What do you want first? The good news or the bad news? An update
Heya steem,
You're probably wondering why I titled this post the way I did. If you aren't, I'm still gonna tell ya.
If you did not know, I have been very lucky to have been living off of my steem earnings since the end of june. My post rewards allowed me to go on a walkabout I really needed, and have allowed me to get this phone I am writing this essay on. Things were so good, that I even wrote an essay called steemit saved me from a fast food job, it was about the job I turned down. During that first two weeks, I was riding high, and during my walkabout I couldn't wait to get home and continue to grow... little did I know that when I got home I had traded my own personal peace for the momentum I had built.
I went from getting a nice 1,000$ a week or around 90$ a post to 10$ a post. Before I proceed, I want to point out something I am totally aware of: I am lucky to have gotten what I did, especially as a new steemian! Most content creators here make a fraction of what I did in a week in a couple months!
That being said, it's been hard coming to terms with my own loss of momentum. And even though I've gained a lot of followers, only about 20/350 actually vote for me. And about 200 or so are what qualify as dead followers.
I can only paint so much in a given day, or write so many long form essays. Not even taking into account the fact that it costs more to get the materials for my paintings than what I actually earn from them. Thus I simply cannot compete with large volume content creators let alone survive on the payouts I am getting. It's just a simple fact, my time investment is not paying off in the way it was, and I need to support myself.
That is why I want to share some bitter-sweet news: On Monday, I managed to get a #job as a waitress in one of the 'nicest' restaurants in town. It's an improvement to the fast food job, but it's nothing like the creative filled joy ride that steem was.
At this point this post sounds like a goodbye, it isn't, it just means I won't be able to post as much, and that I won't be able to be as social as I had hoped with my friends on @fyrstikken's, #steemspeak, @ausbitbank's #PAL network, and @officialfuzzy's #whaleshares discord
If conditions improve again, I will re-weigh my options. But until then, I'm going to be the best waitress I can be!
As always lots of love and many toodles,
See you all next time!
Kara
@synesthesia, it is a smart decision on your side to get a steady source of income (even if the job is not super exciting) to get you by. Still, look at all the perks you got during your short time here on Steemit! Like you said, you did (and still do) better than the big majority of authors here, and I am sure that with a bit of time and patience you can get back to the level you were and even continue growing further.
By the way, it's not only you that is in this situation: Steemit seems to be in a bit of a slump for the past few weeks. Many of us have experienced a considerable reduction on the rewards we have been getting for our posts (I am also getting only a few bucks now on the kind of posts that earned well before). I think it is partly because of the uncertainty in the crypto market at the moment.
Just hang in there! And good luck :-)
Excellent post. thanks for share
A sound decision. Multiple streams of income is a more effective option.
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by kara.avery from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, and someguy123. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you like what we're doing please upvote this comment so we can continue to build the community account that's supporting all members.
Sorry to hear that - for something as volatile as steemit it's difficult to get consistent earnings. From what I've heard earnings in general have gone down over the last few weeks.
Sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do to pay the bills. Eating and having a place to sleep are kind of important.