I know the feeling...
'...What does this guy know.., the one who is always on Trending?...'
Yes, what do I know... do you think I started on Trending? I was a nobody once, nobody gave a toss about my content and nobody gave me any votes.
So let me give you some advice if that title is in your mind. Nothing comes easy and if you are not of a tenacious mind then it's best if you do leave.
'…but… but, he gets votes from whales all the time…'
Yes, and I am grateful for their support but in an instant, they may change and stop giving me support. Never take anything for granted, and don't expect anything to continue.
Let me tell you where this is all coming from. At the recent HIVEFest 7, I was chatting to @tdctunes about the past and STEEM days.
He casually commented that I am a walking blockchain encyclopedia, especially about the negative aspects.
When I joined STEEM on the 2nd March 2018 I had no idea of what was coming. Like many, I expected much and when barely anything happened fast I got despondent quickly.
If I hadn't connected with @steevc very early, I would have left.., there is no doubt.
These are my first posts; three of them gained me a total of $0.00. The third post took me a couple of hours to put together. Steemit (the UI) was terrible and hindered my progress.
I distinctly remember the time of posting '6 Progressive Rock Song Gems - Gold Nuggets dug from the depths you may not have heard before' thinking ‘this is the big one’.
I waited for those enormous votes to come in (that didn't happen) but noted I was getting a lot of followers.
What were these followers, they all had strange names and were made up of numbers? Little did I know they were BOT accounts and quite useless.
So nobody was interested in 'Gold Nuggets'? I didn't do myself any favours by self-voting the post and placing as the last sentence, 'If you enjoyed this article please upvote it and I will return the favour.'
Follow for follow, tut tut…, this isn't Facebook.
There was no STEEM Behaviour manual, and things have not changed, there is no HIVE one…, you learn as you go along..., the hard way.
Then @steevc followed me. Bloody hell, a dolphin and look at the value of his account..., $38,000!
Now... I am going to be rich!
That pivotal turning point was the end of the $0.00 posts and I am grateful for the community to be in that club. Perhaps @arcange can give us badges, 'Honorary members of the $0.00 club'?
Things were hardly improving after 9 days and I was beginning to despair.
I was pumping out impressive content such as 'A lone rabbit on steroids that lives on a corporate compound - a strange sight.' that included stock photographs without sources and the even better 'Seagulls don't like applause' and yet I wasn’t appearing on Trending?
This was totally shit (like Blurt), and I was going to blurt it out (not that Blurt), in public and I didn’t care if they flagged me.
I had learned about flagging (now downvoting) quite recently but was determined to show my displeasure concerning this huge injustice.
@steevc's post about STEEM dropping in popularity was the trigger point. They were going to turn against me like a pack of savage wolves, I knew it!
I was shocked by the response and felt this was a crossroads. Anything remotely bad and I would have powered down and left.
Have you felt like this? Now you can see... ‘that guy who is always on trending’ has been where you are now.
@steevc did not judge or condone. He sympathised and if anything gave me more support on my er... 'quality posts'.
That’s what kind of a person he is, he’s one of the good guys and I will always remember that.
...'@grumpycat terrified STEEM people with large flags, I wasn't going to tangle with that horrific monster cat!...
What did I do? I bought more STEEM, tried harder, joined @thesteemengine and learned about @grumpycat.
@catweasel (from the curation group, @thesteemengine (RIP)) and anti-grumpycat group (@the-resistance), tried to get me to join his crusade against @grumpycat. I was a little tiddler, no fucking chance I was going to tangle with that wild animal!
Six months later, at @steevc's insistence.., I joined an anti-abuse group. This was both good and bad and opened my eyes to the mass abuse that was taking place on STEEM.
The post rewards were still not getting better, but my SP (STEEM Power) was increasing. It’s not all about your HP or SP wallet size (although that is a significant factor), but how the community perceives you. I was buying, and lots.
