The Inbox Runneth Over -- The Policy Papers -- Issue #4

Here's the next State of The STEEM Engine announcement

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Member upvotes / delegation / public upvotes

To continue talking about our income sources, I said in the last announcement there were three possibilities. One -- which I've talked about -- is from the upvotes from our membership ... which was part of the deal when you signed on. I've since modified the original request to be one full upvote a day (every day, every day, every day) or a $.06 upvote -- again daily, whichever comes first. Basically we'd like a minimum of $.42 a week from those who can afford it -- and we'll get to work on bringing the others up to speed, ASAP.

Our growth depends on member contributions -- and in return in the past we've given back some really nice ROI's. Way too much in some cases. (So it's going to start being more realistic ... and value given for value received, at least for a while.) To qualify for our 100% upvote, you need to be giving us yours -- or what I consider a fair exchange as mentioned above.

Another way is through delegation -- which is great while it lasts, but as I said last time, I don't want to depend on it. (My thanks again to those who have enriched our group account with theirs. We owe you.)

The third way, of course, is through people who read our group post -- and follow it and upvote it ... exactly the way you get payouts on the posts on your blog. You write content people want to read. You get them to remember your name and hit that "Follow" button. When they come on Steemit, they go looking for you. That's exactly the audience I'm courting.

People remark every so often on the quality of our featured posts. Whales upvote us from time to time. We really are a cut above so many others. That, of course, is to all of your credit -- and it's no accident. For months now we've been hand-selecting new members. It's not a cinch to get in. We turn down easily 80% of those who apply. (That's another thing that's come to a stop. More on that also ... later.)

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Make it interesting!

I read every post in the post-promo channel ... and I hand-select those I think will best appeal to a general audience. So what do I look for? Maybe it's time we talked about that.

First and foremost (!!!) the post needs to be interesting!! Ask yourself ... when you get an idea, or when you take pictures, or while you're writing, "Would a total stranger be interested in reading this?"

That question alone may change the way you work -- or adjust the things you put in post-promo. I know blogs (and especially blogs on Steemit) can contain many things -- some serious, some funny, some just plain boring, some rants, some light-weight stuff, some with very thought-provoking questions.

All of it (except the boring stuff) can somehow qualify as interesting. If your post was written by somebody else, would you like it? Would you feel like following this writer? Would you want to see more? Would you recommend him to somebody else?

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What does that mean?

To be interesting -- even to very niche subjects -- your post needs to be at least one of these things:

• Informative -- tell your reader something he may not know; help him learn; help him be smarter; tell him something you've discovered; tell him where to find more

• Instructive -- show him how to do something; make suggestions of things he can try; help him develop his skills and expand his horizons

• Intriguing -- ask questions; invite him to think; help him apply what you're saying to his own situation; help him live a more conscious life

• Entertaining -- put him in the scene and invite him to empathize, to experience it with you, to become part of the story. Even tragic things can be "entertaining" -- in a loose definition of the word. What you mean to provoke is a reaction -- some kind of emotion ... delight, humor, sympathy, outrage, sadness, endearment, nostalgia, etc. (It helps to know what you're after.)

• Inspirational -- invite him to feel, to be motivated, to improve; help him move on with an uplifted spirit and a better outlook on life

Ideally, your post needs to change your reader in some way -- to leave him different for having read it.

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"Your job" is to be interesting!

There are lots of ways to do all this -- even many Ulogs amaze me with their original and superior content -- and when I first heard that idea I thought for sure those were going to be a blight on the platform ... an avalanche of more drivel than this poor beleaguered place could possibly carry. (And there's already so much of that!!)

Turned out I was wrong. Now I'll open a Ulog just to see what the writer has made of it. Often it's very creative.

What you don't want is for a reader to open your blog (and wait and wait and wait for your images to load) ... and then wish he hadn't wasted his time. So put something of value at the end of the road!!!

Of course, you can put anything you want on your blog. I'm just telling you what I want for our group post -- which may help you increase your chances of being featured. This has become especially important because for a while we were giving a 5% upvote (and Ethan's trail) to any post in the channel that "followed the rules" -- of 2 uv / 2 com. That has ended.

