Alright people, so I'm not going to rehash the same shit I've gone over a million times. Okay, maybe just a little:
The Steemit system rewards users who purchase paid upvotes
Your content doesn't need to be good to hit the Trending page
Most content on the Trending page is shit
Most content that's NOT on the Trending page is also shit
New people don't put enough effort into their work here because they assume they will be rewarded with STEEM anyway because that's just how the platform is designed
They eventually get frustrated once they learn that virtually all exposure on here is purchased
Furthermore, there is a learning curve with the vote bots and most people will lose money while they learn
Meanwhile, the Trending page is full of poorly written posts that nobody reads
The common "wisdom" on this platform is that if you just try hard enough, someday you'll make it
People are encouraged to leave comments and "engage" with other users, which leads to 75% of comments being of the generic "great post" variety
Users who hit the Trending page don't put effort into their posts because they know they don't need to
Users who don't have enough money/balls to use voting bots don't put effort into their posts because they can't afford it
The result? A lot of shitty, low effort posts and comments that nobody is reading. Meanwhile, some whales are getting richer by super circle-jerking each other and self-voting their own posts. Nobody's happy.
Hail to the king, baby
So what's the solution? Simple: better content. Content is, and will always be, king of the internet.
Why do people use Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr or 4chan? Because they find those sites informative, entertaining or both. The difference between those platforms and Steemit is that they are sharing sites that [mostly] aggregate content, while Steemit is a blogging platform with an emphasis on original content.
The problem is that most of the content here is poorly formatted, uninteresting and full of spelling and grammar mistakes. People are assuming that the posts that earn big bucks on here do so because they're good. That's not the case. They make money because they're upvoted by powerful accounts.
Is this sustainable? I dunno. Seems to be working well so far.
However, I personally don't want to settle for "sustainable." I'd rather see this platform grow. More users means more eyes on my content, which means more upvotes, more business opportunities and ultimately more money - the reason we all have chosen this platform instead of another one.
I believe that if Steemit had an additional 20 high quality content creators who consistently made content that had the potential to go viral, this platform would get blown off the map. People would be sharing links on more established social media platforms that would point back here.
In addition to building the Google Juice of the site, it would also give users more direct traffic from massive social media sites like Reddit which aggregate content. That's good for everyone.
Drowning in a sea of unrealistic expectations
The problem with this site is that people come here with the wrong expectations. I know I did.
I came here and thought I'd make money just by posting whatever I wanted. It wasn't until later that I realized that the only way to get noticed was to pay for exposure. Now that people know who I am, it's a little easier. But you better believe that if I didn't promote this post, very few people would get the chance to read it.
Any given platform is nothing more than its content. This is especially true for Steemit because "stealing content" is a big no-no over here. Everyone has to come up with their own shit over here.
Statistically speaking, most people don't have any experience creating something designed to entertain. And when you can just buy some upvotes, what's your incentive to learn?
By contrast, look at Medium. Nobody is getting paid to write over there, yet the articles are of much higher quality than what you see here. Why? Because over there, people only write when they're inspired.
Now before you tell me that quality is subjective, let's define the term. For the purposes of this article, let's say that quality = well-written, properly formatted, grammar/spell-checked, entertaining/informative articles with clickbait headlines, a dash of copywriting, and a handful of paid upvotes.
Any way you slice it, there are very few posts on here that fit that tick all of those boxes.
We all want this platform to grow, don't we? How are we going to do that unless we venture outside the ecosystem? And we can't just promote some random Indonesian dude with bad grammar, writing about how happy he is to be on Steemit.
Normal people will see through it right away if they even bother to read it. Chances are that few of them will, because compared to the million other things they could be doing on the internet, it's not worth their time.
How to write good (and do other things good too)
So what I want to do is teach people how to write entertaining content that is shareable across platforms. I want to teach you how to profitably use upvote bots to get exposure on the Trending page. I want to teach you how to market yourself on Reddit, Instagram, Facebook and whatever other platform can give you traffic. I want to teach you how to write something interesting. I want to teach you how to write so well, that you can make something uninteresting seem interesting.
By doing this, not only do I establish myself as the leader of a group of increasingly talented writers, but I can effectively put people to work creating content that will help this platform grow. Not because I care about any of you or your well-being, but because what's good for @Steemit is good for 
And once you learn how to do what I do, my lovely circle-jerkers, it will be good for you too. You can market your business, promote yourself to brands as an influencer, or just make a little money on the side from upvote bots. We'll all grow the platform together by writing quality content and linking to it from outside sources.
If you're reading this, then I assume you want the same thing. Nobody is on here saying, "nah, fuck Steemit." No. You're here because you see the potential. Even if you don't understand how to make money yet, you see that some people are doing it and it gives you hope that it's at least possible.
