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It has been a while since I wrote a post that addressed the desires of new Steemains. This is one of those posts, however the contents of this post will still be educative for older Steemians who are still trying to find out how Steemit works

You probably were Introduced to this platform by an excitied Steemian who brought the Steemit gospel to you and after much persuasion you decided to sign up and find out how you could print money with plain text

It sounded like a fairy tale, but your friends credit alerts speak other wise and on getting here the tale seems a little bit false as you are not earning as much as you anticipated. You begin to wonder if your friend is one of the Steemit " Admins" and is being rewarded for his work while people like you are left to languish and help bring traffic

Well let me reassure you that Steemit pays, but just like any worthwhile endeavour in Life it is not a bed of roses. I am sorry if your dreams massive earnings has been dashed but it can actually become a reality if you work hard

There are some lessons you have to learn if you want to make head way on this platform. You can stop reading here if you want to hold on to your fairy tale, but if you like the hard truth then read on

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This is not "Spare Time" Work

In my opinion the only thing you can do on this platform in your spare time is curation and that requires you to Invest a significant amount of Money in Steem Power for it to work> If you are not going through that path and want to make money via blogging then you have to dedicate a good amount of hours to Steemit everyday

If you don't get it yet by now. Steemit is a business and as a CEO of your blog you have to dedicate ample time to it. Opening a business in real life involves hours of dedication, lots of thinking and strategy to make things work

It seems strange that when it comes to making money on the Internet people have a different mindset.They want quick and easy, not the long grind that actaully brings consistent sucess. The internet is an extention of the real world and not a world of it's own

Making money here is just as difficult as making it elsewhere, the only difference is that on Steemit you get the rewards of your actions faster and if you are a wise businessman you will know that it is better to delay the rewards and push it all to STEEM power than to withdraw all earnings

People still find it hard to believe when I tell them that I joined Steemit in January but did not withdraw my earnings till May.

And know that just like every other business, blogging On Steemit requires Capital. The Capital here in the Money you invest to purchase data for you online activities. And the competition is global so you have to up your game

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It goes Beyond Being Smart

We have all heard this story in the online world and this narrative has moved beyond the Internet and into the Blockchain, all the way from Bill Gates to Vitalik Buterin

> A whiz kid sees a huge Lacuna (gap) in the market that seems oblivious to others. He jumps on it works Night and Day and creates an amazing string of Code that can do wonders. Then introduces the code to the world and becomes crazily rich

There are three variables in this story and they are = Smart + Opportunity+Hardwork = Success

This story is very true in most cases, but there is a Important variable that is often left out from stories like this and that is Skill. And th skill you require in things like this depends on the opportunity that presents itself. And to birth something that is actually life chaging like this requires huge amount of skill

I am not a programmer but I know that someone new to Programming will not be able to build something as secure as the Etheruem Blockchain. This means you have to be very good at your skill and in the case of Steemit the most important skill you need is People Skills

I say People Skills because the fact that you are a good writer is enough for you to make it on Steemit. Money comes from upvotes and it is people who are behind accounts. Earning on Steemit is only possible if people hold your work in high esteem and you need people first for that to happen

You have to go through a lot of learning process for you to know how to relate how to relate with people on this platform. Just like any other social media platform, there is a certain psychology that rules on this platform and if you find out then you will excel

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It is About Flexibility Not Freedom

I know that at sometime we all have thought of the power of Steemit to give up freedom. We all want to get to that point where Steemit gives us the power to live life the way we want, travel the world and do a whole bunch of good things

We all want to remain in bed all day in our pajamas and earn enough Money to buy the World

Well we already have an illusion of that on this platform, but it is more than what meets the eye. For you to gain from this platform you have to be active on it. Steemit uses Proof of Work and not Proof of Wisdom, you will need to be active here to gain from here

Now you may argue that there are some Steemians who don't blog but earn well from Curation rewards. The truth is that those Steemains have other things they are working on that utilizes their time and Steemit is just a form of passive Income they have set up

Steemit is not about freedom. it is about flexiblity. The only difference from it and real life work is that you get to Choose your work hours and you can also work from anywhere and not a traditional office

ANd let me give you a piece of advice. The Blockchain is still yound, don't be among those people whose sole aim is to make Millions retire young to an island and enjoy Life. Find a place in this new dispensation and work to help it grow. People will remember your name and you will leave a good legacy for your unborn generation

In Conclusion

Steemit is not a scam or a fairly tale. You can earn on it, but you will have to work smartly and work diligently. Someone asked me yesterday why my posts don't earn much like before and I told him the simple answer. People

I have become so encumbered by my offline world that I have stopped engaging with people like before and when you don't water relationships they fizzle out over time. When I set up what I am working on, I will be back with full force

Steemit is Real, so go out there and engage

_____ > I don't typically ask for resteems,but I would be grateful If you help me resteem this post. A lot of People needs to see this. Thanks in Anticipation ______

Thanks For Reading

Image Source: Pexels.com

Follow @ogochukwu

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