❓Answering Common Questions: Why am I not getting votes? What can I do about it? 📷

in #steem-help7 years ago (edited)

Feeling like your posts aren't getting attention?

Most people when first starting here on Steemit have a hard time getting their posts seen and hence getting votes. Often there is that one post that seemed to 'pop' for you with many others seeming to have a rather lackluster response. The goal for most of us in the end are to consistently improve our payouts and there are some strategies you can try to help move you towards this.

Q: Being brand new to Steemit, is there something I should start with?


Short Answer: Make an introduction post using the introduceyourself and introduction tags about who you are (what you're comfortable with), what you're interested in and what you think you'll be posting on. Make sure to add at least one picture to the post and ideally a verification photo (showing yourself holding a paper with your username and the date on it.)

The introduceyourself and introduction tags are when many Steemit users watch for new members. So making a post to introduce yourself (that have these two tags in it) is a prime place to start. It's important to remember that your post shows up among lists of other posts, so make sure to add at least one photo in there so it has a thumbnail picture when in list form. Posts that have thumbnail images get more attention that those that do not.

While not absolutely required, including a verification picture in your post is helpful. This lets us know that you are who you say you are. The verification picture just needs to show you holding a piece of paper that has your username and the date on it. You don't necessarily have to show your whole face, depending on what you're comfortable with, since we know not everybody like putting things like that on the internet. This is also an opportunity to mention what other web or social media sites you're on, especially if you plan to share content from there. You can also always verify (instead of or along with the picture) by simple putting a post or link with your Steemit username on those other sites.

Q: I did my introduction post, but I still feel like I'm not being seen. What can I do?

Make people WANT to click on your post!

  • Work on creating titles that grab peoples attention. Think about what makes you click on things. If you find yourself stuck checking out a Title Generator Websites might be helpful. A lot of their suggestions are overused or cheesy (in my opinion anyway) but if you scroll through, there's usually one or two that stick out above the rest. You'll find that phrasing things in more active versus passive terms help.

  • Have an attention grabbing thumbnail photo. The first image in your post with always be used for the thumbnail (800x480 proportions work best.) Keep this in mind when choosing which a picture start things off. Again, think about what grabs your attention.

  • Advertise your posts in steemit.chat, post-promotion channels in various discord channels and/or various facebook groups (just search steemit inside facebook.) All you'll do is copy the link address for your post (which is the url as the top of your screen when it's open) and paste it into the various places. Some places have rules such as not posting more than once every 2 hours...so try to keep an eye out for things like that. You don't want to spam these links or it can backfire on you.

Building relationships / Branding yourself

With Steemit have so much look and feel of a blogging site, it's easy to forget the social networking aspect here. This means meeting others that share your interest and building relationships.

You can accomplish this in many ways:

  • Respond to comments on your posts
  • Find posts that interest you and leave good, engaging comments. Let them know you actually read their post!
  • Join in conversations on steemit.chat or discord communities (there are multiple of these)
  • Build up your reputation with others by consistently putting out good/interesting work, being friendly, helpful, etc.

Include a CALL TO ACTION at the end of your posts.

These are things that help to prompt others to leave a comment and/or continue the conversation.
Examples might be:

  • I'm curious to hear your take?
  • What would you suggest?
  • Any other good reading/video/etc. material you guys know of?
  • I'd love to hear your results.

Q: Are there things I SHOULDN'T do?

  • Don't Randomly Ask for Followers! You want GOOD followers!

I see a lot of people leaving comments asking for follows, or looking for a 'follow for follow' arrangement. Sure, it's fun to watch that follower number go up, but what we're really wanting here are people to read, comment and VOTE on our content.

Random people who follow you don't often care about you or your content, meaning it's unlikely they will read your stuff, let alone vote on it. If you instead build relationships with people through conversations, engaging back and forth comments, giving honest feedback, etc get net you WAY more votes.

  • Don't spam your posts in promotion rooms! Try to avoid posting there it's not allowed (like steemit.chat's general channel.)
  • Don't randomly private message people asking for votes.
  • Don’t plagiarize others work. This will get you flagged here.
  • Don't be an a**hole. There are plenty of ways to disagree with others and their points of view.
  • Don't expect instant success! Don't be afraid to fail on some things.
  • Don't use copyrighted images. Since we are making money on our posts, we have to be more careful than on other sites.

Q: Where can I promote/advertise my posts and/or meet people?

