Looks like we'll start 2020 with a bang on Steem!
If you would be an online business owner and could choose when to launch something big for your business, in December or January the next year, when would you do it?
My first answer was December, that's when all "good things" happen.
But... then I thought some more.
December is a busy month for everyone. Christmas or no Christmas in the Christian sense, it has become a huge commercial event anyway all around the world.
People, including your users, customers and potential prospects are being bombarded with offers upon offers. A launch will be overshadowed by the bigger event which is Christmas and then New Year. You certainly don't want a launch to be unnoticed, that's the worse that can happen.
On the other hand, in January we just turned a leaf to a new year. People will return to their usual schedule, including to your product. And they'll start becoming anxious: ok, it's a new year, when do we get something new and exciting from you?
If you already delivered in December, regular users got used to it, and in January they might expect something more.
But if you deliver in January, you start the year with a bang.
Not sure if this was a strategic move by @ aggroed, Matt and company, to have many things delivered in January (although some were initially planned for December as far as I remember), but I think this is a great outcome.
If you read their announcements, we should expect in January:
- non-fungible tokens
- mobile app for Splinterlands
- Steem-Engine 2.0, which is already open in a beta phase for a while
- Splinterlands on US national TV broadcast in over 95m households
On the other hand they did wrap up the airdrop schedule for PAL starting on Christmas Eve and continuing for 9 months, so yep, December is covered too.
That opens the road in 2020 for SMTs which will likely be rolled out on the mainnet during March through a hardfork, if everything goes according to initial planning, and so far it has.
Hivemind Communities are not linked to SMTs, and they might be added to the main steemit.com website (+SteemPeak and eSteem) before the hardfork for SMTs. Recently activity has increased on the steemit beta interface for communities, and posting still goes on regularly, so even if it's not on the main site, steemians started to use Hivemind Communities.
The divergence between STEEM price and development throughout 2019 has been growing on this bear market. Smart investors know to take advantage of a divergence between the fundamentals and the technical analysis. I'm not saying it will happen for Steem. I'm saying conditions can become favorable for a turning point. We will be looking at an interesting 2020 for both development, and I dare say also on the aspect of price this time around. However, they will both be tied in a high degree to marketing, onboarding and retention in 2020.
Everybody is looking for a recovery of STEEM, and 2020 is just the right time for a fresh restart...
Great post I agree with - a lot has been created and a lot is coming, also the Steem price I hope - resteemed.
Thanks! Yes, it was a surprisingly good 2019 following the uncertainty with Steemit Inc. layoffs from the last quarter of 2018. And it looks like 2020 has all the ingredients to be great.
Yes, fingers crossed the acceptance outside will come. Still hard for altcoins
Very true...
Personally, I do not see the big bang at all.
Still no good app for mobile users only, no answers on questions.
If it comes to your question December or Januar it all depends on what your big bang is and if spending money is involved.
In December people spend are willing to invest even take loans. In Januar, it is back to normal life, piled up with extra bills. Not only if it comes to Christmas but also taxes, new prices for insurances, etc.
December is holidays, time to relax, play... January is working and sorrows again.
Although... A big part of the world/population is jobless and will never work and have all the time in the world and 50% if not more does not celebrate Christmas and spends nothing on presents.
I have a look at the beta steel engine. I hope it is mobile user friendly. If it is like beta.steemit it is too heavy for me too load.
So far my experiences... For sure modern it is not here.
I also think this can be improved. Many of our dapps need to be improved to face more adoption (and better retention).
You bring some great points here. What I was thinking was it's not as easy to be seen in December for a launch. In January, people get back to their regular schedules, there are few offers, but they may also look for something new to add to their plate. Something new to test, something new to learn, something new to join.
You are right right about spending habits in December compared to January, and that should also be taken into consideration.
I haven't tried either of them on mobile yet, although I should. And yes, we should press for better optimized mobile websites, if not mobile apps.
Thanks for your comment.
@gadrian You are welcome. I thank you for answering and wish you a great 2030./❤️
Happy New Year to you as well, @wakeupkitty!
@gadrian Thank you. ❤️
I can see the positive and negative in both @gadrian, including folks over extending their budget in December and getting by on a shoe string in January.
Excellent point on the STEEM price/development divergence. I had not thought at all about that but it is true none the less. The amount of development on the steem blockchain this year has been big and at the same time people have been fleeing. It's all very interesting to me.
I just realized the other day that I am having fun posting, reading, and interacting again like a couple years ago. I am Excited to see what 2020 brings.
All the best.
Oh yeah, for Christmas and Black Friday(s) lots of people go over the board with shopping.
It just came to me yesterday. We're going strong fundamentally on many aspects, yet the price was going down with the market, maybe more sometimes. This divergence will at some point be corrected.
Reasonable consideration. When we are busy with various offers, of course, not the right time to take part in the offer, but after all has subsided, it will be good as an alternative offer and can be a good choice. January is the right time to start a business and hopefully Steem will start to squirm in a better direction.
Yeah, it's simply a matter of being able to capture attention when everyone wants to do the same, while in January people often find themselves in a mood -- often transient, as most NY resolutions are -- to re-new or re-define themselves, and a launch can do well then.
I'm ready to see some more positive price movement for Steem in 2020. I can't wait to see what NFTs bring. I'm hoping people already have some plans for them so that we can see quickly how much value this will bring for games and Steem.
I'm convinced Splinterlands will turn their cards into NFTs almost immediately. I saw they hinted at Nextcolony to do the same for planets. Other games may do the same. I don't think in the first phase we can expect anything else but games to be interested in NFTs. If I'm wrong it would be perfect.
Tweeted it, something we all should do more often. #posh
https://twitter.com/gadrian15/status/1209132309259149320?s=20
High hopes on SMTs, Hivemind Communities - feel free to join / subscribe and use the new "Digital Marketing" community @gadrian.
This is what makes me confident too!
I'll look it up, and I need to get used to post more in the communities.