I’m just going to post this once and for all. I know that it is not usual for me to write anything outside the travel category but I just feel like I have to write and share this to my followers. This is by the way based on my own experience and observation in the past 2 months.
As you can see, I’ve been writing nonstop about my travel, including tips, places I’ve been to, social and other controversial issues and some lessons I’ve learned. Fearless and unstoppable! During the past few weeks, I get to know the game and the reality here in steemit, and below are just my personal analysis and observation. You can always correct me if I’m wrong, agree or disagree, but please read before you yell! There’s no room for selective reading here for now.
It's not you, it’s the system
If you’ve been wondering why your posts are not getting any new upvotes, or you’re not getting any new followers after having written for hours what you think is good quality content, don’t feel bad. Because it’s not you, it’s the system.
Steemit is still in beta and obviously still has a lot to improve. There are new users every day who are lured here for the money, stay for the community thing. Some are beggars, some are really talented writers, some are spammers, some are just going with the flow, some are investors, some want a quick way to make money, some have nothing else to do in life and some are just trolls imported here from Youtube/Facebook. Basically, all people from all walks of life!
So as Steemit grows, more and more new users push your content down to the bottom once posted on the new tab. That means within the first few seconds, your content has already been swallowed by the quicksand.
But wait, there’s still a little bit of chance for your content to be seen there. Once posted, you’ll see your content for a while on the new tab, especially if you still haven’t refreshed your browser. It makes you feel like you’re at the top for a moment. Just savor it.
Now, out of those thousands of online users, there happened to be a big guy who was on the same page. But maybe he went to the bathroom or went to the kitchen to get some coffee. Then he went back to his computer and voila! Your content was still on his screen.
2 Realities:
He might have noticed the catchy title such as – My new gaming rig, DIY BTC mining machine, or some other technical stuff, oh it does not have to be technical too. It can be any controversial topic or any unique content that interests him. He will open your article and there, you get his precious upvote!
He was too busy to notice that your post didn’t attract him at all, so he just went back to his feed and moved on with his steemit life.
They don’t usually comment, they feel like action speaks louder than words. Don’t expect them to follow you too. You’ll just notice that you’ve been upvoted by one of the big guys when you see them reigning the upvotes’ drop-down.
Don’t bet on it!
The reality is, if you have like $20++ worth of self-upvote, then that already secured your post on the top of the hot tab for the first 3 hours. However, the reality is you don’t have, yet?
Booster/Whale Bots
I’ve been writing here for a while now because I enjoy it. And also I want to make some money, aren’t we all here? In the end, it’s still better to write here and make a few cents than start from scratch by creating a new blog. Google Adsense won’t even give you $1 in a month unless you are a very popular travel blogger.
So I’ve been writing for a while and not noticing these bid bots that can give a post some boost. Until I’ve noticed some of my followers using this randowhale or minnowbooster thing. So I took my time to read about them and gave them a try. That solves the problem #1 a little bit, not having enough steem power yet to propel yourself to the hot tab. Though, I honestly feel like self-upvote is like those shameless selfies on Instagram and Tinder (which I really hate), like gotta lure 'the men', ha!
But times are hard, and there are some people out there who deserve to read your posts or you have messages you need to get out there. You deserve at least some minimum hourly wage, but unfortunately, the system is not working in your favor.
But you can’t depend on the whales all the time, as 
So be the whale and help yourself instead.
Thanks to the booster bots, it can give you the illusion that you’re a whale.
Thanks to minnowsupport it also gives you the illusion that you have a lot of upvotes, and that people really read your post.
It’s about the first 3 hours
So you invested some money in your posts that you think will 'make it' (attract upvotes, resteems, new followers etc.). But it’s always about the first 3 hours. If you’ve gotten yourself at least $10 within the first 10 minutes, that means you got yourself a little bit of exposure up to the hot tab, which I believe where some readers go to check some good posts to upvote, just when they are about to get ‘hotter’. Because upvoting posts past 30 minutes will give them some good curation reward. Chances are, you’ll probably get more than $10 within those 3 hours (depends on your content too). If you make it to $50 in about 2 hours, then you’re still gonna be there on the hot tab. Congratulations, you have retained your spot! Now, you’re getting a lot of comments and some more upvotes.
