500 followers-WoW! Today, by the standards of Steemit is already not so high number. You can achieve this figure in a few months if you're active enough. More and more people join to Steemit, our average increase is about 2,000 new accounts per day.
But for me it is a tremendous number! I never suggested, that I will have 500 followers in any social network. The point is not that I'm some kind of antisocial person, on the contrary. Simply, I have never attached much value to social networks, did not spend a lot of time on it.
In turn, Steemit has created an entirely new value- the real value. There is no shame to admit that for many, as for me, the main motivation to be here - it's rewards and an easy way to get into the world of cryptocurrencies. Each of us becomes a little happier when sees the votes under the post :)
And it's a reasonable and rational motivation, after all, users create a social network and its value. You give your time, share your experiences and knowledge, create unique and interesting content, breathe life into the platform, increase its value. Maybe even create a new global brand.
In the case of Steemit, in response, you become not just a user, who gets paid for his work (for example how works the economic model of instagram and YouTube for users). You can say you become a full shareholder and it's not necessary to invest real money.
Not so long ago I have already thanked all my followers and the whole Steemit for how they changed my life:
STEEMIT, Thanks for my 1st Bitcoin, for 380 Followers and for the Invaluable Experience
And I say thanks again! I love you all guys!
Aside from the words of gratitude, I would like to share some psychological tips with the newcomers. I hope that it will help you stay here longer and achieve what you want... Of course, I'm not so successful here that you heed these tips. However, even if it will help at least 1 person, I will be very happy.
When I was newbie here, I spent a lot of time and effort on my first article. Here it is:
A Comparison of Our Society with the "Mouse Paradise" (my vision)
It gained only 8 votes. Like any other man in my place, I was very upset. But I did not give up, and carefully thought out why I was upset and what should I do next. The result was a few tips to myself, which I use even today. They might seem a bit rough, because with yourself you have to be honest and rude.
Be calm on the way to the Moon
Minimize your expectations.
I am sure that as soon as you have registered on Steemit and saw a successful posts of other users, you immediately imagined a picture in your head: like your article is also earn 100-1000$. You begin to imagine how it will change your life, your feelings from success, stuff that you will buy on this money...etc. Without these images in your head, you would not be here. But, "suddenly" your 1st, 2nd, 3rd... 10th post earned only 0.1$, it infuriates you. You start angry on Steemit, other users (we get angry at ourself very rarely). But it's only your mistake, you have created the image of quickly and easy success, you have created the image of yourself in the future, though no one promised nothing about it.
So be a neutral in your desires here, or try to find another goal except money: to read, to share, to communicate, to evolve... It was only your choice to come here.
Don't compare yourself with others.
You're angry not only because your expectations did not come true, but due to the fact that they came true for others. After all, you see hundreds stories of success here. Because of it you feel even more pain and sadness when your posts don't earn anything. You begin to think "why did this post with one photo earn 100$, when my article is much better and I tried so hard". Who said that the it was easy for this "lucky guy"? You don't know how much he "paid" for it. Maybe 100$ for this person is nothing, and he was counting to earn 1000$. Maybe it's his 10th account here or he made 2000 posts before. Maybe he doesn't know the language and spends 10 hours to write one line? It can be.
If you like to compare yourself with others, do it with anyone who is more of a loser than you.
Nothing here is against you.
The platform doesn't aims to not notice your posts. There is no difference when and how you posted your article (you often think that maybe if one hour later or three hours earlier...). Success here comes at any time of the day. Just look at the posts in "hot" topic. Other posts do not interfere with your post become a successful.
Other people don't prevent you to achieve success here, we are all on equal footing (except for those who were here from the beginning, but they worked for it just like you are now).
You are not losing anything.
There is no bad or unlucky posts (only if you are a plagiarist and destroyed your reputation). Every your post, even those, which scored 0$ is a step to success, it's:
+1 follower
+1 work in your portfolio
+knowledge and experience from your work
-1 the excluded idea that didn't work
«I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.» Thomas A. Edison
Miracles.
And I would like to end on a good note. Miracles happen always, every day, every second. Big and small, visible and not, those which flip your world immediately, or which flip it through the years, and you won't even remember. One of the miracles - Seemit has already happened, and it happened for everyone who came here. Do you have enough strength, patience, luck, self-belief, etc. to see and feel the results? It depends only from you.
Just spend your time here with pleasure, and you will succeed ;)