Knowing the Platform
Steemit, as you should know, is becoming this new breed of journalism at it's finest. It's really challenging to write anything compelling (or useful, for that matter) and expect to get a waterfall of upvotes in hopes to crack the one-thousand dollar mark. It is wise to consider what Steemit is, what people like to read and what's 'trending'.
according to Wikipedia
The subject matter is a tricky, because Steemit is still in it's beta stages. Our avatars are still unchangeable, There's really no 'profile' page and everyone can see all of your transactions coming in and out the Steemit platform. Almost complete transparency with twitter or facebook verifications, sometimes an actual photo, which I will never do until Steemit become an official release. But, that's just me. I really am not here for the dollars. I'm here for a voice and STEEM.
What to Write
You know, your gonna get a shit ton of tutorial vids on the subject, and the truth of the matter is, NO ONE KNOWS! Seriously, Steemit showed up this March, and it's almost at it's sixth month, so, baby steps, people.
At this point, It is really up to you, to create the trend. that's right YOU!
We are our own Editor in Chief for a single publication that can potentially reach millions by year end. That means, thousands of posts flooding the stream with content, but no one is really reading it. If they are, no one is gonna upvote if they're not interested in the material. Makes perfect sense.
Do you have to be a perfect writer? Um, maybe. You may have to take a writing class, or read a few books on the subject if you want to. Or, like me, take the 'write how you speak' tactic. It's clearly up to you, so as long as people are understanding what your talking about.
What to Tag
You have five important tags to choose from. This could literally make or break you. The first tag you add will be the article placeholder for all tags featured on Steemit's trending tag list, we all know and love! Just be sure you know what your talking about, exactly, before hitting post. Don't add weird tags that are sentences or adding hashtags to words in your article. They will be counted.
When to Post
OMFG, this is a tough one! Let's say you just got your Steemit 'Story" written out, you spent about five bucks on Fiverr for a writer to clean up your work and you even spent the time to snag relatable links of images with source links. It looks perfect. As if it should be a featured article in the New Yorker. You hit post and then you wait. And wait. And wait some more. After about eleven hours or so, the post only made forty-five cents, at best.
You have Confucius and some douche-bag sharing jokes with you, and after you flag them, you slump on the chair feeling defeated. You begin to wonder, why even bother sharing ideas, that you feel is worth a read, but instead, it's not even worth a glance.
There's really no answer as to when to post. I guess that all comes down to worldwide Steemit users. Some people say, it's best to post in the morning, others say at night before 9pm, a few would actually give you a specific time like 3pm EST or Noon PST. Whatever the case will be, make sure you are doing your own research. No one really fucking knows.
Dealing with nothing and moving forward
So, your article has made it through the first twenty-two hours since posting and you made a nice eighty cents. Well, done. That's actually more than what bloggers make each day. But don't be discouraged. Keep writing and sharing. Test out the times you post and choose the times that you get the most bites. try to be consistent at least. If you don't have anything to write, then dig up some old school essays, poems, book reports, whatever and post them. They're your work, why not?
finally...Keep your return expectations very low, but keep the content expectations high
It is best not to expect anything back in return. Don't fawn over the hundreds and sometimes thousands of cash out dollars people are getting. If you're wondering why, when read and follow those people. Find out why and replicate their 'formula' and slowly apply it to your own work. Just be sure it's interesting!
Remember: no one really owns an idea - it borrowed.
UPDATE: I did write an article about Farts to prove that not anyone is gonna make money on just any subject. LOL