How To Survive The Steemit Wars

Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses described the song “How I Survived The Punk Wars,” written by Ginger Wildheart, as the “most real punk rock song in a long, long time.”

I’m going to use this song as inspiration, by using the song lyrics as my subheadings.

Before I continue, I will state that I am not a Steemit expert and this is not a post about how to make your fortune on Steemit. It is about becoming a better blogger rather than a bigger blogger. It is about how to enjoy Steemit whilst progressing yourself and providing good quality content for yourself and others.

I did read a blog in November. The author gave lots of hard hitting advice about how to be successful on Steemit. At the time, I thought it was a good blog. Now I think that it is a one way ticket to the Steemit early grave. That’s not to say that I learned nothing from the blog. It is just that now I realise that Steemit should be fun, rather than about the bangers and mash.

Ok, I’ve also decided to use some English slang, because I feel like it. I've also used some random pictures from the summer because they're nice. If you don’t like it, pass me the Steemit rulebook.

Plymouth Hoe, Devon, UK

“.......what do I do, if I haven't got fans?"

To which I reply: "Well you've still got to work hard, and get off your backside"

If you are going to get people interested in your work, you need fans. Don’t confuse fans for followers. The purpose of following people is you can have a news feed of your favourite bloggers. Therefore, don’t follow anyone whose work you have absolutely no interest in. There’s no point. You'll ruin your newsfeed and the experience becomes like F***book. You’ll have to trawl through the cats and kittens before you see anything of interest. When someone replies to your posts to say, “if you follow me, I’ll follow you,” it is time to run away. That is because that “blogger” already has 3,500 followers and is not going to see your work. What you really need is fans.

How do you get fans? I don’t have the answers, because I’m still new. There are some people that that look at my posts regularly and comment. Not lots, but it is growing slowly. You won’t get fans by posting poor quality content. If there is one thing that gets right up my nose, is some of the photography posts. Too many times I see a nice picture with no write up at all. Nothing. It would be nice for that photographer to write about the inspiration behind the picture. I would at least like to know where that beautiful place is.

It is good to comment on posts that you like, however this should require a bit of effort. It is no good just to write “good post” or “nice picture.” It would be better to comment about something in the article. It shows that you have read it and you get to communicate with like minded people on the platform. This can make your Steemit experience much more enriching.

Paignton, Devon, UK

“Better learn a little word, it's called integrity,

and it involves you listening to people like me.”

There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone earning $180 dollars for posting a Christmas Tree. Unless I’m missing something, there is nothing unique about a Christmas tree. Every Christian in the world has one. Likewise, I bet you have got away with earning a few quick dollars for a post that took minutes to put together. I have if I’m honest.

“Easy street,” is what you are thinking. “May as well just focus on the quickie blogs.”

But remember, that Joe Bloggs has got $180 for his Christmas tree picture because he built up his fan base. You got a few dollars for your quick lazy blog, because you got lucky. Will this continue? No; all you’ve just had is your 15 minutes of fame. Therefore, have some all round integrity on Steemit. Respect your work, respect others and respect quality.

Angio, Pangasinan, Philippines

“You know if a new tune is good or it's s***

so you want a good song? be prepared to re-write it.”

Proof read your blogs, read them back to yourself. Is it good? Does it work? Sometimes you need to rewrite a paragraph or rewrite the whole blog. I have written a blog that is still sitting there on Google Docs. I think it is ok, but not great. Sometimes you hit a brick wall. If it is not going well, leave it and come back to it at another time. Maybe one day, I will rewrite that post and share it on Steemit.

San Fabian, Pangasinan, Philippines

“DON'T play the music you DON'T want to play, regardless of what all the experts might say

and f*** all the experts, with all due respect
'cause no one's an expert on what's coming next”

I am not an expert. There is no point asking me what your next blog should be about. If I’m to look at it in terms of dollars, I have only had a handful of really successful blogs. They are possibly not my best blogs, but somehow I got interest. What these blogs do have in common, is that they were all a labour of love. I enjoyed writing them. They were not written to make money; but to serve the purpose for either myself or the audience. The lesson here is, write what you want to write about. There is no rule book with me, apart from respecting quality (....and swearing, I try not to swear).

Mangaldan, Pangasinan, Philippines

Before you spend a fortune on studio expense,

rehearsing the f*** out of your songs makes a lot of sense.

Is there anything to rehearse? Do you practice writing a blog? Maybe not. What you are doing is rehearsing for your next blog. You will get better at writing. My wife is from the Philippines and English is her second language. She is loving being on Steemit because it has improved her use of the language and the quality of her writing.

Dagupan, Pangasinan, Philippines

If you get fans who enjoy what you do, remember they're no bigger or smaller than you

so show them your gratitude, don't act the t**
work harder than any other band on the circuit

Remember at the beginning of this blog, I described how I read a post about how to be successful on Steemit. In that blog, the writer is trying to convince that you don’t really need to interact with your fans. I disagree. Steemit should be about writing and connecting. Don’t be a tit. If anyone has replied to your post with a decent comment, reply back. Even if it is to say thank you. Good manners cost nothing except a few seconds of your time.

Torquay, Devon, UK

Ok, I’m done now. Before I go, I’d better explain some English slang.

English English: That gets right up my nose
Proper English: That irritates me

English English: It’s not about the bangers and mash
Proper English: It’s not about the money (cash)

Further examples;

English English: You need to take the apple and pears
Proper English: You need to take the stairs

English English: How about a bit of how’s your father
Proper English: Shhhhhhh

I also mentioned about having a one way ticket to an early grave. A return ticket wouldn’t make any difference anyway.

Here is the video for “How I Survived The Punk Wars,” by Hey! Hello!
Written by Ginger Wildheart
Caution: Contains lots of asterisks.

Thank you for reading and I sincerely hope that you have been given a kick up the Steemit backside.

I N T E G R I T Y

All pictures taken by me on my Lenovo K5 Plus
July to September 2017