Welcome to week 4 of the minnow support project update. If you haven't spotted us before let me explain what this is about, and why it is really something special. There is quite a lot of debate on Steemit about voting bots, and I have written quite a bit about this topic. In an effort to turn the whole paradigm of bots into something much more beneficial to Steemit and all its users I have created the Minnow Support Project, which leverages the profits made from bids on the @ecotrain voting bot to pay it forward to minnows who get little support and cannot or do not want to use voting bots themselves.

One of the criticisms about voting bots is that they tend to centralise the returns of bids to delegators, which means that minnows are forced to pay for votes, and most of the reward pool ends up in the wallets of fewer and fewer people. I am happy to say that the @ecotrain voting bot is something altogether different! The reason why is simple! Firstly, my biggest delegators are now committed to receiving just 35% of the rewards from bids made on the @ecotrain voting bot. They are sending half of their 65% ROI to me each week to pay forward to minnows. What I do each and every day is to send my SBD to the @ecotrain voting bot to upvote minnows who are writing great posts but don't get many rewards. These bot upvotes are always very well received, and are a pleasant surprise to all recipients. I try to select as many different people as I can, and do the best I can to encourage minnows to continue writing great posts! This week I have actually spent more than the rewards from this bot, and have been able to send upvotes to around 40 minnows! I could not do this without the @ecotrain bot, because I don't have the voting power to give 6 or more people a day more than $1 upvotes each! What makes the ecotrain voting bot even better is that those people who DO choose to pay to use it are whitelisted people that only post great content. This means that just about every criticism about voting bots have been addressed, and in the most positive way! It is a great feeling to be able to pay it forward to so many people every day, and I think it is safe to say that I continue to inspire people to keep posting better content every day!

So I would like to Congratulate to all of you who are writing great content, I hope this project will keep you inspired and engaged with Steemit so that you can keep up the great work! I know how much effort you have all put into your posts, and am Very happy to be able to pay it forward like this. I am doing my best to get even more delegation so that I can give you all even more, but I know from your comments that you still appreciate what I am able to do, so thank you for your support and continued engagement!

This week the following people received an upvote from the @ecotrain minnow support project. You sure kept me busy reading, and I'm happy to say it was time well spent as you are writing some great content!

@sugandhaseth you have received an upvote worth ~$1.29
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@sugandhaseth/n3kobb30

@smacommunity you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/sma/@smacommunity/music-today-issue-18-or-a-sma-community-initiative

@holisticmom you have received an upvote worth ~$1.31
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@holisticmom/what-nature-can-teach-us-about-overcoming-difficulties-in-life

@wombloom you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@wombloom/psychotherapy-with-the-divine

@stargreen you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/spiritual/@stargreen/walk-in-faith

@wombloom you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/poetry/@wombloom/earth-love-poem

@son-of-satire you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/prisoners/@son-of-satire/what-if-prisons-were-actually-about-rehabilitation

@fourth you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@fourth/solar-power-project-step-2-battery-test-with-inverter

@stillgideon you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/writing/@stillgideon/return-two-paintings-a-story-never-to-be-told

@offgrid-online you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/permaculture/@offgrid-online/offgrid-online-weekly-curation-6

@ameaningfullife you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@ameaningfullife/practicing-self-compassion-day-1

@edave you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@edave/for-a-better-world-the-current-leaders-have-to-be-thoughtful-creators-the-beginning

@movement19 you have received an upvote worth ~$1.20
https://steemit.com/dlive/@movement19/8a62a480-6ab7-11e8-8d90-9784636a8b12

@wombloom you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@wombloom/bird-learn-to-fly

@saintopic you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/living/@saintopic/your-own-piece-of-earth

@edave you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@edave/we-need-to-be-flexible-with-pedagogy

@holisticmom you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/7daypositivitychallenge/@holisticmom/what-i-value-most-about-the-ecotrain-day-1-gratitude-and-positivity

@corrielaine you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/art/@corrielaine/summer-art-camp

@son-of-satire you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/language/@son-of-satire/my-name-is-more-interesting-than-you-think#@eco-alex/re-son-of-satire-my-name-is-more-interesting-than-you-think-20180609t052926953z

@goldenoakfarm you have received an upvote worth ~$1.87
https://steemit.com/gardening/@goldenoakfarm/what-i-ve-been-up-to-this-week-in-the-vegetable-gardens

