I just broke into the top 150 most followed authors and I'm setting my sights still higher. I have a burning need to spread the message of peace, abundance, and liberty with people.
I have 2 daughters and I don't want blue gloved TSA agents touching their privates when we fly to see the grand parents, I don't want health care keeping them sick while offering medicines with endless side effects, and I don't consent to the constant war, theft, lies, and other forms of violence waged against us by the powers that be nor do I want my daughters to live under this same system or a worse one as corruption infects more of it.
My number 1 fear is that one day my daughters will figure out how the ruling elite cause so much harm. They'll ask me "Did you know about this? What did you do about it?" and I'm terrified my answer won't be good enough. At the same time so much of my family has died to cancer. I think cancer is preventable, harmlessly detectable, and treatable. So, the policies of this elite group have killed my mother, two uncles, two aunts, injured my father, and in all likelihood will eventually kill me.
I'm not going anywhere. This world has to change, and that change has to start with me. I have message, and I'm looking at how will that message spread.
So, as I'm looking at the top 25 accounts on Steemwhales.com I'm trying to figure out how they got there. It's a great website with tons of data. Here are SIX ways that authors stood out and how they were able to make it on the list. These are listed like they are separate, but make no mistake the authors I'm going to list cross across the artificial boundaries I'm making. I suppose I could make a rubric and artificially rank them all based on personal feeling, but I'm trying to keep this simple...
Here's the list of authors ranked by number of followers-
1. You're famous and you bring and share an audience here.
@dollarvigilante is a great example of this, and it's no wonder he's in the top spot. With over 5k followers people flocked to him. His success on Steemit looked like it was an overnight success, but for people that don't know he's been in the space for a few decades. That said, you work at this for 20 years and you're likely to snag an audience. The message he shares resonates pretty well over here and with all that synergy, BOOM, an overnight success on this platform. Just makes me scared for the day when someone like Kim Kardashian finds her way over here with all her fans.
2. A healthy dose of personality and community building.
@always1success, @instructor2121, @joanaltres, @fyrstikken, @carlobelgado are great examples of community building. They broke steemwhales in a sense. Many of these people aren't following 2,000 people. They are following 20,000 people. They represent 1-person curation armies. They take in a crap ton of information from thousands of posts and resteem the things that they value in. @fyrsikken doesn't only post and interact on steemit. He's got the discord channel, supports projects, invests in people, and builds community on and off steemit. These folks are the lifeblood of the community.
3. You do something amazing and people know of your work.
@ned, @dantheman, @charlieshrem, @blocktrades are great examples of this. Ned and Dan built steemit, which this whole community is benefitting from. @charlieshrem was rocking Silk Road and took a hit and kept on ticking. His story is inspiring. @blocktrades is one of the foundations of crypto! If you want to get noticed build something amazing and share your insights. People will follow this kind of greatness, genius, and perseverance.
4. You post like crazy and grind it out.
@thecryptofiend, @doitvoluntarily, @pappa-pepper are all examples of this. These three authors have roughly as many posts as the other 22 on the list combined. The phrase of the day here is success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. I just crossed 1k posts. I know how many hours it's taken me to get here. These guys are writing stories, commenting on other posts, and communicating with followers on their own posts as full time work. If you want to make it to the top you may have to out work these guys so clear your calendar for say the next 2 decades.
5. You're an amazing author and people love your work.
@hilarski, @heiditravels, @sirwinchester, @stellabelle. I personally resonate with the work @sirwinchester is doing. I look forward to the posts. I look forward to reading the stories. They are visual, well written, easy to read, mission driven, and seem to come from a good heart space. What's not to like. It's the same with this whole group. Talented writers finding a niche that cross entertainment, purpose, and something that gets people thinking. It's no wonder they have an audience!
6. You provide a service that the community values
@marketreport @curie @steemitblog. If you're looking for crypto finance, some great new reads, or the latest on the innerworkings of steemit then look no further. These authors provide information that the community wants hand delivered to them. Do you want to spend hours finding the best gems and new stories by virutally unknown authors? No, that's ok @curie is there to help you! Provide a service and people will follow.
So, where will I land? How will I get there?
I think I'll rock out a combination (just like the above authors do). I want to provide a service for new authors through my Minnow Support Project and STEEMIT TIPS series. I want to write great articles that people smile and laugh as they read or scratch their head as they think about the posts hours after they've read them. I want to do great things like support natestate and help purchase the first house with steemit and it's community. Lastly, I want to build community. This world isn't going to change just by one person acting alone. I want to help connect people and link hands with other that envision a world filled with Peace, Abundance, and Liberty. Maybe you'll be one!
I'm announcing a witness run on Tuesday. Please support me!