Being a newbie on Steemit isn't always easy.
There is a learning curve that can be tough at times. And it's inevitable that at some point, you're bound to experience discouragement.
Often, it can come from disappointment at not earning the kind of rewards you hoped for - or comparing yourself with others who seem to unfairly be earning way more than yourself for material that doesn't really seem that much better.
If you come to such a point, take comfort in knowing you are not alone.
As with anything in life, success doesn't always come easy at first. There's learning to do & skills to develop - and the process isn't guaranteed to be smooth.
If you're one of the many who don't knock the ball out of the park on the first try, or whose elation after a first well-rewarded introduceyourself post crashed after not getting the same extravagent rewards on subsequent stories - a bit of discouragement may be natural.
But, if you stick with it and persist through the foreseeable setbacks, the rewards can be *well-worth it.
Below, you'll find some golden tips for how to deal with discouragement that might naturally happen in the early stages of your Steemit journey.
Take them to heart and put them into action, and before you know it, any sense of disillusionment may be gone and you'll be well on your way to loving every minute of the adventure (and earning some nice rewards...)
1. DON'T Worry About Rewards. Stay focused on VALUE.
If your attention gets fixated on how much your posts are earning - especially in comparison to others - you're off track.
Given this whole thing and the prospect of getting paid to social media is a new & exciting concept, it's easy to get our eyes locked on how much is flowing into our accounts - especially compared to how much other writers or past posts of ours might be rewarded. However, doing so is a setup for failure.
Everybody's success here is going to look & be measured differently. Not everyone is going to consistently make thousands of dollars per post. But if we get distracted with temptation of thinking about how much we could be making, our attention will be turned away from what makes the biggest difference of all: creating value.
In the end, all posts are rewarded for the value they are to readers.
It might also be tempting to question why some seemingly silly posts get rewarded so high - or feel it's unfair that some users get compensated so much for what we personally might not find much value in. BUT, if we give into this temptation - and forget the fact there if a story has been voted way up, it's because others have found some sort of value in it - we may miss the opportunity to create something of extraordinary value ourselves.
It's also possible that we may underestimate our own value to others - holding back sharing ourselves and our ideas fully, because our focus is not yet strictly on being of & creating value.
Value comes in an infinite variety of forms. (Though at its core, breaks down into five categories - or 5 "ingredients" you can consistently fuse into a story to make it successful).
The path to success of Steemit is really quite simple, when you break it down: **Value first. Rewards follow."
Become a student of value. Become a creator of value.
Forget the rewards, and focus on increasing your personal value to the community, and success shall be inevitable.
2. Be Real. Do YOU.
While there are a number of different factors that contribute to Steemit success, there's one in particular that will make all the difference in winning over the hearts, appreciation, and votes of readers: AUTHENTICITY.
Originality is one of the five key types of value that makes certain content stand out among the rest.
Every one of us has unique life experience, knowledge, wisdom, jokes, passion, and a purpose to share. Each of us has a distinct voice, perspective, and personality - which while not all people may resonate, some people will LOVE, appreciate, and be happy to reward.
There's something special about content created with personality - with honesty, vulnerability, uninhibited rawness expressing a person's deepest truths and humanness.
Sometimes, we may have held back on social media due to what other people might think. Or if we're just navigating our way through this and trying to make posts we think will win votes, we might choose what to write based on our expectations of how it may be perceived rather than what we really would most love to express. All understandable and natural at some times for many people.
Yet, when we share original outlooks, insights, and joy through our own distinct signature style - when we let our individuality shine through to just freely be ourselves and let our child-like creativity flow with a total self-honorance by being REAL - a kind of magic takes place. And there's bound to be others out there who dig it.
None of us can copy anybody else's strategy for success. I can't do what the top earners do. You can't do what I can do. And nobody can do what you can do. But we can ALL be great in our own rights. We can ALL succeed in our own ways. We can all win the companionship and support of a growing tribe on Steemit who recognize and back our value.
But, we've got to keep it real.
We have to bear our souls, wear our hearts on our sleeves, and dare to be courageous enough to speak our truths - so those in alignment will hear/read and be drawn to us.
And in doing so, we are also going a pretty friggin' awesome journey of self-discovery - exploring new parts of ourselves, the more & more we open up and express. It's a very rewarding growing experience in itself - breaking down walls to reveal the fullness of our characters with blunt honesty, receiving the feedback of those inspired by our sharing, and being inspired by the effect our realness has on others.
So when in doubt, just be fucking real.
People like real, human people. It may be uneasy to express ourselves fully, out of fear of what others might think, but it's exactly because we allow ourselves that transparency and expose parts of ourselves most don't - a rare authenticity - that people appreciate and deeply connect with such.
3. Be Receptive To & Grateful For Feedback.
Votes, comments, and rewards - they're all feedback. Be open to receiving it and use it to guide you.
