then fiction, which has gotten the best results.

When looking at his big payout posts, here's what I saw

• At least one whale was first to vote each time, then others followed
• They commented on the story and quality of the writing
• He received a lot of votes once that happened, hundreds
• He stayed the course, and kept adding quality posts each day, without fail.

So, I'm four days in, have hit one $30 payout, one $60 payout and several multiple dollar payouts, and only about three posts have $0 payout. I'm doing okay.

So, I'll be looking at another successful writer tomorrow to see if the same thing is true there too

It would seem,for all the people complaining about crap getting all the upvotes, this simply isn't true. This writer, 44 years old, and really just getting started good, has gotten good payouts on nearly every post for about two weeks now, and seems to be headed for more.

One interesting note. The majority of Walton's posts are sizable, but still fairly short, and they are continued, a trick that helps keep readers hooked.

Now, here's my #DolphinSchool Dolphin training tip for the day, ready?

Go to Gliph chat and find the [https://gli.ph/d/conversations/57931e293f47a55e92bd906a), where you can share your posts for upvotes!

Homework for today.

1. Go and share all of your blog posts to this group for upvotes,
2. then take the time to upvote as many of the shared posts there as you can.
3. Share at least one post today with the #DolphinSchool tag and add a tip for minnows on their way up!
4. Stop by my blog and upvote and comment and I'll return the favor.

Keep it up! We will get there, and then we will be in a position to help others get there too!