Most sales training talks about making things a "win-win" for both buyer and seller. But if you've ever been part of a sales organization with commission-only salespeople, you'll know that it's a very predatory profession. Salespeople talk about making sales like they're talking about going into battle. When we go talk to customers, we refer to it as being "in the field."
Know who else says that? The military - another group of predators.
That said, it is true that both the seller and buyer need to benefit from the deal. The seller's job is to convince the buyer that the seller's product or service is worth more than the buyer's money.
Oftentimes, this requires advanced psychological tricks to remove the roadblocks in the buyer's mind. If the product or service is actually legitimate, most of the time it's in the buyer's best interest to purchase. That doesn't mean that they'll always choose to do so. It requires quick thinking and verbal finesse to convince them.
The reason I bring this up is that the fight for the Trending page is going to be the same way. I have my own idea about what it should look like. I want at least 50% of the first 20 posts on there to be by people who I have coached. I know how to keep readers entertained enough to read a 3000 word article, even when their original intent was just to skim it and leave a low-effort comment.
And I believe that if I can pass this knowledge onto other people on this platform, they can use it to create high value content that will be shared, hopefully go viral, and help the platform grow.
It's lonely at the top, but there's plenty of room
Right now, it's not hard for me to stand out on this platform because I can't think of a single person on here who writes like I do. It's easy for me to hog the spotlight now. And while it's a nice ego boost, I need to do what I always encourage other people to do: think bigger.
Yeah, I can write 2 posts per week and put them on the Trending page. Shit, I can even write 1 per day if I wanted to. I'm averaging a profit of around 100 Steem per post from my last 3 posts.
While that's tempting to think about, I'd rather think bigger than that. Writing a post every day and paying for upvotes is essentially the same as 
Or, I can coach a group of 20 potential new writers, grooming them to be the next batch of high quality content creators for this platform. I can directly influence a group of people who will be the Next Big Things on this platform. And by extension, other social platforms where our content will eventually spread as well.
So let's talk a little about the details. Here's some of the topics I'm going to cover in #sharkschool:
How to find your voice as a writer
How to keep the reader entertained
How to write long form articles even if you think you have nothing to say
How to completely eliminate writers block
How write a controversial post without alienating your writers
Books/programs that will improve your writing
How to format your posts so they "look pretty"
How to properly use upvote bots so you don't lose money
How to use resteem services to expose your post to everyone on Steemit
How to hit the Trending page with every single post
How to write something interesting even when you have nothing to talk about
How to promote your content on other websites
How to market yourself and build your brand
How to integrate multiple social platforms so they build on each other
How to improve your typing speed
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Will come up with a proper curriculum when I have time. I need to go over to 
Time to sell one of your livers
Sound good so far? Well let me give you some bad news: you're going to need some money to make this happen.
I'm not going to charge you, but you'll need money to upvote your posts. You'll need money for resteems. I would say about $100 SBD per post should do it. More if you can spare it. $150 would be better. $250 to be safe. So around $200 - $500 US. Keep in mind that this is money that you will get back in the form of SBD and SP after 7 days.
If you don't have that, I don't know what to tell you. You'll never hit the Trending page without your post getting those high value upvotes. Shit, maybe I'm wrong, but I've never seen anything on there worth less than triple digits. I don't have the Steemit algorithm in front of me, but I doubt there's a way to circumvent that.
I suppose you can still tag along for the ride anyway, but that's only going to get you so far. There are millions of good writers out there. Can you name them? No. Know why? Because they don't know how to promote themselves. That's probably the most important part of what I'll teach you.
Not because you're going to make a lot of money from Steemit. You're not.
In fact, let me make it very clear: you're never going to make a full-time income from your author rewards. It will never, ever, ever, EVER in a billion years happen just by producing content.
Sure, you may get lucky here and there with a few upvotes from some high value accounts in addition to what you earn from the vote bots. But unless you're happy to eat hardboiled eggs and oatmeal for every meal, then it's not enough to live on.
No more livers? You can also pay with souls
If you want to participate, you have to look past the short term rewards that you'll get from your posts. The real value here comes from being a part of a group that will dominate the Trending page of the biggest blockchain-based content platform in the world. Do you realize how powerful that is?
You'll be building a rep on a platform that will someday be extremely attractive for advertisers. Make a name for yourself now, learn how to hold someone's attention for 10 minutes, and familiarize yourself with cost-effective marketing strategies - then you'll be in a good place when this platform goes mainstream.
If you want to sign up, leave me a comment and tell me what you're most interested in learning. I'll post the first lesson tomorrow.
Good luck.
What do you want to learn from #sharkschool?
Let me know in a comment!
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