Your content is getting hotter and is probably past the $50 mark now, more comments coming, they are noticing your content now. Expect to be resteemed (another return on investment).
But I admit that there are few readers out there who really dug you somewhere, from being resteemed by another user or from one of those tags.
Either your post will make it to the trending page or not, that is if you got past the $100 mark, so wish upon a star! If your topic is really good, then perhaps it will make more. However, there might be bigger hands controlling everything, so your payout might stop at $50 after 3 hours, and that’s it, sadly, your post is now old.
You made it!
But don’t be sad, because you’ve already made some money, you might lose a bit because STEEM value is getting low these days, but anyway you have new followers now. Some people saw the value in what you write. And the good thing is, if you have used the not so saturated tags visible on the home page, such as –Freedom, Photo, Animals, etc., expect to see a couple of your posts on the trending page of these tags. Some of you might even have found me through this way?
Within the first 2 days, your post might still be here! And that means, there might be readers out there who really take their time to find people to follow. You’ll know when you start getting comments out of nowhere, still getting resteemed, and you’re still getting new followers.
All in all, those whalebots and steem power are a good investment in terms of promotion, getting organic followers, increasing your reputation as a writer and of course, money, in my humble opinion.
Other Realities and the Game
If you get past the 50+ reputation score by consistently writing quality content, blood, sweat, tears and all, then it means you have higher chances now of getting clicked. If you’re writing just to have some fun and post whatever stuff, don’t worry but persist! It might just take a year to make some money and increase your rep score.
As you all know, most of the first batch from last year have 60+ reputation score now and some of their followers have evolved to big fishes, some made earlier realization and had become whales. So you might be wondering why when they post, a few upvotes within the first 10 minutes and they already made $30+, it’s either their Steem Power or their whale followers who have been supporting them all this time.
There’s also probably some sub network of high-powered and high-ranking individuals supporting each other too.
If you have exposed your nationality, you tag your country, and you happen to be a part of the big population, then you might get some big support too. You might even make it to the trending page of that country tag.
People like to conform and go with the popular thing. Steemians are people and not machines anyway, so they get to show the same behavior in real life. People like to make a bit of money from your posts, people like to flood your comments after seeing your wallet, people like to clap for the wrong reasons, people like to go with the flow, people like to beg, you know – all types of people! And sometimes I can tell when some people unfollowed me because I didn’t follow them back. But of course, there are also a lot of people who really read your posts and follow you for what you write.
You’re not gonna get 100% upvote from the whales all the time, for the reason - too many mouths to feed. If there’s anything, it should be them first, pretty understandable!
I have a slider now but I don’t use it. I don’t have a lot of steem power yet, so it doesn’t make sense to give anyone any <100% of my upvote. I think that even if I have a lot of steem power anyway, I’d rather not upvote or I’ll just limit myself to 11 upvotes (SP limit) per day than devalue someone’s post.
So don’t even think that I have forgotten you all! When I have some extra SBD, I might have already given some of you some 
The Solution
- Continue the hardwork, write and build your portfolio, eventually you’ll get some big followers. (But don’t depend on them!)
- Power up, forget about the 'take the money and run'. Write good content, put it to 100% steem power then boost it. You’re on your own now, so be the whale!
- A quicker way is to invest some money in steem power (at your own risk), if you really believe in the platform and you see that this is one way to escape the negative work environment, free yourself from corporate slavery, get your money out of state control and perhaps even travel while you work.
- Support each other. Most of my followers here started the same month as I did, or this year’s batch, and probably some of them will be whales by next year, and steemit might have grown bigger that time (let’s hope for the best!). And it might take time for each of us to make some money and put some worth on our upvote. But then again, let’s just enjoy the ride!
- The hard way – just enjoy what you’re doing and don’t be discouraged. Perhaps stay away from the trending page and all the negativity. Mind your own business, support your followers. Just continue writing and maybe the rest will follow.
Before following me, please check my previous posts. I usually write about my travels or whatever my distorted mind has to offer. If you follow me and you're not really interested with that, then you'll only be disappointed! Unfollow
Thanks to my 591 followers, curators and steemit friends, you know who you are.