Listen Frustrated Steemians, One is Greater than Zero!
Are you frustrated with lack of rewards? Do you think you deserve more than Steemit is giving you? Have you stopped trying?
Listen.
Calm down.
Free your mind.
You are not alone in thinking that Steemit rewards are not fair. There are literally thousands of Steemians who think like that. The sentiment has especially seen a rise after the Hard Fork 19. People took the news of voting power consumption so seriously that they either stopped upvoting or they started voting on their own posts and comments.
Let me first remove some confusions. I'm thankful to @timcliff for reminding minnows that they can still upvote 40 times a day. The effects of HF 19 were covered in detail by @dragosroua. Self voting has been covered by me and it generated a great discussion. @personz and @l0k1 have started smacking down the self voters (on comments).
But, the average Steemian is frustrated nonetheless. Minnows have been left baffled by the lack of upvotes despite all the minnow support and boost programs available to them. The latest post that I read from a frustrated Steemian was about the unfair earnings of Steemit written by @clixmoney who is running the biggest Steemians group on Facebook.
To @clixmoney, to myself, and to all the Steemians, I have something to say.
One is greater than zero.
It may seem to be an oversimplified statement but it is so powerful that it can change your life. The idea is floated by Gary Vaynerchuk in one of his blog posts. It perfectly applies to the current situation of Steemians. One is greater than zero. What does that mean?
It means that whatever you get on your posts will always be greater than zero. If you do not create anything, you will not get anything. That's hundred percent guaranteed. Whales can live off the curation reward because of their heavy upvotes but minnows do not enjoy that luxury.
I personally have felt the shocks as well. Many of my well crafted posts have gone unrewarded or were rewarded too less. But still, I kept posting and kept trying to make it work. If not $100, I did get 4, 7, or 11 SBD on posts. If not complete SBD, I never eneded up getting zero because 0.60-0.90 SBD are invariably earned (thanks to @minnowsupport).
To be honest, it has been hard for me too but I never gave up. I'm glad that I saw $50+ on a few posts as well. As a minnow, you should understand one fundamental rule.
You will always have a chance if you keep trying.
If you do not try, you are not going to get anything. That's pretty straightforward. Be happy with the $1.71 that you got instead of the $171 you wanted to earn because the post deserved it. If a post is good, you will get advantage of it. It may not be the heavy upvotes and rewards at times. How about building a great following instead?
The benefit of carrying on (steeming on) is that you will not only get rewards, no matter what amount, but also followers. Having more, but natural, followers will always have an edge. Other than getting followers, your reputation will increase with every SBD you get. So, there's progress for everyone who keeps trying.
If you're not getting hundred SBDs on your posts, at least get one SBD because one is greater than zero.
PS: If you follow the all in one Steemit Guide, you won't have to whine about rewards much.
I've found myself in a rut for a few days at a time but I still make a point to put up at least one post per day and be happy even if i only get $0.50 off of it. I've also taken some advice from other posters about commenting on other people's posts and how it can add up if you read the post and write a meaningful response longer than a couple of words.
About a week or two ago I made a point to start reading X number of posts per day and choosing the ones I relate to and leave a well thought out response. You have to go into this just like you would normal posts--without much expectation. This way whatever you do earn is just a bonus. That's the way I look at it. Maybe half the comments that I post as replies get upvotes / payouts but I usually get between $1-5 a day doing this which adds to the amount I earn off my own posts. So even if I don't knock it out of the park on my regular posts I still have a few dollars going into my wallet a week later.
I've also found that leaving comments on other people's posts gets you more exposure and my follower base has grown from it. I don't specifically ask for follows or upvotes but if get them then great but if not then I've still contributed to the community and whatever discussion is going on.
I do still get a little frustrated at times but that's life. I can't help but think that in a matter of years those of us who stick with it will be very happy with the way this turns out. It's still a growing community and eventually us minnows will grow up and reap bigger and bigger rewards. Also, STEEM will most likely go back up in value eventually, maybe so much that we will become wealthy if we stick with this.
Nice post about keeping it in perspective!
Thanks a lot for this comment @cryptokeepr. I can see from this comment how much value you may have added to other authors. I can't ignore such a valuable comment and I try to upvote such comments despite my small upvote at the moment.
