Hi Steemians,

I love Steemit! I really do! Is there a reason I shouldn't be loving Steemit? If you are here for long enough and have put some effort in knowing how it works and how it creates an unprecedented economy, you probably love Steemit too. Don't you?

If there's a person who loves Steemians and cares a lot about each one of them, it is @surpassinggoogle. You know him. I know him. Everybody knows him. If you don't know him yet, you are either new to Steemit or a bit unlucky. This post is a contribution to his amazing #untalented contest but it's not just an entry into a contest. This post brings out my true feelings of gratitude for being here.

What Has Steemit Come to Mean to Me?

I joined Steemit in June, 2017 so I am sticking around for more than five months now (thankfully). It was my third day when one of posts earned $200+ in rewards. Two days later, another post earned $180+ in rewards. I was totally hooked. Why wouldn't I!

Here's the video explaining what Steemit has come to mean to me. Read further for the written post.

A Blogger Who Earned Nothing!

Yes, that's what I was. I started blogging in July 2016. Well, I had created free Blogspot/WordPress blogs before that but a proper domain name blog with hosting services is what I started in 2016. It took money to start the blog. Domain name and hosting cost money which is to be paid annually. 

I posted complete tutorial about Steemit in June and left the blog where it is. The post went viral and majority of Pakistani Steemians came to Steemit via this post.

Despite investing money, time, effort, energy and a lot of brain, I didn't earn anything (yes, not a single penny!) from my blog. It speaks of the difficulty with which the normal internet users/bloggers are faced. I had a plan to gain traffic and then deploy some monetization method, most probably Google AdSense, and earn some money.

That didn't happen. What happened was that I discovered how complex it is for one person to be so many things. Here's what a one man blog requires you to be.

• Content Creator
• SEO Specialist
• Social Media Expert
• Marketing Guru
• Necessary WordPress Knowledge
• Know-How of Plugin/Theme tweaks
• Email Marketer

And so much more. It is not easy to be a blogger on your own; especially when there is a job to attend and intellectual pursuits to be pursued. Summary is, I spent money twice in two years to keep my domain name and hosting services but I didn't earn a single penny from blogging.

But I Did Learn How to Blog!

And that's why my first week on Steemit earned me near $500 as post rewards. All that knowledge came in very handy and I created posts with utmost value using my blogging skills. It really paid off. The $106 I have since invested on my personal blog (www.ilyastarar.com) have been earned on Steemit. It made me believe that no amount of hard work is ever wasted!

The screenshot below was taken before the finalization of payouts and shows slightly more amounts than ultimately paid. But you get the idea. These posts are within week one of my Steemit experience!

I was pleasantly surprised and deeply motivated to go big on Steemit!

Enter Steemit!

Blogging helped me earn money only when I joined Steemit. The image above tells a lot about my initial experience with Steemit and how great it was. Steemit changed my online behavior forever. It changed how I saw internet, blogging and social media.

Steemit means a world to me. Steemit earned me my first online dollar! I cannot explain how long it took to earn that first dollar. But I cannot explain how easy Steemit made it for me! Thank you @ned, @steemitblog, @dantheman and all the witnesses for keeping this platform running!

What Steemit Brings Out of Me!

I read a lot so I usually have a lot to share. And I share it. And I do that right here on Steemit! That's an incredible part of my Steemit experience. Being able to share what I learn with willing Steemians. For example, I read The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason and shared the important financial knowledge in form a story based on the book right here on Steemit. The link to that post is given below.

Read:  The Secrets to Becoming Rich from The Richest Man in Babylon

I love learning and then sharing what I learn. It worked perfectly well when I joined Steemit and learned how it worked. I started going deep into the platform to uncover its truths and then share that information with fellow Steemians. I love Steemit for bringing out that teacher in me. For example, in the initial weeks, I learned a lot about Steemit reward system and then created a thoroughly detailed post about it. Sheer number of comments is a proof enough how Steemians loved it. I am leaving the link below as well.

Read:  The Mystery of Steemit Rewards Solved Even for a 9 Year Old. See What You Actually Get from Steemit!!!

Another aspect of Steemit meaning a world to me is that it encourages me to be human, to share my story and to read about others' lives. Human being remaining human and sharing personal stories is such a great thing about Steemit. For example, I shared this story of how I broke my leg twice but still kept playing football. Then from the day to day life, I shared how we arranged a musical night at our place.

There's so much more to share. I keep an eye on Steem's price and repeatedly share opportunities to buy Steem at cheap rates. Many people have thanked me for that.

Yes, I Earned from Steemit!

Just go to my wallet and see for yourself. The beauty of Steem blockchain is that you can see what everyone is doing. The wallet, the followers, the reputation score. Everything tells a lot about Steemians.

Thanking Terry (@surpassinggoogle)

Thank you very much, our boy Terry! You are a true human being who wants everyone to win. You bring out the best in us and encourage us to be human. Flaws are allowed and #untalented people also win. Thank you for creating this not-so-much-of-a-contest. It made me bring out that good blogger and content creator in me. 

I hope Steemians love this post and share it everywhere on the internet so that other people could see what Steemit really means to us!

Note:- Feel free to vote Terry for witness. His witness account is @steemgigs.