I was afraid people would start putting "any old thing" in post-promo just for the guaranteed vote. And, yes, that started to happen -- so that feature is no more. The worst offenders are no longer here -- but in the interests of full disclosure I'm making it official.

In closing, let me say that you may not hit a home-run out of the park every time at bat, but if your posts are not being featured regularly in The Daily Whistle Stops ... it's fair to say I have an issue with your content. Maybe some of what I just wrote will help you focus your submissions more productively.

(BTW, for TDWS, things like contests, fiction, games, actifit report cards, color challenges, something "too technical," etc., are probably not going to be picked up. Look at the kinds of things I do select. Those are examples to follow.)

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What could go wrong?

I try to put everything in TDWS I possibly can justify -- because our "general audience" has all kinds of interests. If it's well-done (and interesting ) and I can understand it ... it's in with a chance. Again, if your posts are not being regularly featured -- see if there are problems like this:

• Your subject -- doesn't really excite me -- and may not excite others.

• Your length -- very short posts are basically going nowhere. I'm looking for content around 700 - 1000 words ideally. Very long posts also are a problem. If your content is over 2000 words, break it into more than one post. (Photography posts / cooking posts can be an exception. They need 200 - 300 words to explain what's happening. Tell me something about the picture/s; make it more interesting. Tell me why you liked it, why you chose it, why I should be thrilled to see it, etc. Unless your photo is just jaw-dropping spectacular, remember that words can also help "paint a picture." )

• Your English -- in some ways this may not be fair, but TSE is an English-speaking group. If your English is not excellent (and there's unfortunately a big difference between being understood when speaking and writing an excellent post in a foreign language) ... I simply can't feature it as one of "the best of the best."

• Your spelling or grammar -- there are tools that can help you, but you need to appeal to a reasonably well-read, well-educated audience. That's simply a basic requirement for blogging.

• Your typos and proofreading -- trying to compose in Markdown is a nightmare. Please give yourself a break and construct your post elsewhere. Read it over before you punch that "post" button. I read mine three or four times ... and even after I publish. I pay The Weasel if he finds a mistake. (Actual Steem. $.10 per item.)

• The fact that your posts don't go anywhere / don't say anything -- avoiding this is the essence of being "interesting." Don't make your reader sorry he stopped and clicked on your post.

• Your production values on video and audio -- it is very hard to do a decent job on a set-up in your living room. (Yes, it is possible ... however ....) Watch your own video / listen to your own performance (for crying out loud!!) See if it looks or sounds fabulous to you? Look at your work through the eyes of a critic. Your audience is -- especially the ones who don't know you. (BTW, dLive and dTube simply don't work for a lot of users -- including me. Consider putting your work also on YouTube.)

• Your formatting -- break your text into readable paragraphs (not "walls of text" like mine in Discord.) Put a space between paragraphs. Use sub-headings. Learn Markdown. All-centered text is an abomination. Don't do that. Make your post attractive.

• Your image sizes -- we've talked about this. Your images should be 640 to 800 pixels wide (or deep) -- 1024 max!!! Larger images take longer to load. Some of them take for-freakin'-ever -- especially if you use a lot of pictures. Your audience is not going to wait literally for minutes for things to pull down. To lose your visitors before you even get started is an awful waste of your work. Be considerate of their time -- and value their interest.

• Your appeal to a general audience ---> again ... ask yourself, "Why would a perfect stranger be interested in reading this?" (I already beat this one to death.)

• Your F-bombs and other obscenities -- a text sprinkled with these is not going out in our post. I won't say it's never happened. Occasionally a post is good enough -- if it's only one offense and I agree it's totally justified -- that I'll take a deep breath ... and select it anyway. But, wow, it counts against you ... and it's silly to cripple your work like that. There are ways to express passion, excitement, outrage, etc., quite elegantly. Challenge yourself to do that.

More soon. (In case you had to break this up into multiple sessions.)