If something was rewarded well, go back and assess what it is about the story that was of value - and bring more of that value to your future posts. Also, if something wasn't highly voted for - you might not get monetary rewards for it, but there may be valuable lessons in it for you. Assess what might have been missing from it and/or why others might not have found it valuable - and integrate that insight into your future writing, so you don't waste more time writing stuff that doesn't catch and can instead focus on riding the wave of what does work.
Also, if people comment on your stories with compliments or any sort of positive feedback, take the time to acknowledge and thank them. Doing so is a great way to build relationships with other members, and if you show your appreciation for their input and be friendly, they may very well be likely to follow you and up-vote your future posts - which also may be just a small reward in comparison with some great friendships that blossom along the journey from having taken the time to interact back with them.
And if you happen to get any criticism on any of your posts, be wise with your responses. Sometimes people might offer constructive criticism that can help your writing become better if you act upon it. Though like anywhere else in life, there may also be haters and trolls that just wanna knock people down and don't have anything positive or constructive to add at all - in which case, it's always best to remain courteous and respectful, regardless of whether they've done the same. Reputation matters on Steemit, so it's not worth losing your cool and looking like a fool if someone tries to push your buttons and is being a dick. Maintain your dignity - and perhaps even use the opportunity to provide them genuine, respectful feedback - not from a place of defensiveness, but with intention of serving them to reorient their feedback so as to better harmonize with the community and its culture which values character & integrity.
4. Commit To Constant & Never-Ending Improvement.
Always be developing your skills.
The more people that come onto Steemit, the higher the standards of quality are going to get. In a sense, there is some competition for rewards - in that the most rewards inevitably go to those with the best content. So if you're playing to win, you had better better bring your A-game!
Rewards aside, developing your capabilities for producing great content - or framed otherwise, increasing your value to the community - is a whole reward in itself. It's fun to constantly be create better & better content. The better our skills get, the more value we are able to generate - and the more satisfaction we get from having positively impacted others.
Really get clear on the 5 types of value, and practice putting them into your stories.
Take the extra time to really ensure the details of your writing are as clear, concise, and grammatically-correct as possible. Always edit before posting to make sure what you want to express is stated as best it can be in least amount of, most powerful, wording. Use proper formatting and include spaces, breaks, pictures, and sub-headers between paragraphs to break down your articles into easily-digestible chunks. Refine, refine, refine.
Over time, these types of attention-to-detail will become second-nature. Before you know it, the quality of your content will be 10x better because you've been practicing & developing the fundamental skill sets to consistently produce outstanding results. This is the real foundation of wealth - from which the monetary aspect can be generated at the drop of a hat (or a few minutes banging out a great idea into an article).
And don't just limit the development to your content-creation skills.
Continually improve your strength of character & integrity - living your virtues and walking your talk. Improve your social skills, developing relationships with others on the site - improving the quality and depth of your network. Improve your time management & speed-reading skills - an absolute necessity if you hope to juggle banging out a steady stream of posts while also reading tons of other great content on the site, on top of life's responsibilities and activities offline.
It's not that we're in need of "fixing," that improvement is needed. It's that if we aim to expand our success, influence, and life experience - we must develop the capacities to handle more. It's not that we aren't already awesome as we are - it's a never-ending process of upgrading ourselves to create & experience new rising heights of awesomeness. It's about growing ourselves to make the most of life's extraordinary opportunities - and to increase our skills & abilities to create new opportunities them self.
5. Play For The Long-Haul.
Not every one of your posts is going to be a winner.
Sometimes, you might not be on top of your game when making a post. Other times, a poorly-rewarded post just might be a matter of bad luck and timing. Without including the right tags and posting at the wrong time of day, it's possible for yours to get buried in the stream of new ones, not seen, and thus not getting the rewards it could have with some better luck of timing. Nonetheless, keep marching on.
Success is a long-term game. One post can make a huge difference - whether for good, if it's quality - or for worse, if seriously disrespectful or damaging to reputation. But for the most part, each story is but a small step in a longer adventure...
Focus on consistency and quality, and each small victory shall compound on the next - not just boosting financial rewards, but increasing confidence and winning the hearts of readers whom may become treasured friends, companions, and collaborators in your shared future success.
6. Enjoy The Journey.
Forget the rewards, and just have fun!
The more you enjoy the whole process - the writing, discovering others' new inspiring & entertaining content, and getting active engaging in dialogues in comment threads - the more joy you'll infuse into your stories - and the more rewards that will create in the end.
Passion is contagious.
The ones who tend to do the best here on Steemit are often the ones who have gotten hooked on the thrills this cyberspace offers and channel their excitement, curiosity, and motivation to make the most of the adventure into their writing. You can feel the difference in a post that has the heart & soul of someone loving the ride in it. It's magical.
There's an abundance of amazing, inspirational creativity here. Take it in. Let yourself laugh, cry, and be moved. Soak in the buzz of excitement circulating through the environment. Allow yourself to play.
