How Steemit Has Changed My Life: From living on $1/day and 3 hours of electricity to Having over $41,319

in #steem8 years ago (edited)

I'm probably a poster boy for Steemit's potential success in Africa and its viral growth overall.

(Lol. I'm an introvert and I'm still 'picture shy'...and hmmn..privacy)

Today marks exactly 4 weeks I joined Steemit and I thought it would be fitting to make a proper introduction. And/or a testimonial.

I'm probably the only person from my country here on Steemit.( N.B I'm making a post on that soon). 1 in a million ;)

Growing Up


Here is a sample pic of where I grew up as a kid. Funnily, I grew up in a middle-class family. At least, according to the living standards here.

The standard of living is generally low and housing facilities are substandard......

What was even much worse was the power supply. We would be very lucky to get 3 hours of electricity daily. And oftentimes, we would go for weeks without having any power supply.

This, in turn, had an adverse effect on the economy of the country.
The youths are unemployed and the crime rate is sickening.

Things are getting a bit better though......a good government is in place and the economy is giving signals of a better time to come. As the largest economy in Africa, things can only get better.

My Love For Technology


My fascination with technology started when I gained admission to the university.
Here is my favorite spot at college. It was a perfect place to reflect and think about life.

I got admitted for a business degree on a scholarship and for a while, I was content going to boring classes. Until something happened.

My precious phone got stolen.

And after several weeks trying to raise funds for another one, I decided to turn to the internet for help.

I tried several ways of making money online. Affiliate marketing, Ads clicking, micro-jobs etc. I've tried them all. I learned HTML, CSS and I'm currently learning JS.

But after several months still without any luck, I decided to settle for freelance writing.

I was having a bit of success here and there. Not enough to survive, though. But still worth working on.
Then, the stars aligned.

The Steemit Dream


Exactly 4 weeks ago, I stumbled on @stellabelle's Medium post about Steemit taking over the social media….

At first, I was skeptical on the authenticity of the promise as I had been scammed many times….

I decided to give it a shot. After all, there's no harm in trying…..

And I'm glad I did.

After over 40 posts, it's been an amazing experience on Steemit. Though none has gotten over the thousand mark, mine has been the case of 'little drops of water make an ocean'.

I've made awesome partnerships with top writers like @donkeypong and @stellabelle and had chats with some really awesome people on Slack.

To: @crytoctopus; @anwenbaumeister @benjojo @gavvet and a host of others. You guys rock.

Steemit has helped launched my dreams. I've published my first book on Steemit and I recently launched SteemMag - Steemit's Weekend Digest. The theater of dreams as I call it

I've never been this fascinated over an online community before. And the rewards are just a nice welcome bonus…….

From living on less than $2/day to having enough at my disposal. I'm deeply grateful to all those who work day and night to make Steemit successful.

To all those whose efforts have been unappreciated, you're changing lives.

Now I can get a better smartphone, power bank, live a comfortable life and develop myself as a writer.

Steemit is a fantasy coming true.

Giving Back

Tomorrow, after a lot of planning, I will be making a detailed post outlining how I'm bringing Steemit to millions of people in my country. My own way of adding value to the community.

The journey has just begun guys….….despite the complaints and issues...we look forward to having even a better and balanced Steemit…..

It can only get better! Steem on…

And here's a toast to more success…..yours and mine...

Thanks y'all.

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I am so happy for you. I still remember the day you contacted me in slack and asked for my opinion about your writing. That day was the first change I felt about Steemit. I hadn't noticed you in Medium or the Choose Yourself FB page for some reason. And we had never talked. But your honesty and resilience plus your hard-working nature impressed me. I knew you were trustworthy especially after I requested your photos. It's been bad being cut off from this community while the hacker had control. That was the worst part of being hacked: disconnection from those I have grown very close to. I am so happy that you saw my post and were courageous to find this. You are really one in a million. I hope we can someday meet as that would be so fun. I'm glad I know you.

Stellabelle, you are a wonderful individual to help make things happen for this young writer. Males me smile :) Props.

She is truly awesome. A great friend to have.

These are some of the story that worth reading. Like they said never stop believing in yourself. There's a lot of opportunity . Just have faith and never ever loose hope...

God bless! Freedom is yours now! @infovore you are blessed! Spend this money wisely and live the rest of your days in happiness! You will be able to leverage this Steem to change SO many lives! :)

Thank you for posting your story. Hope you get ever more to snowball to the top!
I up-voted you too... QUESTION, could I have your opinion on this? should steemit let us steemers advertise using steem? Be sure to tell everyone you know to come vote here at: https://steemit.com/steemit/@kingtylervvs/if-steemit-ever-does-decide-to-advertise-there-is-only-1-way-it-could-work-in-my-opinion-debate

This is a democratic community decision.


Be wise in every decision you are making. Remember we are the master of our own destiny. If you feel that the odds are into you, never loose hope. Just think tomorrow is another day. Another day of challenge and another way of making your life better again... Thanks for sharing this.

I just joined steemit yesterday and am more than a little confused with it all. Hoping like you, i can change my life.

How do I get to be friends with stellabelle?

