Don’t just copy and paste content: Add value instead
Although on the Ecency platform, and within the Hive blockchain, in general, free speech flourishes and is encouraged among users, simply copying and pasting content from one writing community to another, whether within the Hive ecosystem itself, or elsewhere online, and even if you are the owner and writer of the content, is a practice that is frowned upon.
Write for Ecency and earn multiple rewards!
I learned it the hard way.
To be honest, I overdid it, because what I actually did was republishing multiple posts from Ecency to Steemit, and vice versa.
Even though I had written those posts myself, reposting them was a big mistake, because Hive and Steem have followed two different paths after the fork, and it’s better not to cross a certain line and mix things that you really shouldn’t.
Anyway, I had no idea of this and didn’t do on purpose, and I have never cross-posted or reposted content since.
It makes sense, because posting unique content online, and keeping it unique, is an axiom for online writers that cannot be overemphasized.
I should have known better.
Write long (rather than short) comments to earn Ecency points
When it comes to commenting on the Ecency platform, you get an extra bonus of 5 Ecency points for each comment that you make.
According to official information by Ecency on how to earn more points:
“Each comment you make helps you to grow your audience and make friendship but also earns you 5 points”.
So I made a one-sentence comment summarizing the message that I wanted to get across to the post writer, and waited to get my 5 Ecency points, as a reward, but nothing happened.
No matter how many times I refreshed the page of my wallet, those 5 points were never rewarded.
Don’t get me wrong though, because, every time I made a comment comprising of more than a few sentences, I received 5 Ecency points as usual.
I mean, at the end of the day, a comment is a comment, and you make it to get your point across, add to the discussion, and have your voice heard along with the voices of other users, so the reward plays a secondary role.
However, this has been my own experience so far, and therefore, you’ve been warned; you’d better make your comments longer, if you want to get the extra reward!
Promoting your content will not save it
The Ecency platform is packed with useful and rewarding features that you cannot easily find on other online writing platforms.
For example, writers can Promote their content by “paying” with Ecency points.
How does this work?
Let’s say that I have 150 Ecency points in my wallet.
I can use those points to promote an article of mine (or any other user) on the platform for 1 day.
250 Ecency points will promote my (or any other) content for 2 days, and so on.
From my personal experience, I have had some good results after using the Promote feature.
However, in one case, the Promote feature didn’t help my article to get the expected traction and traffic.
This means that the Promote feature will not solve all of your traffic/promotion problems on Ecency overnight, like magic.
On top of using this feature, your content needs to meet certain criteria in terms of quality, appeal, timing, posting to the right communities, building a fan base, etc. to work really well, and again, it might not.
So, you can promote your article, and sit there waiting for traffic, upvotes, and rewards to come, which may never come, however; you have to hit all the right spots, and have luck on your side, at the same time.