Dear Fellow Hiver,
I heard on the grapevine that you feel like you're getting nowhere with Hive. But you liked the sound of Hive. When you created an account you loved the look and feel of it. You saw the potential and you were excited. I get it! I felt the same way.
But now I understand that you're feeling a little flat, a little deflated, a little discouraged.
You've been trying to do all the things you were taught or that you've seen others do and you're getting very few upvotes, very little Hive coming into your account, and the Hive price is nowhere near what it was when you started. Boo!
I hear you. Yep! That sucks and I totally get why you're feeling unmotivated and might want to leave.
So that's why I'm writing you this love letter, to see if I can offer some helpful tips to get you moving and grooving here on Hive. Because it is, as you saw, an awesome place with incredible potential and I'd hate for you to miss out on this opportunity if there was a simple way I could help.
So, you ready? Let's do this!
10 tips to make Hive work better for you
1️⃣ Know your strengths (and play to them)
In the 15 months I've been on Hive so far I've seen soooo many different strategies for growing a following and a healthy bank account on Hive. So many!
And what I've noticed is that the people who have been on here a long time and have a much higher reputation than me and way bigger Hive accounts than me have all found their groove. That is, they've found their way of being on Hive.
- Those who are good at writing, write a lot.
- Those who are good at speaking to a camera do videos.
- Those who are good at reading, consume and curate a lot of content.
Consider what you naturally like to do and are good at and play to those strengths. There is no one way to do Hive. Yes, there are some rules to follow but while one person is podcasting another is sharing their incredible photos with short captions and another still is running contests so others on Hive can create new content.
2️⃣ Create and consume content on topics that you love.
Love gaming? Focus on that. On a mission to teach people about vegan cooking? Do that. Obsessed with mushrooms and know more about fungi than almost anyone you know? Tell us about it.
Everyone has one or more things they totally love to talk about with their friends or family or anyone who will listen. Everyone has one or more things that that occupy their thoughts every day. Whatever those one or two or ten things are for you, create, consume and/or curate content about them.
You're allowed to ignore all the things on Hive that don't interest you and simply focus on the things that do. And it's so much easier to ride the times when HIVE drops low (or even lower again) when you are busy writing, reading, speaking, photographing and/or sharing about stuff you love talking about anyway.
And while we're on the topic, please show your fellow Hivers respect by creating something good. Make your post good enough that you're proud of it. Make it good enough that it's worth someone else's time to consume it. It doesn't have to be perfect; sometimes I spend more than an hour on a single long teaching post like this and they're never perfect, but they're good and I'm proud of them. So aim for good. Make yourself proud. Then there's a good chance others will be impressed when they consume what you created... and upvote you.
3️⃣ Find your rhythm and honour it
Some people like the routine and consistency of posting every day. My partner posts twice every day and he can do that sustainably and enjoys it. He's found his rhythm. If I thought that what it took to be successful on Hive I would have before I'd even really begun.
I ignored what he does and I worked out what works for me.
It seems that what works best for me is to write posts on a wide range of topics. I'm often sharing much longer teaching posts (like this one), or telling stories from my day and I very rarely write every single day.
Instead, I'm aiming for 2-3 posts per week and I do them when I feel like, "Oooh! I could write about that!". And then I go do it. That is, I'm following my inspiration, my intuition, my flow and I'm far less structured and routine in my writing than my partner is.
Two different people, two different rhythms. We're both honouring what feels true for us and that's what's made Hive feel both sustainable and enjoyable so far and we've both made more progress than we were expecting when we started.
4️⃣ Find someone to do Hive with you
This could be a neighbour, a university friend, a family member or anyone who is (ideally) physically close to you and is enthusiastic about the possibilities that Hive provides.
I've said to Brad (my partner) several times over the last year that if it wasn't for him working on Hive every day then I'm not sure I would have done much with this platform. But because there's two of us and we're both into it it's something that we get to work on together. It's another thing for us to play with and bond over as we grow together.
It also means when we have any challenges we can tackle them together. I'm not alone in this. And while I reckon he would have done alright on Hive without my company, maybe you're more like me? Maybe you need a buddy who is also on Hive so you can do it together.
And if there's really no-one close to you that is interested in Hive or crypto or blockchain then the next best workaround is to make friends on Hive that you don't have any other way of connecting with except through Hive. Which brings me to #5.
5️⃣ Make friends with people on Hive
I've heard it said before and I totally feel the same way:
"I came for the coin but I've stayed for the community."
If I was just here for the money I would be missing out on all the other incredible things that Hive offers. I've shared before that the connections I've been able to make on Hive have made my life so much richer. I have Hive friends in more countries now than I've ever been able to visit. I've found meaningful connections with people I simply couldn't find with the Web 2.0 althorigms controlling what I see.
