For What....15 Cents?
I had an interesting conversation this past week with a member of my Bitcoin Bully program that woke me up to some truths about the STEEM blockchain....
Inside Bitcoin Bully there is an entire section of training and education dedicated to STEEM. I'm trying to attract the 'new' crypto enthusiast and curious entrepreneur to get them excited for the big potential that can be found not only in this new and expanding industry but more specifically - STEEM
Yeah I'm a fan boy, no hiding that :)
Anyways....I have introduced a number of people to STEEM and sure, they are attracted to the 'potential rewards' found by creating and curating content. Heck I even play to that and tell them that I will upvote their first posts once they take the plunge and start to create some content here.
It's been working so far and from what I can tell...The members are excited!
However this week, one of them who joined a few months ago said something that made me stop in my tracks and question things a little bit more...
While encouraging them to take part daily, engage and create content this member basically said (and I'm paraphrasing) ...
"That's great Jon...But why should I put in all this effort...For what? 15 cents?"
Now at first glance, I was taken back because that's roughly what my 100% upvote is worth. Was this a poke at how low my upvotes where worth even though I had spent thousands on investing to power up my STEEM...???
My ego was crushed.....lol
But digging a little further I came to the realization that this member didn't see the value of producing content where they may only make a few pennies for each post they create....
Ahhhh....This is the battle STEEM will have...Forever!
Are we here to create content and curate awesome stuff because it's a social media platform? Or is it just to make some money...
@kevinli did a great video today about this same battle...Are we just here for the money and what happens if the 'rewards' were taken away....Would be still be here?
Here's the Jon G. Olson STEEM Fanboy reply:
"We should be concerned about creating awesome content! The rewards will show up if we stay the course and add value to the blockchain...."
And here's the reality....
People are here FIRST...For the money and rewards. Like it or not, we are NOT Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. If you take away the rewards, people would rather just stick to the centralized platforms because like Kevin said in his video....That's where their friends and families are.
And sure, we tell people to come and join Steemit but have you seen how long it takes these days to actually get signed up? Day or even weeks in some cases to get approved....
However...Something happens to each of us that has fallen in love with the potential of STEEM...
We get sick and tired of the centralized way of doing things
We want to feel like we are a part of something bigger and not just a cog in the wheel of a corporation looking for profits.
We want to own our content and produce things we are proud of and hope it helps deliver value.
We don't want to be censored. We want to be able to share our thoughts without the fear of having them banned or removed because we didn't fall in line with the norms of society.
We start to fall in love with STEEM......And we never look back!
Yeah, this place isn't perfect. Sure there are plenty of reasons why people will still use Facebook over Steemit. But there is something bigger at play here...There is something very human about it all.
While your rewards may only be 15 cents right now...If you look at the bigger picture and potential future for this blockchain I think you'll agree....We are in a great place at the perfect time in human history.
And remember, it's only about 2 years old....We still haven't learned how to walk properly yet! Imagine 2 or 5 years from now...That is what excites me!
So I'll let the Fan boy end by saying...
"Stay the course! Engage and create daily! And that 15 cents (or 15 dollars) won't be the ONLY reason you are using this platform....You are using it because it's got the potential to be the evolution of social media!"
So true. Its amazing that folk will quite happily post on the usual suspect social media sites for free, but then feel short-changed here when you actually receive a monetary reward!
It takes time but for those that can persevere, they might fall for the potential of steem like us crazy kids too!!!
Right? I always tell people...If I make a penny it's 1000000% more than I would on the social sites that shall be named later LOL In fact, when I post, it becomes their content and it lines their pockets.
Crazy, deranged...Completely insane! And I'm not turning back lol
If you don`t at least make 2 pennies though you make nothing. XD
Fact!
