Steemit, Us, and the Maker Movement

So bit more on our start on Etsy….

Silly as it sounds to write that statement, as designers we were already very interested in the way small-scale creators engage the bigger market. From our years of education and experience in the architecture world, our work lacked the direct impact of sharing know-how and making an immediate difference in individual lives. Writing on our experiences through Steemit has 2 main goals:

1- Outline the process we're taking to get our product in the world: designing, producing, advertising, collaborating, monetizing, etc. in order to motivate others if they are interested in creating as well.

2- Build a more accessible culture towards plant knowledge, landscape design, and general techniques for maintaining a healthy and vibrant urban lifestyle.

In a time where environmental involvement is a top concern, there seems to less and less room and time for younger generations to come into contact with nature. More and more of us are moving to big dense cities, working in offices or co-working spaces, and spending our hours in the urban fabric. We want to share our ongoing story in Brooklyn and how we opened up little ways, spaces, and opportunities to improve our lives with some tabletop and porch gardening.

Steemit and the Maker's Economy

Partially through our initial phases of Etsy, a close friend of ours @lgm-1 introduced us to Steemit. What attracted us instantly was how the system potentially rewarded content over trending popularity. With platforms like Etsy, which essentially builds off of the Yelp model in up-voting higher ranked items, creative professionals had to rely heavily on social media and physical advertising to reach the critical threshold of being acknowledged and visible. This means a tremendous amount of effort put into a Facebook page, Instagram account, Twitter feed, local posters, and so on, all of which may result in nothing but likes and subscriptions from family and friends. Instead, we're hoping that sharing an holistic experience will encourage the community to engage. And by committing to produce valuable content, it will improve our practice and productivity.

• Source: shareable + steemit logo

From an initial exploration of the Steemit community, we are already seeing signs of how decentralized models of production allows for uninhibited exchange. For example, @penguinpablo shows us how the wonderful pastime of origami making can be accessed and learned. As a creative skill that does not necessarily have an established “finished product” market, creating tutorials and showing a process generates a new social and monetary value. @katecloud expands that notion into many creative disciplines through her “Progression” works of poetry, drawing, and other custom commissions. The community-based monetization encourages these makers and doers to provide meaningful content without the challenge of sustainability and without the need to skew their skillset to be marketable. This platform seems to invigorate pure creativity and energy.

• Sources of Images: Left- @penguinpablo Right- @katecloud

All in all, this seems very productive for those involved in creative and lifestyle markets, providing immediate feedback and reward for every step in the maker's process. Why just worry about selling a finished painting? Show us how you prime your canvas, how much to invest in paints, how you sketch out compositions, where you seek out inspiration! These are all valuable resources that were previously not supported by other social media platforms. More articles on these opportunities in theory and practice to come.

Sharing a Journey

*Picture of composting work

• Getting our hands dirty so you don't have to!

So this is beginning of our journey! A journey on Etsy, a journey to build some form of business, a journey to share ourselves on Steemit. From now, we'll try to write on every part of what we go through: how we're setting up our business, budgetization, designing a logo, choosing materials, sourcing a font, dealing with trademarks and copywriting, registering a company, building a local community and market, organizing promotional events, engaging with neighborhood stores, setting up a rooftop garden, planting tips and general stories around our greenery, pitching to investors and distributors, building consumer trust, establishing other monetization strategies, hotspots for social gatherings, New York design lectures and events... everything!

• Preparing our publicity

Again, this is our first time doing this so we'll be clearly going through all our small victories and failures. With any content and any post, please feel free to engage, add tips or criticisms, and through any idea you have at us. We want to be able to provide any valuable content we can. Thank you Steemit community!

Follow us and our journey @beafyleaf