8 Mistakes I See Beginners Make on Steemit
As someone who has been scrolling through the new feed for the majority of the time on Steemit (as a part of my curating process) I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of it.
Some users are able to adapt and quickly find their audience. Others have hard time learning the ways Steemit works. So they get discouraged and decide to leave or they try to get recognized by acting inauthentic.
There is a path that will always lead to your success on the platform. And there are mistakes that will drive you further from it. Here are some common ones I've noticed so far.
Asking for others to check their posts or follow them
We'll start with the most obvious one. You will go a lot further by actually reading posts and genuinely interacting with other people and following them. Most of the time they'll make sure to check out your blog.
Voting exclusively on top trending posts
This brings you less influence and smaller curation rewards. It's fine to check out those posts, they are probably there for a reason. But instead of focusing exclusively on them, go through the feed and look for quality posts from new or maybe not so popular authors. Connect with them and you'll grow together.
Seeing only the earning and not the investment opportunity of the platform
Hearing the concept of Steemit, everyone's excited about possibility to earn money by simply blogging. And that's great. But for everyone who didn't come here from the field of cryptocurrency, it takes some time before they realize that Steemit is one of the best shortcuts to crypto world.
You don't need a powerful mining rig or a big financial investment to get hold of those coins. Because let's face it, blockchain is the most exciting and revolutionary thing that happened since the internet itself. And we are all pioneers of this future world economy.
Not engaging enough with others
I've already mentioned it, but it can't be stressed enough. This is the number one thing you need to do. More important than posting and promoting. You want to create a community around yourself by voting and leaving meaningful, honest comments to posts you like or have something to say about.
And, of course following the like-minded people.
Not utilizing steemit.chat
It is a great tool to help you continue your conversations, promote posts, ask for help on any topic or report plagiarism and abuse.
Not being authentic
This is an amazing opportunity to find yourself, to explore different topics and approaches and see what you enjoy the most. No one is gonna be better you than you. So don't try to copy popular authors. Build your own brand instead.
Not enough effort on title, thumbnail and first paragraph
With thousands of posts submitted every day it's so easy for one to slip by unnoticed. It needs to make a strong first impression when people scroll through the feed.
And the way to do it is by taking extra time to work on your title, first image that is used as a thumbnail, and first paragraph. That's all someone sees when looking for interesting posts. With so much content out here, no one (except the most diligent curators) has the time to read through all of it. So make sure to grab their attention.
Lack of patience
It takes time to start earning significant rewards. Usually. It takes time to build your reputation. Once you introduce yourself and start posting and commenting regularly, people will get to know you and trust in the value of your articles.
It's a steady process, and if you are here in the long run, you won't be bothered by potential lower rewards in the beginning of your journey.
Images: 1
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Seriously great article. I need to continue to remind myself of the importance of conversation and stop being lazy and not using Steem chat. I know about it, I have just been to lazy to use it, and that is going to change. I also agree with trying to be yourself. This is what I am most excited about! I believe when you fully let go and express yourself the way you want to is when the people who desire to read that will feel most connected because they will be able to feel your passion through your posts! Thanks for the tips! Cheers🍻
Thanks! Yeah, it's a social media platform after all, so engaging in genuine conversations with others either here or on chat is a best way to build your own community. Cheers!
Informative post. I've only made 2 blog posts so far on Steemit and have written another 10 or so which I'll post up when they're ready.
I like the way your post is structured, using horizontal rules, images and titles to clearly identify different points.
One thing i'm not sure about is whether to lead with an image or start with text.
Personally, I prefer post that start off with text.
an image has a stronger touch
The moral of this story is: go with what YOU want, as the creator. lol
Going with what I know has got me this far. So, I will continue to be authentically me. I spent a week trying to develop a style for my content videos. Suppose I already have a "brand". It's me and what I have to offer.
Much appreciation!
Thanks! Maybe consider making an introduction post where others can get to know you a little better. Steem On!
@moomoo I try to switch styles. sometimes I center a title, sometimes not, same with an image sometimes i begin with an image sometimes not :)
@markush do you find that one style works better than another, votes/views/comments wise? Or does it not matter?
@munchell : I think the best style is your own style :)
Most important is proper content if you ask me.
@markush clever answer, very succinct!
I'm just learning the ways now! Trying to keep to my speciality which is to give people a little giggle. It's hard to attract the right audience though! Thank you for your advice!
