As you've come to enjoy that Steemit system, you may have noticed that some individuals appear to have much more influence and. ability. to sway the crowd in their favor.
This is for one simple reason- they hold more Steem Power.
If you check www.steemwhales.com, you can truly see your place in the scheme of things, and if you look at users in the first three pages you suddenly may become quite discouraged. Their "Steem Power" is likely much higher than yours, especially if you look at DAN or NED or DONKEYPONG or CRAIG-GRANT. These users have been around much longer, and were quick to power up their "Steem Power", by investing a bit into the system.
The fact of the matter is that the MORE you invest in STEEMIT, the MORE it invests in you.
Investing could be sharing content that ADDS to the growth of the entire Steemit network- these posts seem to do well! You're helping to build a solid foundation that will be used by millions to come.
Investing could also mean throwing a few Ether or Bitcoin into your wallet, and "depositing" it, in order to make it Steem Power.
You see, Steem Power is the lifeblood of the system- without it no one would be earning a single penny. Your funds for quality posts are generated based on the amount of Steem Power that users have to their name on Steemit. This means that without a good amount of Steem Power, you basically have ZERO influence on your own posts, and place yourself at the mercy of Dolphins and Whales.
HOWEVER, on Steemit, you have the ability to change your destiny by investing a bit into your Steem Power. Buy one, two, or a hundred Steem here and there. Use this Steem to "Power-Up", and increase your position on Steemwhales.com- the further up the ladder you move, the more people will care about your content.
Unfortunately, users who have spent thousands of their own dollars are currently given first priority, with the ability to up-vote their own posts, which increases visibility.
However, as time passes, we see less and less of those earlier adopters investing huge sums of money, so this (STILL early in the game) is a great opportunity to move past all of the other "minnows" in your peripheral.
If you power up your Steem you will gain these benefits:
-The ability to up-vote content with your influence. This also applies to your OWN posts.
-The ability to print money, by up-voting content that pays you back for the vote.
-You will lock up funds that you may have used discretionarily in ways that would be counterproductive in medium to longer terms. As any investor knows, it's usually smarter to stay IN the market than OUT of it.
-More followers. Followers appreciate a user with highers Steem Power, because this means that they will more likely be up-vote by those that they follow, fetching them at least a bit of a "tip".
-You gain a cool level over 9000. Fact.
-You can become a Dolphin!...or a WHALE. The amount of users on here is barely a drop in the sand- it's so early in the game that if enough people join up, in Steemit, you will have a much higher influence over their posts and reputation for a long time- as users slowly enter the market.
-Your name become visible. They do get users to seeing your name producing quality content. This urges them to quickly like your content, that's already up a few pennies, likely, and get in on the future profit.
-You are putting a new brick in the Steemit network- every single dollar counts! If it weren't for Steem Power being as high as it is, for some users, then the network might be pure chaos, and have no funds for development