I saw a post written by @mikey few hours ago titled "8 Reasons Your Post Payout Sucks & How to Change It Right Now". While he made some very good points, he also made some points which I disagree with, hence, this counter post.
Below are the points raised by @mikey
#1. Your Post Sucks
Not all posts, mine included, are good. Some posts fall flat because they are:
- Too short or too long without being interesting
- Poorly formatted
- Not related to sports
- Plagiarism
To fix this, view top earning articles and see what they are writing, how it's formatted, the topic, etc. Then, ask others for feedback. There are plenty of writers here who will look over your article and tell you how to improve it.
I will slightly disagree with @mikey's claim that some people aren't earning well because their posts are not interesting. Scorum is about blogging your passion or your views on a subject matter. Sports posts is not some sort of comedy or jokes so you shouldn't expect a writer to write a clownish post.
I will also disagree with @mikey's claim that some people aren't earning well because they post stolen content. There are a lot of quality writers here who aren't earning well due to the fact that they are not connected to the whales. If they are, believe me! they will make hundreds of Dollars on their posts whether it's unique content or not. Most of the whales that upvote @mikey's posts at 100% will probably give less than 20% to another person with the same content or a better content. This means that getting 100% upvote from most of the whales is almost impossible but they give it out to their own clique and that's why it's very hard to see people that are not connected to the whales having high earnings on their posts. A lot of us are left at the mercy of the whales of the whales to earn good bucks.
#2. No One Cares About Your Great Post
In the episode, I throw an amazing writer under the bus – Jon Bonomo, sorry bro. He wrote a fantastic piece on figure skating that took a lot of time and effort. It was probably one of the better posts I've seen on Scorum, but it was one of his least successful posts. Why? Because figure skating.
I give upvotes based on how good an article is and how much I care about it. Since I know nothing about ice skating or cricket, I rarely read and upvote cricket articles. However, there will be a time when there are plenty of other cricket and skating fans who can support your article, just make sure that you're writing something that they are interested in.
I think it doesn't make sense to outrightly discriminate people's niche. Telling them no one gives a damn about their posts because their niches aren't popular is not a good idea. There are very few people on this platform who are proficient with certain niches and I feel that it's up to the community to support people who make content on those niches as a way of supporting them.
According to @mikey, he said Jon's post was well written and researched, but he couldn't express his benevolence simply because the niche doesn't interest him. I feel that he could have just given him an upvote just for the sake of appreciating his effort.
If we neglect some posts because we are not familiar with the niches, how then do we expect those niches to grow on scorum? I feel that there shouldn't be disparity in content, therefore, the community should endeavour to support people who blog on less popular niches because that's the only way that they can grow.
#3. You’re Not Networking Enough
What have you done to increase your followers? If your payouts are low, it could be because you haven't been networking with the community. To fix this, join the Scorum writer's channel on Telegram and several of the curation channels on Discord, make comments on posts discussing the article and introducing yourself, and make sure to share some personal sports-related stories to create a connection with your readers.
I completely agree with this. People need effective communication in order to survive on blogging platforms. You need to upvote people's posts and comment on their post so that they can reciprocate. They shouldn't just drop their posts and zoom off hoping for imaginary $100 that may not come.
#4. You’re Not Supporting Other Writers
“If you’re not out there helping other people, voting other people, engaging with their content, you can’t expect to get it (support/votes) back,” I mention during the podcast episode. This was the case for the writer complaining in the Telegram chat. He or she had 100% Voting Power and was not supporting other writers. If you're not helping others, why would they help you?
I'm very fortunate for every upvote I get (thank you by the way!), and I try to pay it back by upvoting great comments on my posts and by upvoting other articles here on Scorum.
I completely agree with this.
#5. Bad Timing
When are you posting? I have learned the hard way that the time you post an article impacts your post payout significantly. When I post late at night (after 8 PM CDT), most of Scorum land is fast asleep.
While I don't have the statistics to prove my theory, I have the most success when I post around 9-10 AM CDT in the morning and then again around 1-3 PM CDT. Remember, if your followers are asleep, they can't upvote you, and you miss your opportunity to "trend."
I will have to disagree with this point. We all have different timezones, so I don't think it makes sense to tell people to drop their posts around a particular time. My own morning might be your own night and vice versa, so it's really difficult to know the best time to post because of difference in timezone.
#6. You're Publishing Too Many Articles Back-to-Back
If someone just gave you a big, fat, juicy upvote on a post, they won’t be able to give you another one right away. Voting Power is limited. Space your posts out so you're not draining the Voting Power of your followers.
Use the draft-saving function to finish posts ahead of time and publish them when the people who follow you are most likely to be active on Scorum, and spread them out! I would never recommend publishing another article less than three hours after you've published a post.
This is very true. People should stop dishing out numerous posts daily. A post or two is okay. When you make too many posts daily, some people will see you as being desperate to rip the reward pool and may be discouraged to upvote your posts. But then, we have some big boys here who make more than 3 posts per day with good bucks on it 😐
#7. Hard News vs. Soft News
Do you know the difference between hard and soft news? Hard news is a breaking news story, like "Khalil Mack has been traded to the Chicago Bears." This news can be found on Google and 1,000 other websites. Unless you're the first person breaking this news on Scorum, you're not likely to get any upvotes for it because people have already heard about this story.
Soft news includes articles that are relevant for longer periods of time, like "The 10 Best Chicago Bears Linebackers of All Time." These articles do better here on Scorum because you're adding value to the reader by including your opinion AND the article is relevant even after a couple of days. If you're the fourth person to write that Khalil Mack has been traded, no one is going to care, but if you're telling everyone 5 reasons why Khalil Mack is the greatest linebacker in NFL history, this is a soft news story that more people may be willing to read and upvote.
This is also true. People should try to search a post on google before writing about it. If a post has been written before by someone and then you come again with yours, people may not be interested in reading it because they've read something similar.
#8. Bad Titles
In Episode 2 of the Scorum Community Podcast, @swolesome compares the title of an article to your Tinder dating profile. Do you want to show off your best and sexiest picture, or a random one you found from 10 years ago? Working on your titles is like finding the best picture for your profile.
You need someone to click on your article in order to get an upvote, and your picture + the first image you use in your post is what will attract them, so you better make them good. Want to know if you're headline is good? Use this free headline analyzer to check.
Let me add to this. People should always try to make their title fascinating. Even if you have a very good content, a bad title will prevent it from attracting viewers.
These are my own views.. No pun intended
I drop my pen at this juncture
Thank you for reading 😎
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