Two notes of interest for context here, before I proceed :
# 1 I just had a long FB chat session with one my oldest friends from high school (Class of 1986) about a lot of his work "wreaking of clickbait". Many of us are a bit guilty of this *a little* I suppose... we perhaps always will be, and where that thin line between "optimization" vs "clickbait" actually lies, is pretty subjective probably.
This elusive imaginary "line" I'm mentioning will likely always be changing its location as well, and probably varies from platform to platform. I.E., what works well on YouTube, for example, might have different effects - positively or negatively - when tried on Facebook, Reddit, or here on Steemit. And that's largely because the average intelligence level is (currently) much higher here (on Steemit) than on some other platforms.
(The actual chat session *itself* would make a great article here... and yes I totally get the irony and perhaps even the wee bit of hypocrisy inherent in me even saying that, ha!)
#2 Steemit "whale" Barry Cooper posted a great article about whales and the Steemit system(as it currently stands - 08/21/2016) with some ideas about possible changes on this platform that would help out new and/or unknown authors here get better known, earn larger followings, AND MAKE MORE MONEY ultimately. Cooper argues for these changes, even tho it would be at his own financial expense, as he benefits from the system more as it stands today, than if his proposed changes were actually implemented. The article is obviously a great example of putting the well being of everyone above one's own interest, in the interest of fairness.
In about 24 hours, his article has 248 votes, and 99 comments. Like I said, he's a whale.
I decided to comment also. But I'm pretty wordy (seriously, I do well to state my name in twenty-five words or less sometimes!) and I realized what I said would actually be a decent article for me to post here (that of course is for you, the Steemit community, to judge however).
And of course, possibly earn me some cyber-coin in the long run as well.
So here it is. Oh wait there's a
#3 I've posted the two paragraphs below in reverse order of how I actually commented - and even broken then up a bit more - as my second paragraph (in my original comment yesterday, it's first below) is actually the more relevant point of this post.
So here it is, me, for the record. And I hope this helps others decide to stick with Steemit, even if you find yourself somewhat discouraged - especially if you're new here, like I am.
"Since it's "possible" I do hope to make money here, but monetization is NOT what brought me to Steemit. That's like buying vitamins for the MLM program attached to them.
"I'm here largely because Steemit gives the world (and me) a completely free blog/website that comes without ads - what a gift to a "starving artist"! All of my past internet work is on sites built with Front Page and I need a solution now! (FYI Addendum : Front Page is no longer supported by Microsoft, so ALL Front Page sites will eventually one day disappear from the internet).
"I'm slowly ditching GoDaddy, pointing some domain names to my posts here (including my rinky-dink podcast and self-published book of poetry from high school) and I'm happy Steemit even exists so I don't have to pay hosting. I'm pretty sure I'll make money from my posts, in due time (and I'm of course investing some time learning how to "optimize my pages" for Steemit) but my point - finally! - is that this is such a perfect platform that even if the financial payout side goes bust, I'd still be an active user because I want, need, and love what it offers."
(Geez Louise, am I a brown-noser or what? And my second paragraph)
"I'm still very new here (day 3) but researching (trying not to get in trouble, more than how to get votes!), and first off Thanks Barry for being a big guy looking out for the new folks. I've read most of the comments on this page just to learn. And my feel so far is that this community is proving itself to be very self-correcting... Content is King, and cream rises - the rule online used to be "Don't write to/for search engines.. Yes "optimize" but write mainly for people and you will succeed" and imho that will happen here - so long as the platform allows these discussions to happen anyways. It's like the two-year rule built into the money aspects from the start up - slow growth, done right, will ensure survival and thriving. Even the fiction writer you replied to below Barry, should hang around, imho. When this thing hits 5 million users, he'll be doing okay too as the topics people look for on this site will diversify."
So that's me, for the record.
And as the professional bloggers who earn a living from blogging always say: "Let me know what you think in the comments below..."
Ummm, if there ever are any, haha.
But as the Steemers now say, "Please upvote this article if you like it! And follow me too."
-g-
PS #4 If I were mostly concerned about making money, I think I'd actually go back and make the title or headline above more "click-baity" by reading - or at least including the words - "Making Money on STEEMIT" *. I hope the fact that I'm actually aware of this, and choose not to as an artist/author gets me some street cred here! Financial incentive is just a better word choice, imho.
"At Smith-Barney, they make money the old-fashioned way... They Earn It".
Image credit 1979 Smith-Barney commercial on YouTube