This post will be a proper explanation of the rationale behind, and a status update on, the ongoing efforts mentioned in my previous post. Feel free to write your own on the same subject.
With this post I'm also testing out the Busy closed alpha. So if the font looks a little extra interesting somewhere, please let me know.
Strike where it matters: Efficient marketing for STEEM
As a community we have tried a number of ways to make PR for Steemit. A lot of which, to be honest, for the most part don't get us that far. The reason usually being that they are based on the concept of a large number of people (requires, well, people) having to work really hard (requires engagement) doing something that they are usually not even all that good at: Marketing. Often by means of "talking people into" starting an account on Steemit.
But there are many other forms of marketing and one of them is so easy that a monkey could do it: It's called "voting". No, not voting for this post. Although it certainly wouldn't hurt, that's actually not what I'm talking about here.
Instead, your vote (and the votes of your helpful family members) can help the community get one more online exchange to accept and allow its users to trade STEEM. (Link is at the end of this post) We currently only need around 130 votes in total and 50 users could pull this off just by creating a few accounts each, but why not try to get as many as you can onboard rather than vote once and hope that someone else picks up the slack for you?
NOTE: There's no catch here. You don't even have to actually use this exchange after you've voted. This article is not an endorsement or recommendation of the exchange itself and I get absolutely nothing if you sign up. (I also don't use any referral links and I personally don't know anyone working for the exchange itself.)
The only reason I'm telling you to do this, is because having another exchange accept STEEM would make the currency (thus in extension Steemit.com) more visible and increase the likelyhood of it being added on other exchanges. In turn, this would increase total liquidity and aid further adoption of both the currency and the site.
"So why not go to the big exchanges directly rather than spend time on a small newcomer?" you might ask. Quite simply because it's a lot easier. Small bites are much easier to chew.
As professional gamblers and exchange traders understand well, a lot in life comes down to the odds. Small companies and communities don't have the same war chest to reach for as large companies and nations do; This means that while there is more room to grow and more reason to move early on opportunities, they still have to avoid taking on too much risk by making too expensive bets.
Ads and marketing in general - especially when done as poorly as it often is - can be very costly and result in a very low return. For small companies and communities, this therefore simply doesn't work. Voting on this exchange on the other hand is a very low cost (FREE) and potentially a rather high return (seen by hundreds of users and increased demand) target that would be perfect for our PR efforts.
The opportunity is sitting right there in front of us. So why not grab it?
Are we ready to make a bet that essentially costs us nothing, avoids spending hours talking to people that are uninterested and wasting a bunch of money on expensive marketing schemes, and put STEEM on this exchange?
Let us as a community take action NOW!
Simply go to https://mercatox.com/auth/register , fill in an e-mail and choose a password. Then check your email for verification. The whole process shouldn't even take 30 seconds to get through.
When you are ready to cast your vote all you need to do is go to https://mercatox.com/coins/list and click on the thumbs up button for STEEM.
(Tip: If you didn't instantly recieve a confirmation, try registering with a gmail adress.)
IF WE CAN GET 10% OF THE EXCHANGE USERBASE VOTES (CURRENTLY CA 130) TO VOTE WE CAN GET THEM TO ADD STEEM
WE HAVE NOW GATHERED 60 VOTES.
THIS MEANS WE ARE ALREADY HALFWAY THERE.
IF EVERYONE READING THIS POST ACTUALLY VOTES FOR STEEM ON THE EXCHANGE WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS
IF EVERYONE ALSO CARES ENOUGH ABOUT THE COMMUNITY TO RESTEEM AND TELL OTHERS WE HAVE A MUCH BETTER CHANCE AT SUCCEEDING
IF EVERYONE REALLY DIGS IN AND CREATES MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT (SIGN UP YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS - FAKE ACCOUNTS VOTES WILL BE REMOVED) WE WILL GET THIS DONE