If you’ve been using Steemit for a while now, I imagine you have found yourself in the same situation as myself. Trying to Explain Steemit to a friends, and failing miserably. And by ‘Failing’, I don’t mean providing misinformation, or generally doing a bad job. The failure comes in knowing your audience.
I introduced a friends of mine to Steemit some time ago. He refused to sign up to Steemit because of the 16 Character Length Password, which has subsequently been increased to 32 Characters. Now, I’ve subsequently come to realise he will not be signing up to Steemit for some time, and it’s not 32 Character Length Password at fault, it’s me…
The Problem
Steemit is full of well educated, cryptocurrency savvy, users. It’s incredibly easy to get ‘sucked’ in to believing that everyone should be able to understand what is going on here, or that the world suddenly understands Cryptocurrency/Blockchain technology. Well, the world doesn’t, and in order for Steemit to become successful, we (as a community) need to sign up our friends and family who are not interested in these intricacies.
For the first 4-6 weeks of using Steemit, whenever I tried to sign up a group of friends I got blank faces, sometimes even fear…
The problem is, Steem(it) in it’s entirety, is complex. However, the concept is very simple.
It’s a Blogging site that Pay’s you to Blog…
If there is one thing I have learnt using Steem(it), it’s that, having too much information too soon is certainly a bad thing. I have been lucky, finding the site early, allowing my knowledge to evolve over time.. But I have certainly been guilty of bombarding potential new users with information that may have scared myself off a few months ago.
I have began to get better at signing up new users. In my opinion, omitting information is the best process to go through. Don’t think of it as dishonest...
Generally I believe that we all need to…
Tailor our Pitches!!
Think of it like, your trying to sell an iPhone to an 80 year old. If you were the salesmen, would you talk about processor speed, mega pixels, applications,… OR …say it’s really easy to use, you can call/txt your Grandson(daughter), take photo’s and video…
Don’t Get Bogged Down in Details:
Do they even know what the Blockchain is? Most people couldn’t tell you what one is, or what you can do with it. In such a case, omit that information. Most users don’t know 10% of what actually goes on under the Steemit ‘hood’, and in my opinion, that’s the point. Steemit is suppose to be the first true bridge between blockchain technology, and mainstream usage..
Provide the Minimum amount of Information, to have the Maximum Impact..
How do you sell a Fillet Steak to a Golden Retriever. Do you sit it down, talk them through the 28 days ageing process, and the origins of the Aberdeen Angus Cows?
OR,..
Don’t be Pedantic, Be Simple
People have a general disposition to think that Complexity = Fraud. They also (in general) think that Bitcoin = Drugs/Nefarious Activities/Hacking. Save them from their ignorance. If you can’t explain something in a sentence, you’ll usually be unsuccessful in selling that concept.
So, this leads me on to..
What I tell crypto noobs who I think might be interested in Steem(it), but have never heard of it…
Me: Steem(it) is a Social Media Site that pays you to be a user. You should get involved…
Noob: What?!
Me: YEAH!!!
Noob: How much?
Me: Depends on how many likes you get, or how early you are at liking other users material.. I’ve earn’t X in the last X week(s)/month.
Noob: Where does the money come from?
Me: Does it matter? It costs you nothing, many users have earn’t 0000s in the last month. This could be the next Facebook, chance to get in early..
DONE!!!
Interested to hear your thoughts, or for you to share your method of being an Steemit Ambassador..