@jackdub you have received an upvote worth ~$1.77
https://steemit.com/gardening/@jackdub/first-harvest-of-the-year-the-wild-strawberry-and-how-to-propagate

@stillgideon you have received an upvote worth ~$1.77
https://steemit.com/science/@stillgideon/utopia-part-6-smartphone-blindness

@stortebeker you have received an upvote worth ~$1.77
https://steemit.com/earthship/@stortebeker/essential-for-the-helping-hands-the-volunteer-kitchen

@sharronyasir you have received an upvote worth ~$1.77
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@sharoonyasir/what-does-it-mean-to-own-your-emotions-ecotrain-qotw

@senorcoconut you have received an upvote worth ~$1.56
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@senorcoconut/like-a-kid-in-a-candy-store-a-treasure-story-from-the-dump

@escuetapamela you have received an upvote worth ~$1.56
https://steemit.com/philosophy/@escuetapamela/the-fear-of-losing-what-you-never-had

@stargreen you have received an upvote worth ~$0.80
https://steemit.com/spiritual/@stargreen/all-is-well-because-everything-is-happening-for-a-reason

@wombloom you have received an upvote worth ~$0.80
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@wombloom/what-does-it-mean-to-own-your-emotions-ecotrain-question-of-the-week

@corrielaine you have received an upvote worth ~$0.81
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@corrielaine/my-entry-for-ecotrain-question-of-the-week-tie-up

@edave you have received an upvote worth ~$0.81
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@edave/how-do-you-define-ascension-my-take-on-mindfulness

@saracampero you have received an upvote worth ~$0.61
https://steemit.com/esteem/@saracampero/developing-the-creativity-of-children-in-classes-or-piggy-bank-tutorial-db6fe257157b6

@hafizullah you have received an upvote worth ~$0.15
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@hafizullah/plastic-a-terrible-enemy-of-the-environment-607cbc586c885

@aware007 you have received an upvote worth ~$1.56
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@aware007/what-it-means-to-own-your-emotions

@holisticmom you have received an upvote worth ~$1.56
https://steemit.com/7daypositivitychallenge/@holisticmom/feeling-the-frequencies-of-music-day-5-gratitude-and-positivity

@offgrid-online you have received an upvote worth ~$1.56
https://steemit.com/gardening/@offgrid-online/offgrid-online-weekly-curation-7

@thegreens you have received an upvote worth ~$1.56
https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@thegreens/emotions-what-does-it-mean-to-own-your-emotions-ecotrain-question-of-the-week

You have also ALL been whitelisted to use the @ecotrain bot, now giving 11% ROI on bids below $1SBD

Please read this post if you need help on how to use the voting bots
https://steemit.com/money/@eco-alex/a-primer-on-how-to-use-up-vote-bots-and-not-lose-money

THE @ECOTRAIN BOT IS HERE TO HELP MINNOWS!

The @ecotrain bot is leading the way and I am proud to say that we are paying forward more than we received in profits this week. Many thanks to @yabapmatt for making a lot of effort to get this working for me and iron out the bugs! The @ecotrain is ALL about quality posts and engagement, and so this is a great initative for everyone!

HOW TO SUPPORT THE PAY IT FORWARD MINNOW SUPPORT PROJECT?

1. Up-vote This Post!

By up-voting this post I can use the rewards to PAY IT FORWARD next week to some more great Minnows.

2. Please follow my @eco-alex curation trail

Please visit https://steemauto.com to add me to your up-voting. That way all the votes I make will be boosted by you and bring even more attention and rewards to our amazing ecotrain passengers! This includes my voting on the @ecotrain and @tribesteemup who are an amazing group of Steemians. Your support goes a long way to making so many people's day brighter and full of joy and you will also make great curation rewards as a result.

3. Delegate Steem Power To @ecotrain for 65% ROI

You can delegate to the @ecotrain voting bot which is is the first whitelisted bot on steembotracker.com that only upvotes and supports great posts! Not only that but I give a fixed 11% ROI to anyone using the bot so everyone is happy and we add great value to the Steem blockchain! This is a unique opportunity to get involved and support a bot that is so ethical and supporting such great steemians. Just visit https://steembottracker.com/delegation.html and delegate any amount of Steem Power in one minute.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

If you write great posts on the theme of THINGS THAT MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE, and want to have a chance of receiving our up-vote please use the #ecotrain tag first in your posts.