Expectations
Would you believe me if I said:
I have no expectations.
Me using a Snapchat filter
Being a very active member of Steemit has not garnered huge monetary rewards, but I am not one to complain about that because I am earning more on this platform than Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Medium, LinkedIn, and any other social media platform combined.
It doesn't matter if my post makes a penny or $100. In fact, my highest paid post was a ridiculously silly, self-deprecating post which made $118.45 over three weeks ago.
I refuse to compare my wallet with anyone's because I am competing against myself.
My progression by the numbers
@ 30 Days
Zero to 80 followers.
Reputation score: 52.4
510 posts.
@ 60 Days
213 followers
Reputation score: 59.5
Just over 1100 posts.
@ 90 Days
376 followers
Reputation sits at 63.9
Over 2400 posts.
I'm ranked #37 in post counts out of 47259 Steemians tracked!
Though I do not compare myself to anyone else, I do admit to chasing a few people to be in their ranks: 
Getting to this point has not been easy.
Anyone with over 2000 posts (with the exception of bots) practices
the 3 C's:
Content creation - Curation - Comments
It's the thing that we have in common.
Are YOU practicing the 3 C's?
This segues perfectly into the next thing I want to talk about.
Thoughts on Curation
Let me first state that I admire the efforts of curation guilds like RobinHood Whale, Curie, and Steem Guild - but I also believe they are terribly flawed.
In the interest of transparency, I was the benefactor of RobinHood Whale...ONCE, and have no idea if I'm on the radar of Curie or Steem Guild by the simple fact that my activity and growth often excludes me from being qualified. This is not a complaint, mind you. Remember what I said about expectations?
The bottom line is, the only one I can rely on is me. What I put forth is what I will get from this process of growth and learning. I am convinced that I am where I am because I don't go around with casual upvotes. I do an exceptional amount of reading. If I like it, I upvote. If I bother to upvote I leave a comment about 90+/- % of the time.
I call that organic curation
My frustration
It grinds my gears to see brand new people coming onto Steemit with the expectation of making big money in a relatively short amount of time, with absolutely no resolve to work for it.
It took about 30 days for me to earn $103.50 and $92.61 of that was earned on days 29 and 30. Don't believe me? Just look through my blog.
And even as I've reached 90 days, I've calculated my average earnings to be $15.60 per post, which doesn't sound too bad, right? Except the majority of my posts have made less than one dollar and a few have made significantly more.
If you look through the list, there is no rhyme or reason why some posts did better than others.
Again, I am not complaining. I'm just stating what my efforts have yielded so you have an objective view.
Going back to the curation guilds and their efforts: They are admirable because I believe the intention is to develop user retention and keep newbies happy. But I also believe it's a crutch and gives new people a false sense of security.
They are being trained to have expectations without doing the work necessary to develop a strong foundation and build their tribe. This may be an unpopular opinion, but it's mine.
I would also like to point out that many of the people who have begun these initiatives have been active members of Steemit for a long time. They've earned their stripes and want to give back to the platform. And while their intention is to be objective, these guilds are made of people and they will migrate toward their friends. Again, not a complaint. This is just a statement of human nature.
Curation Using Streemian
I am a curator on Streemian and have several invitation codes left for anyone interested in joining.
I am not holding the codes hostage on condition that you follow my trail. I don't work like that. If you want an invite code, leave me a message. I'll give them out until I run out.
What I would recommend is going down the list of active curators and see who is active, who they're voting for, and if it jives with your personal upvote habits.
I mention this because you are literally allowing your chosen curators to use your voting power in their upvotes. There are positives and negatives to this.
Positives:
- You will earn curation points because other people are voting on your behalf, potentially voting 24/7 and accumulating your own curation rewards/Steem Power (SP).
- You see how people are voting.
- You can easily leave or join trails at your whim.
Negatives:
- Your vote power can quickly be depleted, dependent on how many trails you follow and how active your curator is.
- You have to submit your private Steemit key.
While I'm pretty confident that my information is secure, there is that risk. - I spent about 2 hours last night looking through the curators and noticed that many of them follow each other, which means they are voting on the same people. (Refer to my thoughts on curation guilds.)
I am currently not following anyone's curation trail because I consistently upvote and comment on 25-50 blogs a day. I may not be a whale, but that doesn't mean I can't think and act like one.
Steemit Best Practices
- Upvote
- Leave a comment
- Engage with your favorite people
- Check your feed
- Check the NEW tab for "new-to-me" content and users
- Find those hidden gems
- Be a mentor
- Post what you love because you love it - not because you think it will be a big earner
- Get in the habit of having no expectations
- Have a positive attitude
- Don't give up - EVER
My Goals for the Next 30 Days
- I'd like to see my reputation score grow to the high 60s.
- Pay It Forward. I've been hosting small contests to give everyone (even dolphins and whales) an equal opportunity to win Steem power. I have also tipped people SP who consistently share quality content - JUST BECAUSE. It's more of a token of appreciation - kind of like tipping your bartender.
Imagine if we all stopped with the gimme attitude and gave when we could?
How awesome would it feel to look at your wallet and see an extra 5 SP just because you're you? I intend to continue this practice.
- I am also the Municipal Liaison for the Florida:Elsewhere region for NaNoWriMo, so my posts in November will likely be WriMo related...or really goofy just to blow off steam! (No pun intended.)
Final Thoughts
Gut check your reasons for being on Steemit. Evaluate your activity and growth. What are you taking from Steemit? And more importantly, What are you giving back?