Worth the capital

I wish people don't get their hopes up too much when they first join Steem. Keep their head down and do their daily practice on Steem. Day in and day out. Plus we should not be afraid to use the word "Investing" when talking about Steem because it's just about the only reliable way to grow the account (provided the price doesn't drop).
@organduo

This is a comment from today and the only part I disagree with is the bracket, as on Steem the account can grow regardless of price. The value of the account might not however.

I think many people who have found Steem on the past have bought into the "get paid" part, expecting that nothing need be done in order to receive. Maybe I am just old, but don't be know phrases like, there is no such thing as a free lunch anymore?

Like any system, there are energy inputs and outputs, and unlike an engine, not all things have a near immediate feedback loop. When it comes to building the digital social capital needed to earn online, that takes inputs in and plenty of work before any return is seen at all.

No one (other than perhaps celebrities) will start earning on Instagram from their first post, most not from their first hundreds of posts - not until they have built their network of followers (fake as they may be) and shipped themselves around all over the place. Self promotion is a thing, some even have their own agents.

How come people so often expect that earning on Steem is guaranteed regardless of one's ability to produce content, attract an audience and deliver consistently?

Perhaps it is the second part of the comment, the investment component, that trips people up. How long do people expect return on their investments, whether it is time or money?

Investing time into Steem has the benefit of no upfront capital needs, but it does require building that social capital which in itself, takes skill, perseverance and more time. Producing content has to be coupled with building network.

However, investing money into Steem Power will see an immediate (immediate in interest, 7 day for curation) return for the input, one that is relative to the stake percentage. Depending on curation methods, this can be around 20 percent or more a year. Add some posts and additional effort into the mix and this can be a great deal more.

But if looking from a purely investment standpoint of butting some tokens and waiting to sell at a higher price, nothing is certain. But, this is the case for any investment into a startup as most do fail to realize a profit and some take many years to give a return to investors. Not only that, once invested that money is locked up and unavailable to be used for anything else.

This brings us back to the benefits of Steem of course, where the investment is in, but can also actively be used to cost average the purchase price downward by earning more, increase the value by supporting entire network and market growth as well as attract and provide attention to development that one believes increases the chances of a successful and profitable future.

Vidas (@organduo) mentioned reliability of growth through direct investing, something that is relatively steady if considering Steem token growth, not fiat value equivalent. Reliability is something that Steem can provide regarding Steem growth as the code, inflation rate of the pool and the stake drawing is always visible. Reliability is part of the reason people love Bitcoin, as they know there will only be 21 million coins. Stability of social behavior on Steem is a bit more volatile, and lots of people spend time and effort on the drama and FUD rather than the underlying protocol.

The other thing that people spend time on is the inflation pool itself without recognizing that there isn't an inflation pool... There are many inflation pools - and the number is growing. Steem Engine tokens and SMTs can all have their own pools that all have independent values and behaviors attached to them.

This is the future, not fighting over the Steem pool and as I see it, STEEM is going to be the real stable coin, not necessarily in price, but in actually keeping the blockchain functioning and available. Most of the other tokens will be end user enablement supports that reward whatever actions they are designed for.

While I am not a traditional investor, those I know are not day traders skimming small percentage profits often, they are long term planners who choose companies they think are going to bring value to the world in some way that will translate into returns on their inputs. Day trading is not for the feint of heart.

Like anything of value in this world we live, things take time to develop and they are usually scarce and hard to come by. If something is easy to get, it isn't likely to be seen as valuable because anyone can get it. Steem is kind of like getting a good friend, the relationship takes time to build and requires surviving some ups and downs to create a strong bond. In life, how many good friends do we have the energy and availability to have?

I think herein lays one of the key reasons people are unwilling to invest into Steem and that is, many people and especially the young these days are scared of commitment. Many prefer to get a bit of strange Tinder strange on the exchanges as they can remain anonymous, and never have to introduce them to their good friends.

Direct investor or content creator, value takes time to build and perhaps on a social network when one is looking for return, the question should be asked, How much is my social capital worth? They say to, make your money work for you, but...

Are you working for you?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]