@bratteam I like your style, that is what I like to do too. There is nothing that invigorates the spirit more than a good laugh, well maybe that and food.
All very good points. I'd add "fake comments." Nothing is so disappointing as working hard on a post and seeing there's a comment only to find, "I agree. You might like [insert commenter post here]."
I take the time to thoughtfully respond to real comments and often follow those commenters. But spam me and I want nothing to do with you. If I've worked for hours to post something and a commenter also wants my measly dime upvote, the least they can do is show me the courtesy of actually reading my post and demonstrating so in their comments 😉
Or "Nice post, dear friend [insert author name here]". :) I agree with you, either leave meaningful, genuine comment or move along.
I posted a question/request for input yesterday and immediately had two "very informative post, thanks for sharing" comments. I called them both out, was like "the only thing this post informed about was my desire for input, are you sure you read the the post?" One guy actually copped to it and apologized, and then left me actual useful input. Why he couldn't have just done that in first place I'll never understand...
True talk,when u want to comment make sure u take your time to study the write up to make your point of recommendation or against as the case may be,for people to learn one or two things from your comment.My point is what do you understand in other peoples write ups and u want to bring out your point of reasoning for others to see base on your understanding of the article or write up,just do it articulately for others to benefit from your sense of judgement.Thanks.
Jrhughes, your straight forwardness is inspirational! People should be fair enough on comments... but I think building relationships first is basic!!!
I have been on this platform for 2 weeks tomorrow and I'm still learning from the roomie mistakes , I guess that's what makes us become better investors . Thank you for the advice !
Exactly, we can learn a lot from our mistakes. But it's always better to learn from mistakes of other people. :)
I agree! If someone is confident with his/her writing ability, people will just follow naturally, no need to beg for reesteem or upvotes. Focus on creating quality content.
I also posted something similar to this. Great post!
I have read it earlier - wonderful article! You have a great approach and your authenticity is already paying off. :)
Thanks! :) We should post more topics about that to educate steemians.
People should share about their experience on the platform and what they learn along the way. But not too much so that potential newcomers checking the trending page only see posts related to Steemit. :)
I think the "document vs create" idea is very powerful. Sharing the journey is the most powerful way to create compelling content.
THIS.
All great points, although I just had a guy ask me to check out his post in a comment, and I did, and it was awesome. So sometimes that does work.
It helped that he'd left an entertaining comment first though. 🙂
Yeah, sometimes when it's honest and related to your post, it's fine. Other times it's pretty annoying. :) But I found that most users will check out their commenters either way.
Thank you for the informative post...yesterday was my first day on Steemit, and I've already decided to invest some of my crypto here...the platform is truly genius.
Reddit never got me excited like this, the crypto era is only just starting and it truly is going to revolutionize our world...
Upvoted and going to follow...hope to learn as much as I can :)
Glad to hear you are enjoying the platform and see its great potential. It's a game-changer!
Thanks for sharing!! Great read :) Patience is definitely a virtue... I've only been here a couple of weeks but I have seen and interacted with a few people who I think would be great if they stuck it out a little longer, but then they dissappear, i guess maybe disheartened!
I will keep this as a little reference and try not to commit any of the Steemit deadly sins haha :)
Yes, so many promising members left because they earned pennies in the beginning. I believe anyone who pushed through that tough period had no regrets. Looks like you are going to do just fine here. :)
A great way to look at it would be to take a job for 30 days starting at 1 penny a day and that doubles every day for the 30 days. Think multiples and long term. I joined for the Bigger picture. Success takes time and effort. You guys ROCK!
Thank you for the reminder that success take time. I have been building a better relationship with myself and that allowed me to see my pattern of growth. Which goes back to how this body is! The bigger picture is, we are all here doing the work to inform the people.
I have been in many platforms, and it looks like steeemit gives all of the best tools for me to deliver the message and connect with people.
I am certainly guilty of some of them. But as I am not a very good writter, I am happy to give my thoughts in the comment section for now and figuring out what I want my steemit experience to be and how much time I want to devote to it.
That's a great approach! I'm not that good at writing myself, but I'm learning it here.
Oh yes Flipstar! I am new on this platform! I can only read people's posts for now and keep a great attitude and a high spirit to learn more about writing... I know in the end it's worth the effort!! Way to goooo!!!