In early September 2018, I committed to attend Steemfest 3. It was overwhelming, I felt out of place and intimidated by these 'Whales' and 'Orca's' but had attained the status of Dolphin by then.
I had bought into STEEM, and maybe, just maybe people were starting to notice.
During Day 2, I met @tarazkp and felt he was some kind of writing god. He actually hailed me, we had a short chat and he then wandered off with @crimsonclad on to one of those round table things that remind me of the corporate office.
…’I need to get this dude to follow me’…
Whenever @steevc re-STEEM'd my posts, @tarazkp would give me a vote. Eventually, he did follow me but took his bloody time about it!
These days I chat daily with @tarazkp and some others in a private discord group, mostly about shit, booze, loose-women, brothels, and sometimes about HIVE.
In October 2018 this came into my head, that's when 'Tales of the Urban Explorer' was born.
Now, most of my posts are prefixed with this title. This is what I do.
Ask yourself..., 'what do I do?'
The community seems to like this content. It’s quite unique, it’s fucking dangerous and keeps me on the edge.
May 2019. I was thinking to myself, 'why does that @meesterboom bloke get lots of votes'. I wanted to be where he was, so how could I do that?
I looked at his content, and found he had a certain style. A niche as I would call it. I contacted him via Discord and we connected like a house on fire. Being from the same island helped and from the frosty north probably a little more.
Could I adapt my niche and steal a little of his ideas? More than once he had me laughing out-loud in the workplace and I had to quickly shut up or expose STEEM to my colleagues.
...'Huel takes some beating and had me howling. Replacing work colleagues with names such as Sick-Line was different, unique and kind of dangerous if they discovered this derogatory story-writing he was doing' - Source
Adding some humour to Urban Exploring seemed apt and appeared to work. I have to credit him for nicking his style.., just a little.
I can't suggest to you to copy my style and it will get you on Trending. For me, it just happened slowly over almost 5 years but there's usually a reason why certain authors always seem to be there.
I found my niche; if you want to stand out then find yours and make sure nobody else is doing the same. Be different, be unique.
Here are a few tips for you…
Create content that either educates or makes people laugh.
Consider using a little profanity in your content, this is not Facebook, you won't get banned and it adds spice.
Do you have a 2016 account and a vote that's worth 1c? Your level of commitment speaks volumes. Why should the community give you large votes if you send it all the Binance?
How about a new account, born yesterday? You might get some initial support but it will likely dwindle. Long content is king, this might not feel right to you... it just is!
Don't ignore comments on your posts, always respond.
If you want instant rewards, leave the HP powered up, convert the HBD and sell that. I powered up ALL my rewards for a good two years before extracting a cent, but that's me!
Don't be tempted to steal anyone else' content, or use others' images without sourcing them. @hivewatchers will find you; there are people actively looking for abuse.
Make sure it looks good, it needs to be presentable. Use Grammarly to fix spelling mistakes, it's free to use.
Persevere, just like I did. You will be ‘working’ for less than minimum wage, but don’t count it as ‘work’.
I have well over 200 'Tales' posts on the chain. Where else could I have released all this content? Reddit.., yes.., but they don't dish out HIVE.
...'find your niche, but don't expect miracles overnight, even the early 'Tales' posts didn't do so well'...
Lastly, don’t expect ANYTHING from ANYONE. You are entitled to fuck all, so think that way. If you get down-voted then big deal, move on.
It's usually nothing personal, though that feeling is tough to shrug off. If you look into why it happened deep enough, you will get your answers.
Do you like posting your Urbex content and photography for FREE on Facebook and YouTube? I like to get some form of reward for my work and every time I create I do just that. Take a look at The Urbex Community on HIVE.
If you want to keep creating for FREE then ignore what you are reading. If you want to be like me and gain something other than BUGGER ALL for your work then click here and learn about posting on the HIVE blockchain.
If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, rehive, engage me or all of these things.