Introduction
“Great results, can be achieved with small forces.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Recently people have been a little down on Steemit and that is understandable.
The Steem price has slipped down and it is inevitably accompanied by some drama as people's spirits go down.
Many of us keep looking to the Steemit team to bring about change, momentum and higher prices.
That is also understandable but the fact is they can't do everything on their own.
There are lots of little opportunities that can help to make both Steem and Steemit stronger.
The good news is that these don't take much time or effort and if we all do a little it can make a big difference.
We may be a comparatively small force but we can achieve great things if we work together.
1) Welcome and Help New Users
"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War
What Sun Tzu was saying was that if you treat people well they will stand by you.
If Steemit is to succeed we need to not only attract new users but also retain those that are already here.
How?
Welcome New Users
A good place to start is by welcoming new users:
https://steemit.com/created/introduceyourself
Just spending 10-15 minutes welcoming and encouraging new users can make a big difference.
I try to do it every day.
Help If You Can, Signpost If You Can't
Also when you are in the chat take a quick look in the "help" and "general" channels.
New users often post queries here.
I've seen @pfunk trying heroically to help as many people as he can in these places but one person can't do it all!
Have a look and see if there is a simple query you can answer.
If not is there a more knowledgeable Steemian you can direct them too?
Either way it should only take you a minute or two to help.
Don't Forget to Resteem Content You Like Especially From New Users
Established social media like Facebook and Twitter live on people reblogging content.
Don't resteem everything but do share things you like especially if it is from users who are not established or well known.
It helps all of us.
Share, Share, Share! - Especially on Twitter
“Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single PICUL of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Instead of networking from scratch it would be wise to make use of what already exists - we can use the competitor's (enemy) resources to spread the word about Steemit.
Use the social media platforms that already exist to their maximum potential.
I believe the optimal way to do that is to use Twitter:
Why Twitter
Twitter doesn't shadow block content like Facebook.
If you post links on twitter all your followers can see them.
Although people seem to think Twitter is less important than Facebook I would argue that it actually has more influence where it counts.
In my experience many of the big influencers are a lot more accessible and easier to talk to there and they are a lot more likely to see your post too.
But I don't have a Twitter account!
Don't have a Twitter account?
Then make one.
It takes a few minutes at most - do it now in fact:
Maximise Your Profile
Make sure to add a profile picture and fill in some of your details (see below):
A lot of people ignore empty looking "egg" profiles as potential fake profiles - simply adding an image and some information will put you ahead of the pack and make a big difference to visibility.
Also you may as well put your Steemit blog as your website address whilst you are there:
https://steemit.com/@yoursteemitname/
It all helps.
Share Your Twitter Profile
You may also want to do the reverse by putting a little footer at the end of your Steemit posts with your twitter name or twitter profile link.
That way we can follow each other, retweet and like Steemit related posts.
This all helps to spread the message about Steemit by making content more visible.
Learn How To Optimise Your Tweets To Maximise Visibility
Twitter posts need to be a maximum of 140 characters.
You may find it helpful to use a URL shortener like Bitly (my personal favourite):
Making a free account also gives you some basic analytics for the tweets you share.
Make sure to use the @Steemit tag on your posts (that will make it visible to the Steemit twitter account).
Use hashtags (they are like steemit tags) to make your tweets easier to find e.g. #life etc - these make your tweets more easily searchable.
This PCMag article has some useful Twitter tips.
This Edudemic article is also quite useful.
Who To Follow?
It is entirely up to you but a good starting point is to follow the main Steemit account:
You can "mention" other accounts by using their @name just like on Steemit.
If you are making a Steemit related tweet make sure you mention @Steemit - if you are lucky the main Steemit account will retweet your post.
Steemit Follow Suggestions
Here are some other people you may know (including me):
@thecryptofiend: https://twitter.com/Soul_Eater_43
@hilarski: https://twitter.com/RandyHilarski - Randi and his wife Annabel run the Steemit social media:
@anahilarski: https://twitter.com/AnabellHilarski
@stellabelle: https://twitter.com/stellabelle
@ned: https://twitter.com/certainassets
@kadavy: https://twitter.com/kadavy
Add your own suggestions and your own twitter link in the comments.
Retweet and Like Tweets
This is an important part of how Twitter works.
If you like something share your appreciation by clicking the heart symbol (a like) and share the post by retweeting.
Just like on Steemit this will help you to network with and find new followers.
You help someone else and they are likely to help you.
It grows your potential audience and hence it grows the audience for the Steemit links you share.
Conclusions
These are a some simple things we can all do to help grow Steemit.
Don't wait - start putting it into action as soon as you can.
Each little action creates a small ripple but put them together and we can create a tsunami of action.
Thank you for reading
If you like my work please follow me on Steemit: @thecryptofiend & on Twitter : Soul_Eater_43. Don't forget to share your posts and posts you like on other Social Media - it all helps spread the word about Steemit!
Screenshots are my own and uncredited images are taken from my personal Thinkstock Photography account. More information can be provided on request.
Before you go have you filled in the Coinbase form to list STEEM? It only takes a few seconds. THIS POST shows you how.
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