“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.” ― Winston S. Churchill
Smooth Seas don't make SKILLFUL SAILORS: Riding the Steemit Waves.
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Seeing as everyone else on Steemit is discussing the recent tanking price of SBD, Bitcoin etc. as well as their thoughts on it, I thought hey… let me jump on this bandwagon too…lol! (perhaps with a slightly different angle though...) There are so many people on the platform who are whining and seem to be throwing their hands up in the air, waving their white flags and pretty much giving up, making statements like why bother writing when the earnings are so low…etc.
When I see this kind of attitude it actually really annoys me!
The way of the world which I have learnt, is that if you are going to set out at building or developing something, no matter what it is – then you need to be prepared to be consistent in your efforts during the good times as well as the bad. It is not a ”fair weather friend” kind of deal. I have had to practice this mode of thought for basically 17 years whilst owning and running my businesses. There is no room for failure because the income derived from the business is what your financial survival is dependent on.
Now, if you are REALLY wanting to look at your blogging on Steemit as a serious facet of your life, then for heaven’s sake, get off your arse, go to the mirror, give yourself a nice fat slap through the face so you can reset your poor me attitude to one which is productive as well as positive and then start working… EVEN HARDER!
When the chips are down, you don’t stand there and stare at them lying all over the floor and then walk away shrugging your shoulders – NO – you pick the damn things up and keep going… moving forward with even more intent than before!
There are many ways to skin a cat and if you are finding yourself pressed because of the dip in price, use it as an opportunity to be constructive. Essentially, what I am saying is that if your earnings have dropped substantially then you need to find a solution to that problem – that being: find a way to compensate for the drop and this is going to require actual EFFORT! (You know… that stuff that is like the most important ingredient of success…lol)
GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE!!!
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I know many people on Steemit won’t or don’t make use of other social media sites to promote their work, and in many cases I understand the “ethical” reasons, but… survival is survival people and sometimes in life you have to do what is necessary to keep your head above water - So in my opinion that would be the first step to take.
Most people are already on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and plenty of other social media sites, so why on earth would you not utilise the tool you have right there at your fingertips to promote your Steemit content effectively, using appropriate hashtags like #steemit #blog and anything else that is relevant to what you have written. I have said this before in a podcast on social media and I will say it again. On Facebook there are people who use Steemit. On Twitter there are people who use Steemit. On Instagram there are people who use Steemit… do I need to carry on? Didn’t think so lol – So WHY would you not do whatever possible to extend your reach to these people too. There are LOADS of Steemit groups on Facebook too… Join them and share your content there too!
What you share on these external social media sites does not stop at your share. It takes just ONE person to like, share or retweet what you have shared and suddenly your reach becomes virtually limitless. It is like any other form of advertising… it is always a hit and miss game, but the fact of the matter is that if you throw the rod into the lake, you may or may not catch a fish but if you don’t cast that rod then you definitely won’t catch any fish.
WORK HARDER INTERNALLY
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If you are completely adamant that you won’t make use of other social media sites to promote your work, then personally I feel that you are passing up a massive sea of potential audience… but hey each to their own. But then you need to make a massively increased effort on the platform itself… Get twice as actively involved in engagement as you have been previously. Get on to other peoples blogs that are similar in nature to yours and if you enjoy their work, then comment and make mention of the fact that you have written something similar recently called “blab la fishpaste” – NO, do NOT drop your link, demand or beg them to go look at your article… merely leave a suggestive comment that encourages the possibility of them visiting your feed and spotting the article you made mention on.
In addition to this, I will add the following… screw the whales (sorry whales) when it comes to the commenting efforts because you have about as much chance of them supporting your blog posts as there is of them coming to visit you for afternoon tea. Yes, they may upvote your comment - but that is a single occurrence and not really what you are after long term. What you want to be putting your intention on is people that ENJOY what you write, so they will support you on an ongoing basis. Focus on the smaller people on Steemit is what I suggest… first of all they are a lot more appreciative of the attention and FAR more likely to support your posts both short term and long term… and you know what they say, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. And over and above that, us smaller people on Steemit need the support a lot more than any fat tummy whale… Well, that’s my opinion anyway… I am always pro supporting the so called “underdog” and assisting them to grow.
Perhaps you post once or twice a day… try and see if you can squeeze in an extra post (but not at the expense of the quality of the content). Perhaps explore different tags so that you reach different people.
At the end of the day, the point I am trying to get across is that when you hit rough seas, you don’t just close your eyes and hope for the best… you double your efforts and ride the waves with increased determination! Simple as that!
Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
