These 5 posts received an amazing 2683 up-votes and 394 comments. They also earned the folks who posted them, over $50,000. So, what do they have in common?
- They all included a jpeg image or graphic. In fact, 19 of the top 20 earning posts had a graphic image to assist the post. Lesson: Graphics are good for your earnings.
- They averaged 6 paragraphs of written text, each. Some, on the one hand, were 2 or 3 paragraphs in length, while others were a bit more lengthy. If I had to guess, I'd say a shorter post will probably get read all the way through, even if it is not the best post ever. That being said, take the time to post well researched articles, at least some of the time.
- They addressed the following topics (in order of earnings): The increasing popularity and support for Steemit. Plans for a expanded Steemit based chat function. Blockchain micro-payments and whether Steemit can offer a work-around. How addictive or habit-forming Steemit is turning out to be. How effective Steemit users are at identifying spammy, scammy, b.s. posts, and some ideas on what you can do about LQ posts. Great posts, all of them, but nothing beyond the reach of the typical Steemit user.
- They were tagged as follows: news, steemit, steemit, life, steemit. Yes people, the basic “steemit” tag, is all you need.
- The top earning post had 20 flags (down-votes), one had 3 flags, and 1 had a single flag. Flags hurt your posts, but if these posts prove anything, it is that: A little bit a negative feedback won't kill you and it might even make you better. Posts can do well, in spite of down-votes.
- All 5 post used the term “Steem” or ”Steemit” in the title of the post or early on in the text. To me, this indicates that users are more focused on posts addressing the success and progress of Steemit and the Steemit community. People want to read about how well Steemit is doing.
These were the several things that jumped out at me as I analyzed these top earning posts. I read all of these post and yes, i did feel that they merited an up-vote, which is what I gave each one of them. In a closing, let me ask you the following question: would you rather make 100 posts, that earn $0.10 each, or would you prefer to make a single post that earns $1000 or more dollars? Until next time, happy posting.