Steemit Chat
SteemSpeak run by @fyrstikken
Steem Lab run by @surpassinggoogle
Voices of the Underground with @sirlunchthehost and @beanz
Steemit Talk Podcast with @sykochica, @giftedgaia, @winstonwolfe and @raymonjohnstone
Steem Trail run by @instructor2121 and @anotherjoe

[NOTE: Not all of these are for promotion. Some are more for meeting people.]

Q: Is there other materials to read that might help me?

Writing Grit: The 5 C's of Good Communication by @redhens
Survival Guide for Super Newbie Writers by @stellabelle
Simply Steemit: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Getting Started by @donkeypong
Tips for Analyzing Your Steemit Marketing Approach by @sykochica

I know there are more great articles beyond these out there too!

Q: Are there any other ways to help get known on Steemit?

Feel free to ask me anything. I'm here to Help!


Previous Helpful Posts for Newbies

❓Answering Common Questions: Where does the money come from? 💵

❓Answering Common Questions: Should I use 100% Steem Power or 50%/50% Payouts for my Post❓

❓Answering Common Questions: Reputation and Flags! What's this Number by my Name? #️⃣️

❓Answering Common Questions: Steem, Steem Power, Steem Dollars and What Should I do with them? 💲

What's this Slider Bar and Vote Power Percentage? What's the Difference?

Why Newbies Should be Excited about the next Hardfork

Answering Common Questions about Voting and Curation

Don't Miss the Show! Follow the Steemit Talk Podcast (STP) Account

New STP Website!!

Are you new to Steemit and Looking for Answers? - Try https://www.steemithelp.net.


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great great post!! keeping the information flowing. you are fantastic !! how do you do those cool graphic breaks in the post. ??

Thank you! I've been pretty happy being able to write these guides/faqs again..it's been quite a while.

If you google 'page divider' (of course with free use license) you'll find a bunch of free options. They're just an image I put in there.

oh duh i should have totally thought of that. Guess im thinking in code as took me ages to figure out how to center a post. lol much thanks hun! love your faqs posts, keep them coming, i dont think we will see a time soon where they are not needed

Hehe, no worries. You can always use < hr> (without the space) to make a horizontal line using the code, but it doesn't have the effect I wanted.

If you're ever looking to spiff things up a bit, there are various post templates some of us made a while back which can be found in the #free-templates tag. (you'll have to click new since they no longer show are trending.)

Thank you! I've still got a list of topics to make posts on...and always happy to take requests too. :)

hahaha, the day I learned to finally center a post was about the greatest day of my life and I have never looked back hahahahahaha!!!

I center everything all day longgggggg now - so pretty looking hahaha.

God bless ya Bonnie lol

Thank you very much am a newbie and am trying to improve my self
(and my English lol) through Steemit the best of all is that I found a community so kind I couldn't even imagine that might exist. I will do my best for the community! ! Regards to all !!

You seem to be doing pretty well so far...and you're English is pretty good! Way better than my Greek (which I know none.) Lol

The general support and kindness was mind blowing to me too when I first started. It definitely make is a great place! Keep what you're doing and I'm sure you'll continue getting more successful on here.

And always feel free to ask questions...I'm here to help. :)

Thank you so much for the inspiration! !!! You are already very helpful at my first steps and am sure I will need more !!!

You have always been a top notch helper. I do not hear too much from you anymore but you have helped so many people, so many times, Steemit should really just hire you LOL

My Liberty based Shirt GAW post is up now today, so that is an idea some people can learn from - offer to run a contest for a giveaway.

Mine is in conjunction with @papa-pepper for example -- someone who is very good to people on here.

Like you.

Thank you!
I've had a bit of a time staying all caught up with responding to comments, helping in steemit.chat, discord, etc. lately. I still make my way to you're posts, but often get sidetracked before being able to leave a comment. Sorry about that.

I'll take a look at that post though..I'm curious.

While there's nothing wrong with it..it's seemed that newer people that run contests tend to get disappointed with lack of response...simply because they don't get the eyes on it and/or lacking the name recognition. They're welcome to try...but it's always rough when something were excited about gets a lackluster response.

I agree also, I was not going to input about ppl. running a contest but then I thought, it still is A WAY to gain organic eyes on / interest / following.

It is right. I was so amped up doing so many of my posts I worked like 8 hrs on some days and earned nothing and got no votes.

Now I get flagged by whales who do not like me, because I have put in the honest time and effort for so long, and my numbers just reflect that.

I did not bot my way here lol, I worked hard, typed a lot, tried to be helpful and encouraging and nice (like you) - and eventually you all could not ignore me any more

Hahahahahah!!!! (:

I hope a couple people learn and get a laugh today LOL

I am the least talented person on here, believe me.

