Courtesy Google Images
I started on Steemit on Thanksgiving Day last year with nothing... except a few story ideas and high hopes. Today my hopes were realized. I posted awhile back about wanting to become a dolphin, not only for myself, but so that I could help the Steemit community as well. My friend @karenb54 wrote a great article today (that I recommend reading) offering advice to new people to Steemit- good advice, particularly the part about begging for followers and upvotes! If you ever want to succeed, that's not the way to go about it... this is Steemit, not Calcutta!
There is only one way to succeed on Steemit if you're not independently wealthy and have money to invest... Hard Work! Every bit of Steem Power I have, I worked for. I'm not a particularly good writer, but I try to write an article or chapter to a story every day- sometimes two or more. If you put in the time and effort, you too will succeed. Don't worry about the money- it will come. If you want to take shortcuts and beg for it, it probably won't... I've begun flagging beggars that comment on my posts and have encouraged others to do likewise. Be patient, nobody succeeds overnight. It takes awhile to figure out what people want to see on here. Some of my posts still don't make much by way of payouts- it's alright. Sometimes I post things just because I want to.
Remember, it took me 8 months of posting daily to become a dolphin. If you persevere and work hard, you will do it too. AND- welcome to the greatest social media platform on the internet!
GIF by @papa-pepper
Hard work has its rewards.
Resteemed!
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Thank you. Hard work is right!!!
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Hi there! You never visit me anymore @mallorcaman! How are you doing?
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Hey!
I couldn't find a recent blog so I'm here to say hello, and that I'll be back in Mallorca in a month or so as my mother lives there. I love the island, east and west coasts - looking forward to retiring there perhaps in 30 years or so!
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So what is the qualification criterion to become a Dolphin? I worked my way up from reputation 25 to 65 in 3 months and have been stuck there ever since, 7 months. Since the last hardfork my posts do not bring anything anymore. What is the secret?
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The criterion is 5000 SP. I wish I knew the secret. Like I said, some of my posts make under $2.00 (not that much anymore). I've posted some stuff I thought wasn't very good and cashed in big... but then it seems that the more time and effort I put into something- the less it earns! If you've made it to 65 Rep in 3 mos, you're doing something right!!!
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Thanks for your reply. I agree that effort and quality do not seem to be linked to rewards. To me it's more like a casino and my luck seems to have dried up... Congratulations anyway.
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each day is a new adventure (-:
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It truly is!!
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I think you need to build up your steem power as well.
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Do you still make the rounds? Visit your cyber friends and upvote their content?
That's where I think things slowed down for me. I was writing only and not bother to comment.
Just a thought.
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It should be 5000 steem or 10MV that makes you a dolphin!
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Wow congrts @richq11 thats really awesome and one of my biggest goals on steemit I been here longer and still just over halfway your doing so well rich.
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Thank you, You're one of my oldest friends on here... if I remember right from back when I was writing "The Kid"
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I've been here about 7 weeks and I make 3-5 posts a week and about 30-50 comments a day. I noticed I have more sp than a lot of other people of my reputation and age. I'm pretty sure it is because I get drips of money from those comments all day long most days. I think all that comment money is always in sp.
I was trying to do more posts - but they get little attention so I thought the comments would pay off better. I'm still not sure but very interested if you have advice. I know that building up the sp is important and I do not have money to invest at all.
It's hard to keep making big technically challenging posts that take such time and then no one sees them. So in the last week, I have started doing a lot of promotion of my posts in about 5 free places. I hope that will pay off.
The most important thing for me as a content creator with a brand is to get the Alexa ranking and be seen by people I try to help. I found out that none of my posts will be seen by search engines until they make $10 in the first 7 days. So this is now a goal among the many I have in this complicated place :)
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When I began on Steemit I posted 4-5 times a day. I commented occasionally until I began to accumulate friends and also as I scrolled through the posts If one caught me eye, I would upvote and comment. That's how I did it. Others have approached things differently... there are some that don't post at all- only comment. I enjoy writing, so that's why my approach is as it is. Don't worry about making money or getting maximum exposure just yet- that's the best advice I can give. It's a building process... just keep cranking out the best content you can. Eventually someone will see it and resteem- that's where I think the best exposure comes from, but it takes quality. That's my focus- quality and although I don't try to fool myself into believing that I'm a good writer- I do the best I can.
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Well, I definitely have friends! I grow my following on any social media platform as soon as I can and so far I have close to 800 followers so I feel good about that. I couldn't use my feed after about 50 followers - I use the feed in steemnow to find posts with the filters over there and I am so thankful for that.