And when you direct that playful spirit back into your posts to share with others, they will love it, too.
7. Integrate Steemit Into A Rewarding Lifestyle
Many have found Steemit to have an addictive quality. For so many reasons, we've gotten hooked.
Yet, balance is key.
Integrating Steemit into a rewarding lifestyle may be one of the keys to long-term success. Without finding such balance, it's quite possible to get burnt out spending too much time online and not nourishing oneself with a healthy dose of offline activities. It's tempting to spend all day & night diving into all the great content here and writing new stories, but doing so is not sustainable.
Also, the more we go out, have new experiences, visit new places, and enjoy our lives off of Steemit - the more inspiration and awesome energy we have to bring back and channel it into engaging, inspirational, quality content. The more interesting lives lived off Steemit, the more gold we have to bring back and share on it.
A Coach Talk...
One last addition to this story, which I wasn't planning on...
I just had a Facebook friend, https://steemit.com/@kain-jc, who I convinced to test out Steemit because he writes some great intellectual, philosophical stuff on male-female dynamics and politics of sexism, write to me:
>"Oh man, haha, this is bs. I posted a piece yesterday on the earning disparities on Steemit, poking some fun at how tits and travelogues do so well. It received no cash at all. The somebody else, who I am sure read my piece, used it as a trampoline for his own writing, did a little reframing and rewording of mine, and got over $5000!"
Upon replying back to, my unintentional "coach talk" seemed to fit perfectly into this story in progress. As such, here it is - a heart-to-heart summary of this entire story's key lessons:
"It's not B.S.
If you wanna succeed with this game, you gotta persist through the natural discouragement so that will arise like this.
It might take 30 articles receiving nothing until you post one that catches and rakes in.
Each post is a learning cycle. If there's not rewards from it, there's lessons & feedback in it.
It could be a matter of luck & chance that the other guy's hit big - or there were elements to how it was written & presented that caught people's interest in a way yours didn't. Such little things as paragraph formatting and minor details in how certain parts are structured make a BiG difference.
Could have been he crafted a catchier headline and used a picture that drew in more attention from the start. These are two elements NOT to be overlooked. Take them seriously. A killer headline is half the battle and will get WAY more people to click open a story than a mediocre one.
The value in the content & ideas presented them self are one thing. The value of the presentation is another. You need to be on top of your game with BOTH. And if the presentation value isn't top notch, people won't make it to the the content.
Keep working at it. Use the positive bits of feedback to fuel you forward. Use the negative feedback (such as perceived "unfairness" in rewards) to upgrade your wisdom on how to tweak your approach until you stumble onto something through trial & error that catches.
You're a great writer. Now transfer some of those writing skills into COPYWRITING. You have to bridge the gap for readers and capture their attention from the first headline, and structure every piece to keep them psychological hooked, craving the next sentence or paragraph.
It will take trial & error and practice. But there are no shortcuts. This is where persistence is required. The payoff? Financial rewards, yes. But moreso, you capture & keep the attention of those whom may benefit from your writing and reach a broader audience.
You'll need to reframe entire experiences like this. There may be many. If you allow yourself to get stuck at the discouragement, it's game over. If you reframe and learn to effectively reword yourself, your $5000 post may just be right around the corner.
If you get hung up on the reward values - ESPECIALLY comparative to how others are doing - you'll stall yourself and get nowhere.
If you're open to learning and play the game for the game's sake - focusing on cultivating & improving your self, competing against YOURSELF and striving to make every piece better & better in both content AND presentation, the rewards will eventually flow.
And remember - even if it's $0.25 you make, that 25 cents more than you ever got writing for Facebook. The potential to make more is there. If you're not making more, it's FEEDBACK - there's something to learn and implement into your writing. Complaining about the unfairness of others' rewards will get you nowhere. Accepting responsibility for your own skill development and focusing on improving your writing - ESPECIALLY the presentation - WILL.
Keep going. The same passion you pour into your ideas, pour into the details of their presentation. Get over whatever hangups you have around marketing & sales, and realize if you want to reach people, you have to write the marketing into the content itself. If you want people to embrace and reward your ideas, you need to sell them in the writing.
There are predictable psychological rules sets governing effective copywriting. Study them and seek to execute them in your own writing. There is an element of DESIGN to effective marketing. Integrate the success principles of design into the STRUCTURING and DELIVERY of your content, and you'll skyrocket yourself into a whole different level of influence and rewards."
{and as an update = he put this advice into practice and earned near $400 rewards on his next post in the next 24 hours. well done, buddy!}
So there ya go.
Take these tips to heart and keep persistent through whatever obstacles might be thrown in your way. Implement the wisdom gained along the path, stay focused on developing your skills & creating value, and take great pleasure in the journey - and soon enough, any temporary discouragement you might encounter will have faded away and a healthy addiction to the world of Steemit taken hold - filling your life with a newfound happiness, enthusiasm, (and profits)... :-)
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