After writing my last post with the title Why quality content is not always rewarded on Hive and the amazing feed-back it got, I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to share what I consider the best tips to be successful on Hive.
It's important here to clarify that what I understand by being successful is not to earn as much money as possible but to actually grow on the platform and being around as long as possible. Hive is a long term adventure and it's definitely not a get rich quick scheme. However, if you do it right, you can build something interesting here that in the long term can provide an interesting income for you. We could say that success can be measured in your longevity and your account size here on hive. Also if we follow these tips, life on hive will be better for most of us.
The tips that I provide here will allow you to grow your account and also broaden your experience. It's the key to build relationships that ultimately will make you want to spend more time and the platform and most importantly not give up!
On hive, the single aspect that matters most for your development is hive power. Without hive power you won't be able to get anywhere. The more hive power you have the better because with increasing hive power your vote value and your curation rewards increase. Your vote value is the single most important tool to build relationships. Without hive power it will be very difficult to build relations and it will be impossible to scale your income.
Tip 1: You need as much Hive Power as possible
You can create as much content as you want and its possible that nobody will even read it. You need to build relationships to bring life to your posts. The best way to build relationships is by commenting on other peoples post
Tip 2: Select a certain number of authors that have similar or slightly more hive power than you. Make sure that these people work to develop their hive power over time. Follow them and consistently read their post and give meaningful comments. Commenting without reading is a no go!
Tip 3: Dedicate a certain amount of time to building these relationships. If you spend 1 hour writing a post, spend 1 hour reading and commenting
It's not enough to build relations. We need to keep them alive. Some relations disappear and others come. This is normal but we should continue our efforts by reading and commenting our friends posts on a regular basis.
Tip 4: Care for your friends and read their content whenever possible. Use your upvotes on their content. You bring value to them and while they grow their hive power, they will also bring value to you!
Creating content can be tough. It's not always easy to come up with good content. Often, however, it's better to write nothing rather than something that has no value. Always ask yourself whether what you create can help somebody. If your content is not interesting, people will stop following you. It's important to be consistent but this doesn't mean that you have to write a post every single day. Keep the quality of your product as high as possible and make it more interesting by making it less abundant. Always remember that the people following you maybe can't be online every day and maybe they also don't want to comment your content every day...
Tip 5: Always try to create content that brings value to others. When you have nothing to write about, it can be better not to write at all.
If somebody takes the time to read your content and leaves a comment below your post, you owe him at least an answer. If you don't answer the comments on your posts, people won't come back and you will lose your readers. You should cherish your readers and reward them as much as possible.
Tip 6: Always answer the comments on your posts and upvote them as much as possible
Your hive power defines how much value from the reward pool you can give to the people around you. If you delegate your hive power, you also give these potential rewards away. You give your power to others and you delegate also how the chain develops to others. In your place they will decide who gets rewarded.
Tip 7: Delegate as little as possible of your hive power and delegate only when you own several thousand Hive Power
You should consider your voting power as your tool to build relationships and to decide who is rewarded by the reward pool. Take this as your responsibility and be generous with your upvotes, especially in the comment section of your own posts. Favourise voting for good content that you found interesting and for people who want to evolve on hive. Don't forget that it's your voting activity that will generate curation rewards for you.
Tip 8: Try to upvote as much as possible manually. Set autovotes when your voting power goes above 95% to avoid it being idle and losing curation rewards.
This might sound a bit strange at first and I need to explain what I mean. On hive we all follow a similar development path and on each stage of this path our behaviours and needs are different.
This means that you can comment 65 times under a post of a whale and he will probably not even answer your comments and he will definitely not become your friend on hive. You should try to build relations with people that or on the same level or slightly above you in terms of hive power. The more you climb on the hive ladder, the more your needs for relations and interaction will change. You can get the most out of it if you mingle with people that are on a similar stage in their development.
Tip 9: Try to select the people you want to build relations with wisely. Don't lose your time trying to build relations with whales. Find your friends among the people that are on a similar development level.
It's a very good idea to look for one or several communities around a topic that you are interested in. Try to be active in this community and to become an actor that everybody knows. Build your place and reputation there.
Tip 10: Be as active as possible in the communities of your choice. Become a well known member.
I wouldn't say that my list is exclusive here but I think these tips give you a good starting point to orientate your hive experience. If we follow these tips, not only will we be able to build our account and our reputation, we will also contribute to make hive a nice place. Hive can offer a way to work together where really everybody wins. If your friends evolve well, it will also affect you positively in the long run. We are all owners of this platform and we can actively contribute to it being a nice place to spend our time. If we enjoy our time here, then the money will simply be a nice side effect.
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