I'm a writer and photographer, so for the most part I have posted into challenges and contests just so someone might see what I do. I got the advice today to make templates for my posts and I think that will help. I am not a fast worker, unfortunately.
Thank you so much for the advice and congratulations again - very inspiring :)
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Thanks... I tried a template program but couldn't figure out how to use it lol! I'm not a computer guy, just a hack writer- to me this is just a glorified typewriter!
I dabble in photography... I found an old Canon EOS Rebel in a box of junk. I got some B&W film (remember film?). I need to go out and get artistic.
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Good for you - that would be fun - I was a film photographer for years and I kind of miss it. Now I take 200 photos and use one.
I'm not good enough to use a real template either. I'll just set up the post outlines in a word file and copy it - low tech is me :)
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I tried to find it but I guess I deleted it... I know it began with a C.
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Congrats on your achievement, from the short time of reading your post, and looking at some of your replies, you sure have a good taste of humor and sarcasm... remember my post when you are a whale
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Thanks... If I live that long!!!
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lol... long life, health and strength my friend
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I'd settle for health!!! Thanks!
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Omg go to the freaking doctor!!!!!!!
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"Calcutta". HAHAHAAAA!!!! Congratulations, man!
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Thanks!
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You'll cruise with the whales soon!
Your position right now is special, you're kinda like a bridge between the whales and everyone else.
Btw I flag every beggar I see, on anyone's posts
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I don't know about soon... But someday!
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Good stuff rich! You worked your bum off for that one!
Another year to whale, my friend!
Congrats!
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Thanks... Whale in a year... now that's a goal!
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I can see you there... and by that time, I should have risen to dolphie, too ! :)
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About whales,hmmm hope you will reach that level one day.
But about one thing you're totally right- hard work, that's the only way to succeed on Steemit.
Every single day learning something new about writing posts and posting, I couldn't imagine that a couple months ago that one day i will sitting and looking for info and etc to make a post on Steemit. And with hard work sometimes its pays out well.
Thanks for good motivation ;)
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Thank you... I'm sure you'll make it!
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Congratulations! Eight months of daily posts shows a lot of determination! However, I don't envy you for becoming a dolphin as I've learned here on Steemit that dolphins aren't all that cute and they gang up and beat poor porpoises to death! I have no idea what a porpoise looks like,but still!
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Actually, I took 1 day off... I thought porpoises and dolphins were the same... Not to worry- I only beat up beggars!
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Turns out they are different. I just googled it because I really had no idea! At least I've learned something today :)
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Congratulations on the new fins!
I think I've been approaching it the same way. Eight months, huh? Guess I'm nearly a quarter of the way there.
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When I first started out, I put out 5-6 posts a day (usually for about 50 cents each). Now I usually only do 1 or 2 because I don't want to hog the reward pool.
Hard work and you'll be there before you know it!
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5 - 6 posts a day?!? OK, maybe I've got a longer road ahead. I seem to be able to maintain one or two, about 1000 words each. I think I might burn out beyond that. Of course I tend to ramble and then edit down. Maybe I could break things into shorter posts.
Don't worry about hogging the reward pool - if you've got good stuff to say than you deserve it.
Just followed up on your Tavistock series, BTW. Well done - ties together a bunch of stuff I've seen floating around these days.
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Thanks... I've gotten into writing fiction now, weaving the truth into my stories. It's a lot of fun and I love the freedom.
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It's nice not having a gatekeeper, right?
I saw you had a lot of stories up and it's nice they're doing so well. I'll dive in when I have some time to really focus.
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It is... and it isn't! If you look on my blog there's an article called Who is @mohsinahmed (or something) about a guy that cuts & pastes other people's content and posts it as his own... He did it to a woman who was asking for help- she had been evicted with 2 small children sick with chickenpox, no food etc. At some point the devs need to step up!
I hope you enjoy my stories. The one I', doing now- The Night Gods II- is probably the best so far. I have someone that wants to turn it into a book and market it (I didn't think it was that good)
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Woohoo..Congrats!! That is an excellent place to be..you deserve it and are an inspiration to us all!! Next stop....whaledom :D
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Thank you!!! Maybe someday I'll be a whale (if I live that long- it's a long way to go)
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You can do it!!
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Doing it the old fashioned way - with a lot of hard work! Not too much of a surprise, having read a lot of your stuff over the past few months. Well done! 😎
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Thank you!