The strategy that you shared about reading and commenting on others' post is great. I have done that myself and I absolutely agree. Comments add a few cents wallet everyday and there have been days when I have earned $10 just from comments.
Anyone who reads your comment should benefit from the wisdom in it. I don't ask for follows or upvotes either but they come naturally. I have experienced what you have explained. Thanks again for the comment
Is that true that Steemians are not voting anymore and voting their own post!? Man, people are really confused about the last update :( It's a shame because it had so many hopes of making this site more and more thriving. After reading what you wrote I decided I will make an effort of upvoting 40-ish post I like everyday, and resteem at least 2. Maybe if more people do it and show that there is nothing to loose, only to gain, others might follow and make this page great again!
Things have become slightly better since the Hard Fork but the immediate reactions were out of fear and scarcity. If you go through posts of @calamus056, you'll see lists of upvoters. I linked to some of the posts highlighting the issues. Comments section of these posts will reveal quite a lot to you.
Thanks for your pledge. I am with you in upvoting others and resteeming posts. I have been supporting people in my active hours. What I particulary do is to upvote 100 % on good comments as well, especially those on my posts. Yours is one of those comments.
Thanks for mentioning me in your post, I am grateful, unpoved and resteemed. ☺
Thanks a lot for your comment.
You are very right. i have more than 1 month experience on steemit. It is such a woderful platform and some thing is better than nothing. if we create quality content than automatically we would be get more rewards.
upvoted & resteem the post.
thanks for great motivation !
Thanks a lot. Making an effort always brings reward and that's what people need to understand.
GIVE people a platform on which they can make money.
and what do they do?
They complain because they're not making more.
Absolutely agreed. I know a few people who left it out of frustration despite getting good rewards in their initial weeks. I earned more than $450 in my first week on Steemit but struggling to replicate that. But I have worked to learn and understand the system and I see the underlying factors. That's why I Steem on.
Complaining is no solution. I think every penny people get is a bonus. Everyone has wasted years on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram etc. without earning a penny. Here comes a platform that pays on their first post and still people are complaining.
It would be kind of you to resteem this post if it is worth it. Thank you for your comment and upvote.
When I first started reading I thought the title was going to refer to comparing earnings on Steemit to earnings on any other social media platform! I think that's a valid optimistic viewpoint as well.
On the downside, people do need realistic expectations. Yes Steem is building a system which better enables creators to directly monetize content, but it is far from guaranteed or quick.
The hard fact is Steem currently has about a 9.5% inflation rate which funds the rewards. This literally means the average earnings of platform users is a 10% return on their Steem Power! If a minnow has 10 Steem, an average performance means they'll end their first year with 11. Doing any better means someone else is doing worse, the finite pool all has to average out.
That may sound terrible, but in the end the vast majority of users are going to have to use Steemit and it's associated platforms because they enjoy them, and not for the rewards.
People use Twitter for free and are thrilled when a celebrity or influencer retweets or interacts with them. The same can happen on Steem with those occasional viral windfalls being both economic and social.
Thanks for a detailed comment. Thinking from the point of view of other social media platforms is also necessary. Thanks for adding that to the argument.
I must add that despite a dip in rewards, the price of Steem will go up in time. Having Steem will always be beneficial in future from an investment point of you. So every Steem counts.
Steemit is a great platform but I'm learning after 2 months that it really has some huge flaws and needs balancing. Seems there is a favorites list, and like George Carlin said.." ..it's a big club, and you ain't in it"
The good thing is that every problem is discussed and addressed by the witnesses. I have communicated with a lot of them lately and I have high hopes from the platform. Additionally, Steemit has seen insane growth in last two months so there's some pressure on the platform.
Good guideline
Thanks
Thanks for your encouragement...to new steemians i am also one of them thanks !!
You're welcome. I added the link to Steemit Guide that I posted on my blog. It will help you.
Hey Ilyas, so true. People need to understand that Steemit is NOT a get rich quick platform. You have to put in the effort to create content no matter the economic environment (ups and downs). Then over time you will benefit from those efforts with the rewards you earn.
Agreed. I believe in the relation between effort and reward. The system cannot be constantly unfair to you if you keep trying.
I personally can say that by remaining active, I have gained great following, had brilliant interactions and my posts get good engagement. Add to it more than $200 that I earned just because people appreciated my work by upvoting it despite all the drought.