So make the most of the wide array of friends you can make on here. While I'm lucky that my posts are now attract quite a lot of reads, regular upvotes and reblogs, if it wasn't for the richness of connections I've made through Hive I'm not sure I'd care much about staying on here. It's the people and the relationships that make the accumulating of HIVE and HBD so much more fun.
6️⃣ Choose communities that feel good to you and follow their rules
Creating content and only putting it on your blog won't get you a lot of views or upvotes on your content. What works way better is to find communities where the theme or focus of the group is something that genuinely interests you and participate in whatever happens in that group. Participating is the keyword here.
I see people posting their content in communities but never commenting on other people's stuff or actively engaging with others or encouraging them. A community isn't a space to just dump and run, it's a community: a group of people with whom you can engage, grow with, learn from, be with.
So spend a bit of time consuming other people's content in communities you like. You might be surprised by how many friends you make in the process.
7️⃣ Reply to the comments people make on your posts.
Another behaviour I see regularly on here is that people spend a lot of time on creating their posts but then don't allocate time or energy to reply to comments. If someone has taken the time to say something on your post then it's a really good idea to reply.
Sure, sometimes people write "throw away" comments that don't say that much. When that's the case I usually just acknowledge the comment with an emoji.
If someone has asked a question then can you answer it? If someone has said something kind it's a great idea to thank them! You will be amazed how much your Hive account will grow over time if you treat the people who comment on your posts (and reblog your posts) like human beings who deserve your attention and thanks.
8️⃣ Be open to learning. The more you learn--and apply--the more your Hive account will grow.
We're all new here. All of us. Even those with reputations over 80 and accounts with hundreds of thousands of Hive. Because the world of crypto and Web 3.0 is new for all of us. None of us grew up with this (if you're an adult reading this, that is!). We all had to learn from scratch.
So be willing to learn. The more you realise that we're all new and we're all in this together, the faster your account will grow. Why? Because the only way to spot your mistakes (or be open to feedback when you make a mistake) is to be actively learning.
You can do that through joining a community focused on learning about Hive or through joining the Discord server of your favourite community, or both.
You can also learn a lot by noticing what other people who have been on Hive longer than you, who run communities, who are Dolphins or Orcas (or perhaps Whales if you can understand what the heck they're talking about 🤣) or anyone you can identify clearly knows a lot more than you do.
Find your role models--the people who are more successful than you so far on Hive, who demonstrate really good, ethical, kind behaviour on Hive, who talk about things that interest you--and model off them. That is, copy their (good) behaviours in whatever way makes sense for you and your life.
9️⃣ Remember that what goes around comes around.
Find people you actually like and upvote their stuff if you think they've created something great. Help them if you think you can. Give them tokens in the comments if you have any to give.
If you can think about the ways you can give to others then before long people will be giving to you too. But if you can, give in order to help other people because it feels good to help people not to rack up favours or expect things in return.
Give when you want to. Help the people you like. Encourage the people who create content you adore. Be a cheerleader, if that's your thing. If it's not, then do whatever feels naturally and authentically true for you.
But if you never give to anyone else, if you're only thinking about what you can get you've missed the point of this entire platform which is for all of us to help all of us. Together, we are better.
🔟 Be grateful for what you do get instead of focusing on what you think you should have by now.
This one is less strategic than the other tips but possibly more important than almost any of the others. Being grateful is a practice, it's a practice of remembering and realising what we already have. I'm better at doing this in some areas of my life than others and it shows. The places where I have the most growth and the best results are the places in my life where I remember to focus on what I already have.
Yes, I have a vision of where it is I want to go. So maybe you have a goal to accumulate 1,000 HP or become a Minnow or see your posts receive more than $10 in upvotes. Goals are great! And the things that will help you get there, other than the tips I've previously mentioned, are being able to simulateously know where you're going and appreciate where you are right now.
So can you practice? Can you practice being grateful when you receive $5 in upvotes on the best post you've ever written? Can you practice being grateful when someone gives you a token you weren't expecting? Can you practice being grateful when someone says something kind and encouraging on your post?
If you can get in the habit of focusing on what you already have not only do I know it will help your Hive account grow over time, it feels so much better than thinking you should be somewhere different than where you are.
And that's it, ten tips to help you grow your Hive account! I'd love to know in the comments which of these tips was your favourite and/or which one of these you know will help you to grow your account even more.
Sincerely,
Caroline (aka consciouscat)
P.S. Thanks to kerrislravenhill from the Ladies of Hive Community for the excellent prompt this week that "prompted" this post 😉
A reputation 52 friend says that she no longer wants to be active in Hive, claiming that she can't make the time, the coin is so low valued, and only a few people ever read her posts.
What could you do to encourage and help her to keep trying? Writing tips? Time management? Other?
If you're a woman and would like to participate in the weekly contests run by the team in the Ladies of Hive Community, click here to join the group. All womxn welcome.