Hello Steemians,
First off, I hope this post doesn't receive violent reactions, or worse, flags. I'm putting this out there because I'm confused with the way I try to grow in Steemit and I would like to start a discussion about this.
ORGANIC Growth
I have been struggling to grow organically here. By organic, I mean without the use of bid bots. I have joined communities, talk to a lot of people and involve myself in "offsite" Steemit activities. Sometimes the socialization part takes most of my time. I do enjoy it but sometimes I don't get enough time to sleep. I was hoping to get real connections and real followers too if I'm lucky.
This takes a lot of time and effort. Most days I don't sleep enough and it's already hurting my health. I haven't had a thyroid ultrasound since joining Steemit because I can feel that that the tumors on my neck has grown. I am stressed so I don't expect good results from an ultrasound anyway.
Sometimes I feel that trying to grow organically here is what would kill me. I mean that literally because I currently have a non-aggressive type of papillary thyroid cancer. But it's there and may transform to something else if I don't take care of myself. I have also noticed that my eyesight has become poorer from looking at my computer at work and then Steemit. The only time I don't look at a computer or phone screen is when I'm sleeping or in the bathroom!
Is it worth it?
That leads me to think if it's worth putting my health aside so that I can possibly have real success here. That means real followers and real readers of blogs I have worked on for hours. Especially my travel blogs which I take days to draft because I want it to be special (my Wander Blog series and not the Wander Snaps).
Today, I was supposed to join a Steemit meet up in my home province, Bulacan, but I am not feeling well. It's easy to look like I'm well in chats but I have been feeling exhausted easily the past days.
Upvote Bid Bots
This leads me to think of Upvote Bid Bots. I'm not referring to those bots where you just register so you can get a small vote somehow, I'm referring to those you can send big amounts of SBD so your post can get hundreds of dollars.
I have thought about them several times and debated with myself against it. I have also talked to some people I look up to who don't use them so I get encouraged to continue growing organically.
We have different strategies on how to grow here in Steemit. Some use these upvote bid bots, and some don't. It's something so subjective that I can't even say which is right or wrong but is just a matter of choice.
I have chosen not to use them BUT here I am debating with myself again and here are my reasons why:
I am not a famous person who could naturally get followers because of my name
I don't have a special talent. My specialty is travel blogging and almost everyone here travel blogs
Getting curated feels like winning a lottery
I don't have a whale friend who can send in some support from time to time
I am not sure if whales care about planktons like me :'(
Hundreds of pay out produced from bidding would help me reach my dreams to become a digital nomad and would help me cure myself faster since I can buy the best alternative medicine for my illness.
But I still don't feel like using them
I have strong arguments against myself but I still cling to the reasons why I am not using them. I have tried using them in my first month on 3 posts. It didn't feel good. And I still go back to these reasons:
I want real followers and readers of my posts
I am not sure if it's sustainable to always bid (but then my sleeplessness is becoming unsustainable for my health)
Growing organically will make me try harder to improve every post
I don't want to become greedy later on because of the want to get more dollars on a post. Now this is just a possible effect and not always the case.
So right now, my conclusion is NOT to use them. But it makes me sad because I know I will be left behind while everyone else who uses bid bots are now enjoying the reward for their hard work.
What's your strategy to grow in Steemit?
PS. I hope you don't flag me because I am not using the same strategy as yours. This post is meant to start a discussion. And if you do flag me then you have just killed me for all the health sacrifices I have done to work on my blogs.
UPDATE: I appreciate the concern I have received regarding my health. Thank you! Please don't worry about me. Whether or not in Steemit, I still have to work hard because reality is that it's a high maintenance illness. And I know that we all have our own struggles here. I didn't mean to highlight my illness but I just wanted to provide a background as to why I'm feeling this way.
And I have more hope in Steemit than my current day job and failing career so I have more reasons to work harder here.
