There is no such thing as a free lunch and that’s not necessarily a bad thing…
Let’s face it, contributing to steemit takes work… because that’s a fundamental element of any functional system.
When things are obtained for free or for very little effort they have a greater tendency to be undervalued.
If free hand-outs become the norm they tend to create as sense of entitlement in the receiving parties mind.
When this entitled expectation is not met, then it can lead to bitterness and resentment.
Sometime we approach steemit with the wrong expectations, I list a few of them below:
--endless random clicking of the upvote button will make me a millionaire
--voting on the posts with the highest numbers underneath them will somehow give me the lion’s share of that value (even if hundreds have clicked before me with the same expectation)
--posting endless drivel will make me thousands
--a shotgun is far better than a sniper rifle
--if I put up hundreds or thousands of posts, one of them has to go viral, right?
--spewing thousands of one-liner comments will get me noticed and make me rich
--I deserve it all… for google and pasting memes
--copy-pasting other people’s work without citation makes me a hero
--spam is the divine purpose of the internet and sacrifices must be left at the altar as often as possible
These are just a few. The list is endless, please add you favorites in the comments section below…
Most new user entertain some variant of these notions. How do I know this…?
I was a new user too…
I have entertained a couple of these strategies in the past and occasionally slip back into bad habits. Sometimes the analyst in me does these things just as an experiment to see how certain aspects of the platform are evolving over time.
The title of this post is an old proverb, which has recently been popularized again by Thomas S. Monson.
The moment we consistently and conscientiously engage with the steemit platform and community we quickly see that work is the best strategy.
…even when it’s not consistently rewarded or noticed in the beginning.
Below are a few work strategies that I find win:
--actually spend time reading other people’s posts and comments
--learn from others and apply what you learn
--vote sparingly, but for everything you think adds to your steemit experience
--avoid voting for already high earning posts (it just widens gaps) unless you just can’t resist, because it’s so truly awesome
--post sparingly, give your ideas time to mature and think of multiple different ways to present them
--give others a turn
--help others and do your part
--one day, when you can, be generous
--give back
--get to know others and contribute to their successes
--build community
--think twice before you comment and make your contribution meaningful
--be smart
--persevere
--find your voice
--find you audience
--build your audience
--building reputation takes time
--be forgiving, we are still in the early days, with lots of growing pains
--get over disappointments
These are just a few. Please add your favorite work strategies in the comments below.