I discovered Steemit back in May, and about a month later, my second son was born! Raising both have each had their own set of challenges and hardships, but both have had their own set of rewards, too. I've built an organic following of over 900 people, never begging people to follow or vote for me. I've learned a lot this year, and plan to really bring my skill set to the table, and add long-term value to the Steem Blockchain. I have three #steemitresolution's, one of which is a philosophy, the other two are projects that will bridge Steemit to other communities, spreading crytpocurrencies into people's lives, and bringing fresh professionals and enthusiasts to the platform.
Bots are everywhere, and "the powers that be" either have their hands in the pot, or they just don't care about how buying votes makes Steemit look to the "regular" world. Had I seen that sort of behavior in my week or so of research while waiting for my account to approve, I'm not sure I would have spent as much time getting started. As many of you know, Steemit can hurt your feelings in the beginning. You work really hard on a post that no one sees or upvotes, and if you knew before coming in that people can earn by buying votes, would that have changed the way you saw Steemit's "fairness"?
Upvote bots aren't inherently a bad thing, though. If used in a selfless manner, they can be one of the single best ways of showing extra support to an author. My personal 100% upvote isn't worth very much, but if I've got an extra bit of SBD sitting in my wallet, and come across a post that really resonates with me, I'll send that SBD to an upvote bot so that post earns a bit more than I can currently give with an upvote. Sure, placing a vote is free, while placing a bid with a bot obviously costs money, but which would YOU rather get from me? I live my life by the Golden Rule, and truly believe that if I start paying some love forward, I will start seeing bot votes randomly pop up on my posts as well. The next time you have some extra change, go bid on a post you see in your feed, and tell me it doesn't feel great to do it. We should be supporting each other, instead of seeing how much we can pay to get a nice fat ROI.
I have thought a lot about starting my own upvote bot. One that will simply refuse to vote on a post if the author places the bid. It would require planning, and probably a small team, as we would need to monitor votes and determine if they are being placed by an author's alt-account, and the bot will have a blacklist for known offenders. This is something I would need extra time to work on and fund, but those two things are fairly tight currently, so the bot idea sits on the back burner, for now.
Very shortly after joining, I saw the 
The SFG will be a consortium of freelancers who want to get serious about their freelancing businesses. It will create an opportunity for freelancers to get clients and contracts. It will also give anyone with money to spend, the ability to find exactly what they're looking for without the hassle of sifting through the Steemit feeds to find it, saving time, and in the long run, money.
This consortium will by no means be "in competition with" or "a replacement for" 
If you're interested in this project, becoming a member, or even joining the SFG Team, and help bring this project to life, I have set up a Discord, and would love to hear from you!
Many of my long-time followers, and a few of my new ones, know that I have a game up my sleeve. A game that will incorporate the Steem currency, and bring a whole new way to have fun on the Blockchain. It will also build a bridge between this community, and one of indie game developers and players.
Logo design by 
If you would like to support this project, you can send donations or delegations of any amount to
and I won't dislike a moment of it. Steemit has become a huge part of my life, and will likely be how I retire. 2018 is going to be the year my Steem Train picks up the traction I need to really change not only my own life, but the lives of as many people as I possibly can. Thank you for your time, and Happy New Year!
This is my own entry into my 2018 #steemitresolution Challenge where I'm asking everyone how they plan to help make Steemit a better place this year. What do you have planned for the next year of blogging, earning, and engaging?
