On Steemit, very few go the extra mile. Hell, you're lucky to find someone who will go a mile, let alone any extra distances. Some use that dynamic to bitterly complain, and that's of course their prerogative. But for the smart and shrewd Steemit user, you can use this to your advantage.
Steemit is young. But I guarantee you as the network expands, more people willing to go beyond the consensus standard will find their new home here. It's just the inevitability of the law of large numbers. Once this occurs, it will be much more difficult to implement what I'm going to advise you below.
In the last month or so, I've noticed a big uptick in "follow for follow" (F4F) requests. As I mentioned in previous posts, I don't mind them -- I just don't respond to them. It's nothing personal; it's just that your content probably sucks.
But I'm a very positive and productive person, so I don't like to leave things in the negative. Here's a surefire way to un-suck the suck!
You Want Followers? You Need a Brand!
So you want to become a huge Steem success but you don't have a following. Obviously, the problem is that you need more followers. Now, you can go the lazy route by pestering people to "F4F," or you can stand out and be original.
One great way to do this is to develop your brand. Solidify what you're about, and then communicate that in a visual format.
For me, I'm about all things financial, and providing my viewers with great investment market insights. So I took a picture of a bull from Pixabay -- which is free licensing -- and inserted the tagline "Got Bull?" I then added a few blurbs, then pasted on my Steemit logo.
Boom! In 15 or 20 minutes, I've got a great branding message to share with the Steem community!
Share Smart!
When you want to get a following, it helps to find people who share the same passions and interests as you. So search for that content on Steemit, and make relevant comments to the posts that you find. Then, at the end of every comment, paste your new brand image, and make sure it's clickable (this is done by bracketing the "insert picture" command, and "paranthesizing" your account url).
That's an interesting perspective! Do you think other international central banks will follow suit with retaliatory benchmark rates, or will they let this one slide?
The idea here is to not necessarily get the original post author's follow, although that might occur. Rather, your brand image is displayed to other people who may want to comment. Since your image -- if you do it right -- is pithy and catchy, you have a greater probability of attracting more viewership, and more followers.
This is a much better way than pestering people to follow you, or worse yet, demanding it. I'm sure you don't like people telling you what to do. Well, imagine how other people feel about it!
Using this methodology, you appear more sincere about your efforts and purpose, and you'll get a FAR better response rate!