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You are indeed kind
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Thank you... This is a community and when somebody needs help, we step up. Unfortunately, there are people that misuse it!
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Yes, but the act counts still. You did greatly and you even told your friend. Greatness!
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Thank you!!!
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Thank you for the encouragement @richq11. I seemed to have been stuck on a rep of 57 for ages now and like @technovedanta my posts have been earning very little since the last hardfork. It can become a bit down-heartening at times but it is good to see that the dizzy heights of dolphin can be attained. Congratulations on your achievement.
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I never even realized what that little number in the circle meant until I hit 66. I guess you have to get upvotes by people with a higher number... so here's one from me (@technovedanta already got his)
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Thanks for that, every little bit counts. :-)
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Just keep putting out good content and it will happen for you too!
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Congrats!
I'll add something to what Rich said...I remember when he first start commenting...
he did not say "good post" then move on to the next post; he did not say "I'll follow you if you follow me"
What Rich did was read enough of the post to ADD an insightful comment that added value to the post; a perspective, a link, an argument.
I looked forward (still do LOL) to his comments because they made my posts more valuable, and I started following him to read more of what he was saying
That 8 months of work that Rich put in was HARD work.
And that is how you build an audience of folks that reads your stuff and votes for it!
Congrats again! Well Deserved!
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Wow!!! Thanks... If I ever hire a publicist- you're my man!
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I'll do it for free
"Rich Kicks Ass!"
OK, I quit now LOL
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That ought to do the trick!
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Congrats. There is hope yet.
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Always hope!
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Congratulations! Reading the comments to your post helped me figure out how to know when someone is a dolphin. When I was deciding if I wanted to join Steemit or not (having no previous social media presence), what convinced me in the end was the ability to be part of a community that isn't censored or censorable by a centralized authority (i.e. posts can be made less visible, but they can't be deleted).
I am working on developing my readership, and posting every day can be a real challenge, you have my sincere respect for managing that. I just discovered you about an hour ago and have upvoted and followed to see how things develop for you. Your post "Living the Dream on Steem" was very nice by the way, I was totally on the academic writing train for a number of years and really enjoyed it, but blogging is starting to eclipse the fondness I have/had academic writing. It's faster, more flexible in terms of addressable content and more variable in terms of written style that can be used. I will definitely be taking a look at your fiction in the next few days. Cheers and congrats again. - CZ
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Thank you... There's a story called The Lottery Council that's complete as is The Night Gods. The one I'm doing now is a sequel, The Night Gods II, but I heartily recommend reading the first part. My stories tend to have recurring and overlapping characters. The NGII in fact has characters from both part I and the Lottery Council.
What I've come to love about writing fiction is the absolute freedom... None of the rigid structure of academia. I also did my life story, The Kid That Became A Guy, which I reposted adding considerably to the first.
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Thanks for the tips, that makes it easier than scrolling through and trying to find something, I'll start with The Lottery Council tomorrow. I have only posted one of my very short stories on steemit so far, it might interest you The Edge of Dreams. I am currently more focused on social topics and in the middle of a cycle treating the social justice movement if that sort of thing interests you. My latest short satire piece has gotten a good response so far. Thanks again for your recommendation!
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There's a search option if you click on the magnifying glass... it's for Steemit, if you haven't used it.
I've written a few posts about Cultural Marxism, and their link to the Frankfurt School, who are linked to Tavistock Institute and on and on!
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Ah, those I will definitely want to read. Thanks!
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I needed this motivation.... :)
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You can do it too!
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congrats. I hope I will be a dolphin one day too. Hopefully, by then you will be a whale :)
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Thanks... you will be. Just put out quality content (everyday if possible). I've only taken 1 day off since I started- and I'm 72 so you can do it!
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72? Omg, my father is 60 and he doesn't know how to turn on his pc XD Props to you.
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Thanks... I'm really not that good- It's a triumph every time I successfully check my email lol!
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😂😂😂😂
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Would you like to see my bunghole?
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Congrats! This gets me stoked!
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If I can do it... then so can you!
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I'm glad to see it's working for you. Don't go all Hollywood on us now that you're a Dolphin us small people knew you in the ago.
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I'm still in the ago my friend... always will be!
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Keep up the good work.
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Yep good job @richq11. Consistency is the key!
Also if you can help the steemit community, then it will definitely be easy to move in the ranks.
Anything is possible, ya just gotta put your mind to it.
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I give away almost as much money as I keep... whenever another Steemian is in trouble the community helps!
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Congrats, man! Kudos to you for the determination, gives a bit of hope :)
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