Steem earnings, Flipping burgers and Medium shillers

I once wrote a piece some two years ago I'd say about what types of weekly average earnings I would need to keep writing. It was more of a thought experiment where I looked at how much work is put in, the value earned and whether I would get more from working and buying Steem instead. I didn't know much about the platform at the time but I still think that way in certain respects.

I know that back then, I wasn't earning nearly enough to cover an hourly wage at the worst paying job in Finland but, I also knew I didn't have to do the worst paying job, I got to write. On top of that, I was writing between 10pm and 6am as I intermittently cared for my sick daughter and wife. Even the worst paying job in Finland can't be done under these conditions. Well, it was a lot of work and paid nothing so perhaps it was the worst paid job in Finland.

Some people of course expect to get paid an adequate amount for their work put in on Steem as if it is a position with a contract and dental care. They say that they could work in a fast food joint for more and buy more Steem than they can get from earning. This is very likely true for 99.9 percent of the accounts on Steem today. So, why don't they?

It is a funny little contradiction as some people complain about not earning enough Steem yet if they were working, they wouldn't risk their own money on buying some Steem.

Umm, I thought you wanted Steem? - Oh, you actually wanted fiat.

The thing with people who say nonsense like working in a burger joint for Steem buying money is, most are not going to and, even if they did, they wouldn't buy Steem with it anyway because, they actually want that sweet, sweet, fiat they crave.

Those who want Steem of course can do the math themselves and this is why many people in the last few months have bought into Steem when it was low because they recognized that not only is there the chance that Steem will go up, the amounts they can get by buying with fiat is going to reduce their workload incredibly over trying to earn it out of the inflation pool through posting, commenting and interaction. The smart ones of course keep interacting to bring down their buy average with every Steem they earn.

For me, I don't have time to work at a burger joint for Steem and I am currently busy working trying to get my debts down. I have managed to buy some Steem along the way though. Lucky me? Meh, I work hard for my fiat and if I want to turn it into a useless cryptocurrency that Steem earners are willing to sell for cheap, that is my business. I work hard for my Steem too.

If I did work at a burger place or the worst paying job in Finland, I would work hard at that also because, I see value in working hard no matter what the value returned to me might be. And if I must have a job to live my life, I will treat that job as if my life depended on it, because it would. On Steem people talk about their economic needs and how their life depends on getting Steem but, are they working as if that is true? Are they working in the "real world" as if that is true? What kind of work will one do to save ones own life?

I don't know about you, but I have been in various forms of economic hardship throughout my life and the only thing that has kept my head above water is the work I have done, not the expectation I should be saved by a government, my family or a crypto platform that I believe promises income. If I was struggling to the point of 'life depends on it' I would not be on Steem for money, I would be getting a real job flipping those burgers or stacking those shelves - whatever it would take.

If Steem was my only option to earn a living, I would be the goddam best model Steem citizen on this platform and there would be no way in hell I wouldn't know how the mechanics worked. If my life depended on something, I wouldn't be assuming and I wouldn't be leaving anything up to chance unless I had no other choice in the matter.

Luckily for me, I live a luxurious life where I get to work 250+ hours a month because to get my debts down to where they have crept through life's luck, it is going to take time. I write for Steem on top of those hours because I see potential in so many ways by holding Steem and Steem Power. Both are currencies on steem, Steem Power is vests that buys access to a proportional amount of the pool.

It is interesting when people complain about the way earning works here yet when having a look at their content, they seem to have no idea about how supply and demand works nor what is interesting at all to the people that they are expecting to grace their posts with a vote. I am unsure if they would be capable of flipping burgers.

I used to work at McDonald's when I was at university. It paid my tuition and allowed me to get a loan on a house that was slowly getting paid off. Other people went out drinking and buying weed with their fast-food money. Choices. I lost the house however as it was sold to relocate my mother and pay for some of her care as she died of cancer. Life happens - as does death.

When it has come to economic luck, I haven't been blessed with fortune especially due to my health but, my plan is that my daughter who already looks like she might have some future complications arise, need not suffer the same fate of parents who did very little for her economic well-being. It isn't likely a good long-term plan for my health but, cancer or getting hit by buses aren't either. While I can't prevent cancer or accidents, I can prepare for not being in a shit position in life, bitter and complaining about how a crypto platform doesn't pay me enough for my work.

Most content on Steem is likely over-rewarded based on what it is but going back to the medium comparison, when I just went to the front page I found this featured story:

It was posted 8 days ago, is a 21 minute read , has 1.2k "claps" and a massive TEN COMMENTS.

Maybe it was TL:DR? What about this one?

FIVE COMMENTS

lol. People complain about engagement on Steem.

That is an award winning freelance journalist supposedly and, the senior editor of Medium Tech. Those two people do write for a living and are probably pretty knowledgeable and good enough at it to survive doing it. They also probably earn more than what you get on Steem, so rather than flip burgers you can try your writing hand on Medium to earn there.

Patreon is another place where followers actually pay content creators kind of directly. Have you given it a go if your life depends on posting on the internet for a living? I hope so because I know some people who earn quite okay there. They are experts at what they do though and have also learned how to build and maintain a following. It has taken them years.

There are many options out there on the internet to earn from so, why is it so important to get earnings from the Steem pool?

Well, there is likely not many places online where it is as easy to earn something as most require a professional approach with relevant and adequate skills in both what is created and self-marketing and, many months, if not years to build a large enough audience to be able to monetize it. And as we can see from all of that Medium engagement, it might be a pretty lonely world out there.

Perhaps people need to read this highly engaging post on Medium to break their funk:

EIGHT COMMENTS

But as they say, if you can help one person....

Oh, I can't look at the comments because I am not going to sign up for that shit, and the only way to read the comments is to have an account there. Again... lol.

This is going to be the difference on Steem in the future and why I think it is a much more lucrative platform than at least most of the others out there. While medium and the like might have the polished content, no one gives a crap about who anyone is, they are all just products to be consumed. On Steem, there are real people and real people engaging and I would probably go out on a limb and say that Steem has paid out more to users than Medium has over the life time.

Here is an article from Medium I will link however if you want to read:

The first paragraph:

And... you fucking clueless TOOL.

_source

TWELVE COMMENTS

If anyone has an account there, maybe they want to comment a link to STEEM.

I am pretty hungry.... Working at a burger joint sounds pretty good right about now.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]