On 1 March I embarked on a journey of enthusiastic experimentation to see if I could truly affect my position on Steemit. Almost immediately I learned what I already knew:
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for success.
So I quickly started tweaking my goals, my KPIs, and my expectations. The simple fact is that my original plan just was not realistically advantageous for anyone. But before I go into that, let me address the question I probably should have clarified for myself before jumping head first into the fire...
WHY AM I DOING THIS?
There are some obvious reasons here:
- To make more Steem
- To increase my reputation
- To engage more with my fellow Steemians
- To establish and build my Steemit community
- To position myself to be a trendsetter as well as a creator
But I need to go deeper and be a hell of a lot more honest with myself. And that requires some much tougher and far more specific questions:
Am I being greedy?
I can honestly say no. I don’t see myself ever being a Steem tycoon. Besides, the pie model of distribution of wealth is so outdated. My getting more does not mean you getting less. Isn’t that the entire point of a decentralized currency to begin with?
Am I willing to do whatever it takes to reach my Steemit goals?
This one is rough. And the honest answer is no. I’m not. There are so many shortcuts and fast tracks that I will not use. Like bots, for instance. But it goes further. I’m also not willing to pretend to like content or people if they do not “click” for me. I’m not giving full votes or leaving sycophantic comments to strategically boost my curation rewards. And I won’t publish crap just for the sake of publishing something. I’m not by any means saying that all successful Steemians do any or all of these things. But many do.
What is it that I truly want to get from Steemit?
I want utopia. And I’m not sure if it’s possible. I may be a bit deluded. But I want a place to share my art and my stories where they will be appreciated, offer inspiration, allow me to truly connect to like-minded folks, and pay my bills. I know I’m not alone here. But I also realize that there’s a far larger percentage of people attracted to this format with the sole intention of getting rich. Quick.
Am I still enthusiastic?
Yes. And no. Depending on when you ask. Overall I still see such great promise and potential here. But I fear that it’s not an organic environment. It truly seems to have become a microcosm of the fiat currency world. And the art world. And well...the world world. On virtually every level. Which is not surprising. People are people. But I’d be lying if I said that this reality check wasn’t a bit disappointing.
So here I am. 22 days to go. What have I gained this far?
- I’ve made many new connections. And that is exciting! That part has no downside that I can see. And I’m very grateful for all of my new friends.
- I’ve started broadening my reach by entering contests.
- I may be joining one of the most respected curation groups on Steemit. It’s still in the works. Details to follow if and when appropriate.
Now to rehash my original goals:
- I will create 2 posts per day
- I will follow at least 10 new people per day
- I will do at least 25 upvotes per day
- I will comment on at least 12 unique posts per day (other than my own)
- I will resteem 1 amazing post per day
- I will enter at least one contest per day
- I will run a couple of contests, funds permitting
- I will reach 1,000 followers by the end of March - nearly doubly what I have now
- I will reach 2,000 posts - again, nearly doubling the current count
- I will increase the accounts I follow to at least 500
- I will pay my rent with SBD
Really audacious! Right?
Well a lot of this is not truly in line with what I actually want to accomplish. And some of it is simply beyond my control.
Does this mean I’m no longer going to be audacious? Hell no! But it does mean I will not tie myself to these metrics, attempting to meet them at any cost, sanity and well-being be damned.
I will soldier on, completing what I set out to do, using my true goals as my guides. And when they align with the metrics I set, awesome! When they don’t, I will not beat the crap out of myself.
What’s my ultimate takeaway from all of this?
I gotta do me!
Thank you guys for coming along for the ride!
See my previous Audacious March posts here:
Day 4 Roundup
Day 3 Roundup
Day 2 Roundup
Day 1 Roundup
My Game-plan