In doing a little reading this morning, I came across several "Rah-Rah Posts" about new projects people were involved in. This being Steemit, quite a few of these were about new "token projects," designed to do this, than and t'other with Blockchain technology.
Maybe I am just old and cynical, but I have never been much of a fan of "song-and-dance routines" for new ventures.
Close-up of a rohododendron bloom
Of course, I'm also enough of a business realist to recognize that in order to sell people on a new concept or idea, you basically have to start off "selling air" because there IS no track record you can point to. All you have is "the idea" and little else.
Tall Tales of Riches and Other Fantasies
Leaves in silhouette
Perhaps it just goes to show that I will never be an "early adopter" of anything because I always "investigate" new projects — and their rah-rah party promoters — pretty thoroughly, rather than just jump off a cliff on good faith.
"I just joined the Poop Mooncoin pre-ICO Promotional Airdrop Star Party and it is SO AMAZING I can't contain myself, and here's my affiliate link and please sign up now and be as successful as I am!!!"
These kinds of sales pitches always reminds me of something oxymoronic like a "screaming mime."
Even the tiniest bit of poking around typically reveals that this person going on about their "success" actually just joined the program that same morning and has ZERO idea about the project and NO "success" whatsoever. Just, basically, the hype of being caught up in the moment.
Integrity... or Stick-in-the-Mud?
Personally, I can't ever get myself to "recommend" anything — let alone get hyped up over it — unless I've actually personally thoroughly (my creative writing professor is rolling in her grave right now-- 3 consecutive words ending in "ly"...) used and tried whatever-it-is and made sure it actually does what's promised.
Yeah, some kind of white flower in our yard...
Of course, almost nothing does "what's promised," as a result of which I almost never recommend anything.
From where I am sitting, that's called integrity, although to many people it is evidently "fearful."
Besides, people don't get excited about reality, they get excited about wild promises and pie-in-the-sky that have pretty much zero chance of happening.
And that's especially true about so-called "business opportunities," and — at the moment — pretty much anything with the word "blockchain" in it.
That said, it took me more than six months of being an active participant here before I felt comfortable talking about and recommending Steemit to anyone. And even then, I tend to recommend it with all the realistic cautionary tales of what you can actually expect here. I'm not going to "sell" this place in a way that causes people to arrive here with dollar signs and fantasy rainbows in their eyes.
Wild lupines
But then I'm not going to sell anything with more enthusiasm than "this is what you MIGHT get if you put in THIS much time and effort, but no guarantees."
Which is why I have always been sort of a shitty sales person... BUT, anyone who has "bought into" something on my watch has tended to be very persistent and loyal... and typically successful. Which reflects one of my core values in life: I'd much rather have a tiny team of consistent and hard working high performers than an ocean of wannabes flailing around with their unrealistic expectations.
Well, time for me to stop for the moment, and head off to do something more functional!
How about YOU? Do you find it easy to pitch "new and exciting" ventures, even if you have no experience with them? Or do you wait till you've road tested a project, before sharing? Do you consider yourself a "risk taker?" Or are you risk averse? Have you ever recommended Steemit to anyone? Was it when you first got here, or after a while? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180904 12:47 PDT