5 New User Questions I'm Too Embarrassed to Ask, but Asking Anyways
Hey, ya'll! Hope you're well? If you follow me, you probably know I'm new. As a professional writer and content creator, it's nice to be able to write on Steemit without worrying about my client's strict guidelines. So, I'm loving this platform!
Anyways, I'm all sorts of confused. It's pretty embarrassing, but I'm going to ask you guys some questions.
This is me-totally confused and seeking help.
Question # 1
I've shared a few posts, had some votes, and gained some followers. How do I get more votes/more followers? Just keep sharing???
Question # 2
What is the dollar amount under each of my posts? Is that amount in actual USD....I thought I was earing Steem tokens? You see, I'm totally confused. Help!
Question # 3
I noticed the amount earned under one of my posts has decreased overnight. How and why did that happen?
Question # 4
How and when do I "cash" out? Or, do I exchange the USD amount to Steem tokens or something else?
Question # 5
Does voting up a comment/reply help me or hurt me?
Ok, that's enough embarrassement for one post. I hope you get answers and would appreciate any tips you can offer!
I'm no expert, but I can help with a couple of these.
Can't help too much here.
The dollar amount is the amount of your payout in USD. The post doesn't actually pay out in dollars, it pays some in Steem, some in Steem Power, and some in Steem backed Dollars. It's actually 3 different things. Steem and Steem Dollars (SBD) are liquid, but Steem Power takes a while to withdraw (Power Down) into Steem.
As far as I can tell, the payouts are weighted system wide. The amount at the bottom reflects how much you can expect to earn, probably. Also, if someone down votes your post it will go down, especially if it's a whale account.
You have to sell the Steem or SBD for another currency. The easiest way to do this is to send the tokens to an exchange, like Poloniex or Bitrex and sell them for Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ether. Then, send your Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ether to Coinbase and sell for USD$$. There are also some Visa cards that allow you to load different coins and spend wherever they take Visa, but I don't have one, so can't vouch.
Voting on a comment pays the commentor. If you vote your own comment, you pay yourself. You can only do this so many times a day, though. (I think)
Good Steeming!
I appreciate your help!
So, why would someone downvote my post? What is a whale account?
Everything else makes sense. Would it be ok if I follow you? Definitely hoping for a follow back, as well? ;)
No problem. Anyone can downvote any post, so sometimes it happens. Sometimes people don't like what you have to say. Not often, though.
A Whale is an account with a whole lot of Steem Power. The more Steem Power you have, the more weight your vote has, and the more it pays when you upvote.
You can sure follow me! I've followed you.
That makes sense. Thanks again for your help. I am following ya!
Here's a guide I put together with a collection of helpful links and tools. It has some of those answers and also some useful tools.
Yes, keep posting, commenting, upvoting and resteeming other people's posts.
From what I've heard, it's both dollars and steem-based dollars (sbd) in a way. There's a peg between a dollar and steem or SBD, I can't remember which.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@penguinpablo/here-s-why-your-potential-payouts-are-going-down
See the guide on that too.
When you upvote, you'll end up making a share of what that post or comment makes. It's most often quite small and paid in steem power. The more you upvote, the less your vote will be worth. Your voting power does recharge, though it takes awhile.
answer #1
comment other other posts and make friends here. That will get you a following faster than anything. Also just keep posting consistently and quality.
answer #2
it is an estimated USD reward and will change as the value of steem changes and the pool of steem is re allocated to most valuable posts and comments
answer #3
It is decreasing because it is an estimation of the portion of the pool you will get from the upvotes on your post. It's quite complicated actually. For now just assume it will decrease roughly 30% from the highest number you see.
answer #4
Rewards are given 7 days after your post/comment and are split between SBD and steem power. If you are looking to make money here it is more wise to take everything you get and convert to steem power so your votes are worth more. Plus I believe the value of steem will increase and once you have a lot of steem power you can take some out a little at a time over time to have a steady income while maintaining a good chunk of steem power
answer #5
voting up anything helps you and helps others. You only can vote up so many times though because your voting power will not replenish fast enough after 10 votes a day while your steem power is low eventually you'll run your power dry and it will be worth nothing. So if you can pick your top 10 to vote per day and you will be fine. Once you have enough steem power you can adjust how much your vote is worth essentially giving yourself the ability to vote more by decreasing the percentage of power 1 vote takes.