Ok... Jon how long have you known me? 5 years, 10 years, closer to 15 years... have you ever seen me blog? no... I have built websites for others to blog, I have built my own websites as well for videos. If you remember my website for teach others to do videos I had a weekly show I ran for a year. I made a little money. With the Steem platform it has reinvigorated me... now I blog 5 days a week and do a live show weekly. Join in on other shows as I can. It has now become a passion for me... yes I still am acting... yes I am doing network marketing (well sort of... LOL). This has become a whole new life change for me! It has made things fun again... ok... my 15 cents worth. Oh yay... My name is Paul Caraway - More Power To You! :)
Ha ha ha ha More power to you! Legendary! Yeah man, this has made being online fun for me too again :)
Well, you know I'm going to agree with you. I've told people my story of getting a wordpress site, getting hosting and blogging my guts out for 3 years. My direct payment never ever once made the hosting fee. Not once. Don't tell ME the rewards are small. They are mammoth in comparison.
Thanks Jon. For a truly wonderful post. Good content is good content. Being on such a good platform is a serious bonus.
Appreciated sir. Yeah man, it's crazy...I busted my butt on my wordpress blogs for over a decade...And made next to nothing even though I got tons of comments, plenty of shares and engagement....Nothing compares to Steemit. Not by a long shot.
Very good bro. You deserve a tall glass of beer. I really enjoyed reading this post you made here. Honestly, I am learning this STEEMIT, and BB from you. You my teacher bro. I know about btc but never heard about steemit. And yes I would like to learn these video making with dtube and all those apps you mention in the BB videos. Keep up the good work bro.
Appreciate it sir! Yeah man, keep at it...So much to learn and grow with inside this platform. And the best part is...It's just beginning!
I can totally relate to the internal conflict that comes with being on Steemit. I have always resisted FB and other social media sites, and got to Steemit following my favorite peeps like James Corbett. To be honest, the prospect of some monetary reward was quite alluring, as well as the decentralized aspect of things and the possibility to connect with people who may not have a forum on other sites because of their unorthodox or politically incorrect ideas. Despite the paltry 15 cents, the latter is the primary reason why I am staying on, as well as the opportunity to be creative in ways that I would not otherwise pursue. In general, even though "quality content" is a subjective matter which makes it difficult to quantify a fair reward, I do think the reward structure would gain from being revised.
Appreciate the comments and for sharing that! Yeah it's not perfect by any stretch. And I know how frustrating it can be for newcomers on this platform to first figure it all out and then realize they are at the mercy of what others deem quality content or not...
No easy solution, but I'm sure things will change for the best. Still just a young puppy in the social media world at 2 years old :) Plenty of growth for all of us here!
Couldn't agree more! And it's true that most of the people here came for the rewards. What most fail to understand is that some of the trailblazers for Steem earned even less when they started. But Steem was also worth a WHOLE LOT less too. So it's very important to stay the course and see this one through for the long haul!
So true. It's the biggest issue I have found for not only STEEM but online business in general over the years. People forget that the effort the put in today, might not pay dividends for years to come.
The trick is consistency. And staying the course no matter if you make 1 penny, 15 cents, or 1500 bucks...Nothing will kill your business quicker than not following up and sticking to something long term.
Hi! This is jlk.news intelligent bot. I just upvoted your post based on my criteria for quality. Keep on writing nice posts on Steemit and follow me @jlkreiss to get premium world news updates round the clock! 🦄🦄🦄
Bots are cool...Real engagement is better :) Appreciate the vote of confidence though....Glad to see it meets criteria for quality :)
Great post and hey 15 cents for doing something you would do anyway... is just an added bonus, the upvotes and rewards are really just a small bonus and should never be the reason to be active on here... If you have something great to share your going to share it anyway.... and then there is the other side of social marketing where great relationships can be forged so for me it's not all about the money...
Oh exactly....It's all a bonus and extra benefit for doing wha I love. That's when you know you are in the right place.....You would do this stuff for free! And still have a passion for it!
Do it for 15 cents? I looked back at older posts I wrote to link them into a recent one. The majority of my earlier posts were below 10 cents, some were zero cents! But I kept going. I'm not saying I broke the bank now, but quite often I receive at least $1 per post with a nice trail of upvotes. I wonder how things will be after a few more months... One step at a time.
Oh man, that's the truth. Looking back I'd be blown away with 15 cents a post. And I'm in no means about to get on the trending page LOL But it's going up, slowly...I'm loving the journey
Another great down to earth post Jon. As usual make perfect sense. I just need to refocus and get my rear in gear lol. Thanks again.
Appreciate it sir! Thanks for the comments! Glad you enjoyed it :)