Some of you already know this lol

#HopeAndHardWork

right?

(:

Lol! You always crack me up.

I'm definitely not against them trying buy I try to keep their positive outlook going as best as possible. I've definitely been there, putting in many hours for what felt like no payout.

I've got a few ideas of other things to help out those who have been putting in the work/effort but not gotten the attention yet. Like with us, it takes most people time to get their name/work around and recognized.

What I have in mind should get posted up tomorrow. :)

I have some good ideas still too, but honestly, the facts are, if some of us keep getting flagged and bullied, it shows the power issues here are a problem, a glaring one still.

It removes the desire to put in the work -- because your work will just get buried.

I lost support from important people here going on #SteemitStrike for the reasons above and it was still the right thing to do.

My post this last week flagged to $0 almost from my third ever post over $100 on the post to help Sommer get established as a new person, did not sit well with a lot of people from the msgs I got and tells the new people bullies are OK here.

I don't suck up to anyone like some people here so I have just said the truth and not looked the other way.

People need to know -- the whole world is watching.

You have always been one of my fav. people to hear from always as you know.

I help people daily when I can, looking for questions in a feed or a post and I always think of you as a key person helping me, so I pay that fwd -- I will never be as good as you lol.

Hehe...the paying it forward is how the 'good' people win out in the end. Lol!

Feel free to always send people my way too if wanted. I'm doing most of the helping through posts now instead of chatrooms, just because it's easier for me to pick up when I have time and better organized (versus mad scrolling up.)

I hate the scrolling!!! LOL

I have tagged you a few times so people can find you over the months. When I checked on you a few times thru FB and knew you needed a break, I stopped, I did not want to add to the issues.

You are one of my fav. people and I hope to meet you one day.

These are facts!

Flag me if you want mean whales LOL

For some reason I hear "Help" by The Beatles playing in my head while I read this. Seems fitting :-)

Hehe, yes! I need to find a way to cleanly embed the audio. lol

@scaredycatguide & @sykochica Thank You 4 Your comments & Thank You @sykochica 4 Your post.

I'm 10 days new and hopefully on a fast track of learning. I DEFINITELY can hear that Beatles song in my head playing over & over again... >> : ~ ))

UpVoted, Following Both & will Resteem a bit later. Thanks again to You Both !!

        ~~~ STEEM On !!! ~~~

I'm more than happy to help out!
I remember what it was like when I first started waaaaaaay back when. These were all things I'd loved to have had available at the time, so trying to make it easily available for the influx of new users. :)

Always feel free to ask questions. :)

@sykochica Thank You... I've got plenty of questions but am working 2 shifts today on 5 hours sleep... Thank You again, especially what You do to help on a regular basis to the community...UpVoted. THIS is what really attracts me to Steemit & STEEM... Purchased some Steem Power early this morning close to the lows and I'm in this for the long term. Thanks again !!

                ~~~ STEEM On !!! ~~~

Oh nice!! Cheap steem is always a plus!!

Definitely no rush on the questions...it's a standing offer. :)

Get some rest...enjoy sleeps!

You are one of the most helpful people in this community, and there are a lot of them. I always see you in chat patiently helping people out and your posts are amazing. I wouldn't have gotten to where I am on SteemIt, though still very new, without your help. Thank You!!!!

I agree so much with you! ! Am following you!

Thank you! I get a lot of enjoyment helping people out.
The kind words are quite appreciated!

Wow! Very good post I have to say! I wish I have read this before I introduced myself. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! Oh, I know the feeling. There were so many things I wish I had known when first joining here.

Honestly, considering it's been 7 months and you didn't make very much on your first introduction post, I think you would be just fine making a new intro post saying something like, "It's been a while and I wanted to introduce myself to those of you haven't gotten to know me."

Give it a try, nobody will have a problem with it...and please send me the link if you do! :)

I will @sykochica. :-). Thanks.

Hehe!
I can't look away!

great...rs and upvote for u....

Upvoted. But still unseen. I started to miss Facebook seen, lol.

Thank you!
Even though it's easier now for new people compared to last year...it does still take time. I think you've got some awesome photos on your blog, so I'm pretty confident you will get there.

Have you written an introduction post yet? I didn't see one on your blog.

Fantastic resource you have created! As a new comer to steemit I am sure it is going to be very useful in trying to build my following. Great advice. Thank you!

Steem on!

Thank you!
I'm happy to be helpful. Feel free to ask questions anytime.