Any other questions?
Thank you so much! So, when and how do I convert to steem power? If you don't mind me asking....
Following you!
go to your wallet, once you have rewards it will be at the top in green with a button to "Claim Rewards". Once you have claimed them, some will be steem power already. To convert to steempower you need to "power up" steem. You can do that by clicking the down arrow next to your steem and selecting power up. If you have steem dollars (SBD) you want to convert to steem (and then power up) you can trade on the market here or convert to steem which takes 3.5 days. I'm glad to help, thank you for following and good luck! If you have any more questions feel free to ask by commenting on my posts or here.
Great info. Thank you!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@shenanigator/the-ultimate-guide-to-steemit-money
this article covers everything
Thank you for sharing this! I'll read over it in a bit.
Tried to follow your instructions....nothing in my Steem, but I do have a little (seriously, it's a little. like-barely nothing a little lol) in my steem dollars. Do I need to move them somewhere?
Welcome... I'm a writer too and I'll share what I've learned. As far as getting followers goes, just keep posting good content and be patient. The followers will come! I just posted an article about people begging for followers (it just pisses people off).
At first I was making around $0.45- $2.50 a post. I just kept writing and as my posting increased, I picked up followers. It took about 3 months before I hit a $25.00 post. Don't worry about it, just have fun writing... the rest will take care of itself.
Another suggestion, become a part of the community. Read other people's posts and comment on them. When I first started and saw posts by people in trouble- I donated (even though it was usually half of what I had). Don't worry about the money- worry about the content.
SBD are tied to USD. Right now, 1 SBD is about $1.75 USD. What you see under your post is in USD. You get paid in SBD. Don't worry right now, just concentrate on letting it accumulate. Your post amount will go up and down with the price of Steem (SBD).
Have fun and enjoy the ride... You just got another follower!
Thank you for the advice. I'm definitely checking out your posts-especially the one about begging for followers. I don't want it to seem like I'm begging, that's for sure.
Wow. Thanks for the subtle, yet effective inspiration there.
No such thing as a dumb question on this alien planet we've set foot on! There wasn't much guidance when I got on nearly a year ago, but now there's some pretty good documentation. When I'm making ^ that face, I do a Google search like "Steemit [whatever my question is] - sometimes that helps... but sometimes it's old info.
Then I remember that there's this resource page: https://steemit.com/welcome
In a nutshell, produce content you love - one every day if you can. Share it on Steam Chat and in FB groups for Steemit users. Don't beg for votes or follows. Make meaningful comments on others' posts. There may be other ways to get followers, but I don't know of any legit shortcuts.
It's really exciting when a post 'hits' and earns money - but sometimes even great posts make practically nothing. That's okay - it's just part of the deal. But other times, you'll earn a little (or a lot). Then you need to make decisions about whether you'll let the rewards ride on Steemit (powering up - SteemPower) or take it out (I have not done so successfully yet, but understand Bittrex may be better than Poloniex). The more SteemPower you have, the higher the rewards you can give.
Your SteemPower is not inexhaustible. The best explanation I've seen on this is:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@scrooger/voting-power-101-how-to-vote-when-to-vote-when-to-stop-simple-and-easy-explanation#@scrooger/re-steemitpatina-re-scrooger-voting-power-101-how-to-vote-when-to-vote-when-to-stop-simple-and-easy-explanation-20170622t171832249z
Hope that little crash course is helpful!
Alien plant?! Definitely!!!
Thank you for this info. I'll definitely check out Steem Chat....and I did send a request to join a group on FB. Great tips!
Great questions, and great answers! Thanks!
I'm new too. But here is what I intend to do for the next few days all the way to 3 months (hopefully less)
Just some thoughts.