Keep the good work up

Will love to call you for the wonderful ideas.

@stellabelle - please give him this ) => => @infovore
After all, we look forward to when you will receive 150,000 USD.(will collect 5500 USD - it's so easy! ))) Good luck !!!

so glad. i was definitely upset in many ways.

I would love to get a few african bloggers together from all over to see what we can come up with! Maybe we should meet on slack? :)

Dude, this is to Guards ah? This will earn dollars ????

Pics or it didnt happen. Some say that YOU are infovore.

She is truly awesome. A great friend to have.

Thanks @jasonpangjs. I'm ecstatic people can relate to my story.

Dude, this is to Guards ah? This will earn dollars ????

That was posted AFTER this post?

how do one contact someone on slack to chat??? or is it only possibly on the replies?? im new here! sorry for asking :)

Glad to have you back Stella :-)

x

CG

awesome! Keep it up! a great person!

wow. perfect!

Hey Stellabelle, we also follow each other on Medium. I have some important questions to ask @ned and @dan and I'm wondering if you could help me reach them. I believe answering these questions would be important for understanding why Steemit is taking off and how it can sustain growth in the future. Thanks! https://steemit.com/socialnetwork/@limitless/important-questions-about-the-network-effect-of-steemit

Well, they are very busy people. I have trouble getting a hold of them now. My best advice is to be patient and figure out how you can best be of value to them.

Are you piggybacking this G?

wonderwoman :)

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You are a wonderful person, sensitive, intelligent, hard-working, and putting others ahead of your own needs. I am privileged to call you a friend. There is no one who deserves this more than you.

Wow, Tom. You know this means so much to me. This wasn't possible without your help. I remember the times I ran to you for help. About my posts not getting much love. You took your time to partner with me and gave me so many tips. You, truly, fit this description : putting others ahead of your own needs

Wow. Coming from you! Thats the nicest compliment I've heard. I'm so glad you can relate. You rock man.

I'm fighting it a little too (the tears). This is my second night looking at Steemit, this is amazing.

:) Its heartening to see my story having an effect on others. You guys truly rock.

It's very exciting seeing a compatriot achieve huge success on this platform. Owning to the situation of the country.. Am happy for you bro.
I also stumble upon a post of @stellabelle on medium in the very beginning of this year which introduced me to steemit, though i immediately registered, I have found working on the platform very difficult as I currently lack a real home and working in the production dept of a popular eatery "De Tastee Fried Chicken" is very stressful and depressing, I decide to call it "Hell". I really lack the time of my own. My story is a long and twisted one, I was able to concisely brief it in an 'aid me campaign post' I wrote over a month ago https://steemit.com/freedom/@paulo380/a-cry-for-freedom Though I received many encouraging words and advice and despite promoting it on different crypto group, I was able to raise $12 only, many pointed out inserting my ether and bitcoin wallet addresses while i choosed to promote it right on steemit, this was a mistake I made from directly copying the format of the Medium copy https://medium.com/@oluwanisolapaul/a-cry-for-freedom-af578ef79dea plus the current problems facing for the crypto space is not encouraging.
Surviving in this country has been very unpleasant for me and I know you could understand the struggle.
I crave deeply to break-free from this stagnancy and pursue my Ultimate Dream "blogging" as i found something unusual during the course of a short period I blogged.
If ever you could find this message.. I plead from a desperate and genuine heart to assist me and be the hand that will pull me out from the sea of this uncertain future.
I will try as much as possible to provide any proof or document you request for.

You will be helping a life in a way you can't imagine Sir.

Thank you for the upvote.. Never thought you could ever read my message.

So I stumbled upon this post mistakenly and for some reason it align with me, recall when I did all the above you mentioned, clixsense, mcent and many others even a typing work online where I could get 1$ for typing a thousand words, was trying my best to earn online and I was so determined on looking for a paying webpage that I could earn a substantial amount from, after I was introduced by a friend of mine @destinysaid way back from secondary school, just like you, I thought it was too good to be true, like seriously which platform pays you like what he described.

All thanks to God, am able to afford some of the things I long for now and help friends and family as well, till now am still grateful to the steemit community as a whole and also to my friend for showing me this amazing community.

awesome story. Keep writing!

Thanks so much @blakemiles84 . Your posts are inspiring too.

Shut up and take my upvote!!

I like what you did there so I made this for you.

@nephilim - you just Steem copyrighted that image by posting it haha

Make a normal post for that and I'll definitely upvote it! Maybe add a Steem logo in the up arrow ?

@blakemiles84 - Thanks

steemit.com/upvote/@nephilim/shut-up-and-take-my-upvote

Hahaha. Thanks for the effort. :|

hahaha. You remind me of tuck-fheman. where's that guy?

Even though you're the reason I had to eat vegetables as a child, I upvoted.

Stay safe, keep your mouth shut about this money.

Not everyone is your friend.

Christopher.

I will take that to heart. Thanks for the candid advice. I'm interested in your story.

dreams come true

the dedication to a cause always repay. I'm happy to see success story and that motivate me to keep POWER UP.

I'm glad you enjoyed my story. Just keep pushing. Here's my favorite quote.