The Humans of Steemit is back after two weeks absence, our first guest for this week is Hive account@playfulfoodie who blogs about food and other interesting topics
The Humans of Steemit is a series I started to foster community on Steemit, It is a place where Steemians can learn more about their fellow Steemians
My name is Marian, though on Steemit, I go by @Playfulfoodie. It is the name I gave to my food and gaming blog on Wordpress and the name I want to build my online presence with. I live in the Netherlands and have worked in IT for quite a few years now. I love all things fantasy and I enjoy reading fantasy books and playing games. Besides that, I've also taken quite a few photographs of nature, though it's a little hard for me to slow down enough to properly enjoy it lately.
When I got a burnout and had many long days at home, I found out that cooking and baking managed to calm me down. I experimented a lot and managed to make a couple of nice recipes. That's when I decided I wanted to start a blog. I picked Wordpress as the place to do so.
I'm not sure when exactly it happened, but one day, I stumbled upon an article about Steemit. I'm not even sure where and who wrote it, but I decided to check it out. I joined, read a few articles and jumped right in! I wrote a few posts and shared some of my recipes. That's where @Cheetah pointed me to my own Wordpress blog. Luckily I had already figured out I should link back to my original source.
I was amazed by the amounts some Steemians earned from their blog posts and ofcourse, that was my ultimate goal! Well, I haven't reached that goal. I am still a minnow, but I have managed to gather quite a nice following. Maybe even more importantly: I found a lot of nice people to talk to, like Hive account@abcdoctor and Hive account@clintjunior. I found interesting photographers, like Hive account@azfix. And there are quite a few amazing foodies here aswell! Who wouldn't be a little jealous of the cooking and photography skills Hive account@gringalicious shows us on a daily basis?
I have been so happy that Steemit finally gives me the chance to earn something for my photography. I sell my pictures on various sites, but there is so much competition that I only managed to sell something four times. Now with Steemit, people can show appreciation for my pictures without it costing them much. That appreciation then actually turns into currency! How amazing is that?
Steemit has also given me a place to practice my writing. I am currently unemployed and still recovering from my burnout. By maintaining my blog on Steemit, I still feel like I'm doing something useful. I practice my writing and I earn a small amount on the side. Ofcourse it's not a good substitute for an actual job, but it keeps me busy.
I'll tell you this though, Steemit was so confusing at first! What are all of those currencies doing in my wallet? How do they interact? How do I go from here to actually buying something for my earnings? It took me a while to find out and I read many posts about the currencies. It was okay though, I took it slow. My main goal at first was to share posts and connect with others. Currencies came after.
My recurring topics are gaming, food and photography. Lately, I have been writing a 'Good morning Steemit' post every day and it's helping me clear my head when I have something to rant about. I have introduced new members once in a while by sharing introduction posts that I feel are good quality. I haven't had the energy for that lately though. So for now, I mainly try to upvote and support the people I follow.
I have also started a contest! It's still new, so I don't have many participants yet, but since the second contest, I've always managed to pay out rewards! I use the #marveloustales tag for it and I basically ask people to spin a tale around two words I provide. It's a lot of fun to read the entries and participants seem to enjoy the challenge as well.
I think events on Steemit, like contests, are a great way to build our community. I really like contests like the SPC (photography) and SCC (food) and I advise all members to join contests like these. It not only gives you a chance to win some SBD, but it could also give more exposure to your blog!
Other advice I'd like to give to new members is to mingle. With that, I mean you should comment meaningful and personal messages on other people's posts. Join in on conversations people are having. Don't copy/paste a message, but write each and every comment.
The things I see happening way too often and what I really think everyone should stop doing is the shameless selfpromotion through comments. Please, don't ask me for a follow or an upvote. Please don't share a link to your post through comments on mine. I get it, we all want more followers and upvotes, but these are not the right ways to get them.
Trust me on this: you should not care about your follower count. If you have 1000 followers, simply because you promised to follow each other, no one will vote for your posts. If you have 10 followers who follow you because they enjoy your posts or the talks they have with you, you will receive votes. Actually, a good comment can earn quite a bit in upvotes aswell! So write good posts and have nice conversations. The followers and upvotes will follow naturally.
I guess that wraps things up for me! I'm enjoying Steemit immensely and am not planning on leaving you guys any time soon. If you're ever up for a chat about gaming, fantasy or anything at all actually, don't hesitate to send me a message on Steemit.chat or just throw me a comment. I always enjoy meeting new and interesting Steemians!
Thanks to Hive account@playfulfoodie for sharing her story and gracing us with her presence, If you have any thing to contribute or ask her, Invade the comment section below
who blogs about food and other interesting topics
