Lately, I have been reading a lot of posts about people's different approaches to succeeding on Steemit.
One of the primary threads that run through these explorations seem to be the issue of "short term" vs. "long term."
Red salvia
A couple of days ago, @lukestokes wrote an excellent Argument for Long-Term Rational Self-Interest Versus Short-Term Irrational Value Extraction, which is well worth a read. Much of what he says is in alignment with my own perception of what our best approach is.
Much as it may be tempting to come to Steemit and try to "take the money and run," it's most likely NOT the best — or even the most self-serving — thing you can do.
My concern here has long been that too much short-term cashing out will basically "kill the goose that's laying golden eggs." What GOOD will it do you to to keep extracting every dollar you can — TODAY — if the result will be that the very thing you're extracting dollars from will be GONE tomorrow?
The Garden of Steemit
Yesterday, I spent a good bit of time working in our back yard, and it occurred to me that "growing" your presence on Steemit — and truly getting the most you can from the experience — is very much like growing a garden.
For one, success doesn't happen overnight.
A successful garden full of color!
You have to clear out the weeds, till the soil, have a good and clear plan of what you want to grow... and then continuously tend to your garden. Because if you don't tend to your garden, your plants will either wither and die, or get strangled out by weeds.
And you don't get to harvest right away; the seeds or plants go in in early spring, and the benefits are not there till the fall.
Moreover, the land needs to be fertilized and watered, and consideration has to be given to what you're going to grow there, next year. Will you have annuals, perennials, or a blend of both?
We've been working on our garden here for six years, and it is a constant work-in-progress, but the results get a little bit better every year!
And so it is, with Steemit... or, for that matter, pretty much any form of social media. You don't just make a Facebook page and instantaneously have 5,ooo "likes." It takes work; it takes time.
It also takes Cooperation and Community Building... which leads me to:
An Excellent Example
A few people have started exploring their "best approach" to Steemit through the relatively new #mysteemitformula tag. In a sense, the garden analogy in the paragraph above represents mine.
I'd also like to recommend a really excellent (and thorough!) approach created by @mountainjewel called "Consistency is the Name of the Game." Again, recommended reading.
If we sincerely care about succeeding here — AND we care about the overall success of the Steemit platform, so we can CONTINUE succeeding — we need to pull our collective heads out of the short-term mindset and plan for something more long term; more permanent.
Of course, that's just my opinion!
How about YOU? Do you have your own "Steemit Formula?" Is it short term or long term? Where do you see yourself being, a few years down the road? Have you written a post about it? Why not create one? It might help you sort out your own priorities! Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
Animated banner created by @zord189
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180516 12:27 PDT