I recently read a post titled, Why I Won't Support Jerry Banfield Anymore - Jerrycoin --- by @meno and thought I would respond to why I feel the same way.
In that post, @meno explains a lot of the reasons he pulled his vote for @jerrybanfield as a witness on Steemit. There was one point in particular, I wanted to expand on and share my thoughts on how to better help people new to the platform.
It seems there was a new Steemian feeling frustrated with the delays experienced when starting a new account. In case you didn't know, even though Steemit is free to join there has to be some Steem Power in your account before one can begin to use the platform. For this reason, it could take sometimes up to a week for Steemit Inc. or someone to fund new accounts before one can actually start using it and that's why there are sometimes delays.
Jerry saw this as an opportunity to create a service to, as he puts it, "help people" get an instant account. The problem is there already is a service to do that called https://anon.steem.network and for 5 Steem you can get an account instantly and begin using it.
Jerry put forth an idea to create a service charging $50 for the same thing. I'm sure you can see the problem here. All he would have to do is take someone's 50 Steem, use Anon Steem to start their account and pocket the difference.
Who is that really helping?
Jerry was called out on it and started backtracking by claiming he did not know that Anon Steem existed to which others clearly proved he did know about it prior to claiming he didn't. He posted about Anon Steem and made videos about it that and can be read on @meno's and Jerry's posts.
I'm sure Jerry means well and believes he is helping people, but all of his ideas seem to have a price tag attached to them with the cash-flow going to Jerry before any help comes your way.
What I want to discuss is the definition of helping people on Steemit. It's not that I have a problem with people trying to make money on the internet, but helping implies that you are giving of yourself without an expectation of getting something in return.
Providing a service, while there is nothing wrong with it per say, does benefit you as much, if not more in this case, as the person you're claiming to help. I mean really, 50 Steem to start a new account?
What's next, a course on how to HODL?
I was interested in seeing what Jerry had to say about that so I commented on his blog and, as expected, received no response.
He claimed earlier in his defense about this lack of knowledge that Anon Steem existed that he does not write his own posts. Apparently, he doesn't read his comments either or just had nothing to say.
What Jerry is good at is ranking on Google for keywords that can help him create a sales funnel he can later monetize for his own profit, but that's not a true definition of helping someone.
That's why he doesn't write his own posts. His technique is making videos. You can talk a mile a minute making videos which can create text faster than writing them. Once you have someone transcribing it to text for you that can create a lot of posts, which in turn gets you ranked on Google for keywords. All you have to do is keep talking and saying those keywords then get them transcribed for you. Soon you'll end up in search engines for those keywords and when people search for them and find you they will think you're an expert.
He has used his page ranking techniques to rank himself in search engines and on YouTube as an expert on Steemit from the day he started.
Now let me ask you, How does someone who only started using this platform on May 2017 become an expert?
They don't. They just present themselves as one.
Most of the courses he has packaged as his own for various money-making schemes were just things he saw others doing on the internet. He copied them and branded them as his own. In the Internet marketing business it's called Private Label Rights (PLR), or Master Label Rights and you can find all sort of products to sell and say you made them.
I have seen Jerry doing his thing for many years now, selling courses on how to do it for each new product or money-making idea that caught his attention and when I first saw his videos on YouTube about Steemit my first thought was, "There goes the neighborhood." As soon as these internet marketers get a hold of this platform it's not going to help foster credibility.
One could argue he has brought a lot of attention to the platform because of his following before he got here, but what kind of attention is he bringing? People who are mainly focused on making money? Is that a good thing? That's for each of us to decide.
It could also be argued that he has done some good for the platform. I'm not saying he hasn't brought any value, I'm just saying that a lot of what he offers always seems to have a price attached to it that benefits him personally in some way. There's nothing wrong with that, but he seems to make that a pretty big focus which puts his true motives in question in my mind. At least when it comes to him being a witness to the platform. Witnesses are trusted to put the good of the platform, and by extension, the good of the community, ahead of their own interests or personal gain.
As you can see in @meno's post, he was also trying to create a Jerry Coin. If that doesn't reek of a witness with conflict of interest I don't know what does. How can he serve two masters? Both Steem and Jerry Coin. Come on. I think a more important question is, Why are we voting for people as a witness who even have ideas like that?
If you're going to create your own coin at least wait until SMT's are actually launched before signaling your intention to branch off into your own coin while still asking people to support you as a witness.
Ask yourself, If Jerry Banfield started an SBD wallet would you store your coins in it? I sure wouldn't. I wouldn't store Jerry Coins in it either.
Personally, I just think he's all over the place on so many internet ideas and doesn't come across as an expert on any of them. He just seems to be trying to cash in on as many things that come his way as possible and that doesn't help the Steem blockchain so much. I'd much prefer to have someone like @ned representing our interests, but hey, to each their own.
I won't go into details of the other platforms Jerry has been kicked off of as @meno's post covers that all too well, but I feel motivated to clarify what really helping new people get their feet solidly planted on Steemit really is and there's no better way to do that than by example.
You see, when a new person I just met feels frustrated when they discover they may have to wait up to a week to get their account verified, like Jerry, I want to help them too, but instead of charging them a fee for my help here's what I do.
First, once they have chosen a username, I go to Anon Steem and fund their account with 5 Steem out of my own pocket so they can get started now.
I enter the required information right there next to them, then go to my Steem wallet and transfer the funds, then show them how to immediately change the Owner Key so only they have it, not me, not Anon Steem.
I explain the importance of storing that key in a very secure place. Then I show them how to create an intro post using the introduceyourself tag.
Once that's done, I make a post about them on my account with a picture of us together asking my followers to go say hi and, if they're so inclined, to follow them. A week later when my post pays out I transfer the liquid SBD to the new person's account so they get a boost in SP.
What do I ask in return for my "help"? Nothing. Zip. Nada.
When people ask me why I would do that I always say the same thing, "Because I can." When they insist they repay me somehow I ask them to do the same for someone else when they sign people up and they have carried that practice forward themselves.
Everyone I have ever introduced to Steemit since Anon Steem was created this is what I have done. That is what helping people is! I have never asked them to upvote me, follow me, or return anything to me at all. That is the definition of helping.
They will all tell you that they left feeling helped and good about the platform from day one. Don't take my word for it, go ask them yourself. People like;
@anomadsoul
@mithrilweed
@plantbasedmiri
@mysevenworlds
@lizanomadsoul
@maxy-hopkins
and the list goes on.
In closing, I just want to say to be very careful on this platform when people offer to help you who require you give them something first. There are plenty of people who will help you here without needing something in return from you.
And when people like Jerry make videos telling everyone how much money they can make on Steemit, don't buy into the bullshit. Yes, you can make money here, but if that is what someone is so focused on from day one it kind of tells you a lot about them, don't you think? I think he should be called Jerry Spamfield.
Think about it.
Jerry Banfield - Here's Why He's Losing Fans..
