Living the Dream
Ever since I joined the platform back in 2017 I have wondered if it would be possible for someone to make a living solely by publishing Hive posts. I'm talking about being able to actually pay your monthly bills and buy food. On the surface, it would seem like a no-brainer being that there are endless so-called influencers out there doing it on other platforms. Some are raking in millions, while others are comfortably getting by. Of course the model for generating income and growing an audience is quite different on Hive vs traditional social media.
On other platforms, you rely heavily on sponsorships and ad revenue whereas the Hive community doesn't care about any of that. Let's talk about that!
Hive Culture
Growing your support base on Hive has some similarities to traditional social media, however it differs in several of key areas. Just like anywhere else, you really need to write compelling content, but in the case of Hive, you really have to engage with your audience.
I have seen a few influencers try to succeed on Hive and completely flounder because of their lack of engagement with the community. They start off by introducing themselves and make a big entrance. They may even get some huge upvotes in the beginning. But they don't take the time to engage with their audience or the community at large. Within a couple of weeks no one is reading or voting their content.
The Hive community rewards engagement above all else, but keep in mind that people are watching you in other ways. Everything on the Hive blockchain is transparent. For instance, most people are OK with upvoting your own posts but not your own comments. That's a quick way to start getting yourself on abuse lists and flagged content.
It has definitely gotten better, but flag wars used to be a huge problem. Now, battling with flags has become something of a nuclear option as more often than not it doesn't end up working out well for anyone - the person being flagged nor the one doing the flagging.
Personally extremely rarely engage in flagging content, even though it is a core part of the way the Hive eco-system is designed to work. On a psychological level, it can be challenging to look at that value go up on your post and then watch some of it get syphoned off by a downvote. That's why it is critical to understand that the current value on your post is meaningless until the payout actually occurs!
I think that this is one of the most difficult things that people have to integrate when getting used to how things work here. Remember this: You can do whatever you want with your stake. But so can anyone else - so behave or deal with the consequences of your actions; good or bad!
Can I Make A Living Blogging Here?
I think that this question has a really big "It Depends" answer.
There are a few people on Hive that are able to write content, cash out rewards and pay their bills. There are a few things that these people almost invariably have in common:
- Live in a country with a low cost of living
- Put in a lot of time engaging with the community at large
- Consistently create quality, readable, unique content
- Stake tokens! Don't cash everything out after each payout
I have to make a statement here that may be considered controversial, but I think it's true to a large degree. This probably belongs in the Hive Culture section but ultimately has a huge impact on one's ability to actually make a living on Hive. This is mainly why I have included #1 above: Live in a country with a low cost of living.
There seems to be a psychological ceiling for curators when it comes to what they believe any particular post can be rewarded. I believe that this is largely driven by the fluctuating value of cryptocurrency in general and the fact that the reward pool is not (and cannot be) infinite.
If you look around, you'll begin to notice that once a post starts getting into $100 territory, often you see large stakeholders swooping in and giving that content a flag to bring it down a few notches. Very noble indeed, however if you live somewhere like Los Angeles, New York or London and you want to make a job of being a serious content creator, that's not going to cut it.
Remember, you as the author are only getting 50% of that payout as it is. So even if you are elite tier publisher on Hive with posts being rewarded up to $100, you are still making $50 per day. And that's the other thing - Many curators frown upon the behavior of posting more than once per day. (Incidentally and for giggles I am posting this fewer than 24 hours after my previous article)
There are always exceptions to the rule, of course. A big one on Hive would be for developers who are actually writing code that contributes to Hive itself, or adds value to the Hive ecosystem. I do not begrudge this in the least because writing software is friggin hard. Build useful tools for Hive, and expect to be rewarded handsomely.
Stake Hive!
Do you really want to get some attention? Do you want to show people that you are serious and not just trying to leach off of the system? Well, put your money where your mouth is. Buy some Hive and stake it. Nothing shows that you are all in more than powering up some coins and using the influence it gives you to support others and help to spread the reward pool.
It is a painfully slow grind trying to grow your account from nothing without powering up at least some Hive. There are people who have done it, and hats off to them. If you can pull it off, I'm proud of you! That being said, it is much easier to get people to notice you if you have some skin in the game. When I started buying Hive and powering it up back in early 2018 my support grew exponentially. I still had to work at it, but the change in momentum was very obvious. It just makes your voice louder, there's just no way around it. If you don't believe me, just look around. It's not hard to find a very large stakeholder who is a complete jackass and would have zero followers or community engagement if their account were empty. This is just a hard reality!
I'm not blind to the reality that this isn't possible for many people and I don't want to discourage you. Keep doing what you're doing and you will eventually get there. Authenticity is the key, and engagement is king.
Lastly, staking coins gives you the opportunity to earn curation rewards. This is where being a full-time blogger can become just a bit more reachable in an indirect sort of way. Right now at the current price of Hive (around $0.341) it takes quite a bit of stake to make decent curation rewards. For instance, I get roughly between 25-35 Hive daily in curation rewards. That's around $10 which is barely going to buy me a hamburger and a drink with current prices.
But what about when Hive is worth $1? or $5? or even $10 or more? This leads me to my final point which is that Hive is not just simply a get rich quick scheme. It is an investment into a community and a future with huge possibility of growth. Don't think of it in terms of what a single token is worth now, but the future value that it represents. Be in it for the long haul!
I would really appreciate your support!
