Engagement: Putting yourself in the picture

Presenting your posts here on hive is more than just a few words - One must have a hook, something to grab people's attention and that's where photo's come in handy. They capture attention as people scroll and may entice someone to stop in and take a look.

When I shoot photos I often think is this going to end up on hive as part of one of my posts and considering I post here a lot there's a fair chance it will...Still, I never pitch myself as a photographer so again, average will do.

That works for photos but with hive in general I think average isn't always the way to go; A little more effort is required.

Many come here for the monetary rewards they figure will flow like champagne from the skies...They post an introduction post, a blurry photo or two and wait for the big bucks to roll in, but they don't often roll in do they...Throw up a few more poorly-crafted posts...Nothing...Resort to shitty memes...Nothing...Hmm...

There's often a reason for this...It's not a phenomenon or a mystery in my opinion anyway...It's, lack of engagement! A lack of effort. Here, reward comes through effort.

I don't know how many times I've reached out to new, and not so new, people with a comment or two...And have lost count of how many have ignored me, or replied with cursory one or two word comments. Admittedly some respond well and I respond more...Then...Nothing. It's frustrating, especially knowing that it's people engaging with people that's going to drive this platform forward.

OK, I get it, maybe people just don't want to engage with the G-dog and that's cool you know? I don't get upset or lonely. But I certainly feel a little concerned about the lack of engagement on the platform, not just from new accounts but from long-established ones too. Sure, they might comment within their own little circles, often blabbing about how we need more engagement, but then not engaging with new people, and others in the general public. Quite unacceptable.

It's not legit y'all.

It's not ok to ignore others, fail to engage, then whine about lack of engagement. That's not going to help retain users. I'm not having a crack though, it's ok, we all get busy...But for fuck sake, do you reckon you could comment twice a day on a new/different account each time? Those two comments could make a massive difference to those accounts...And ultimately the platform...Especially if everyone did it, every day. It's not that hard y'all.

---

You may not know this but I have an alternative account.

A couple know about it, I think maybe three or four people. I blog there daily, some 150-250 words each time with a decent picture and I generally get cents in reward and sometimes a bit more through a vote from a larger account. Generally cents though.

I started this account to see how difficult it was to establish a new account.

You know what? IT'S HARD! Like, really hard.

Here's the thing though...I don't engage using that account...I don't make comments. This is because I don't have the time. I'll respond to comments but not comment on other people posts. That's why that account isn't growing that well. It was/is a great experiment.

---

On my primary account I comment a lot. It helps that I curate for @c-squared and @curangel as I'm always looking for new people to curate. I also track my engagement on @abh12345's Engagement League so my weekly engagement (number of comments, characters, accounts commented on and voted on etc.) can be found there going back several months - It's a lot of engagement; A lot.

I'm not trying to ding my own bell here, just talk about the power of engagement and the need for it.

So, my suggestions:

• Get your ass onto Asher's EL League...A simple message on any of the Engagement League posts requesting it will suffice. This will allow you to track your performance and give you something to aim at.
• Comment with interest and relevance upon people posts, not just your crew but new people, to the platform and new to you. Keep the momentum up too, daily. Your comment will mean a lot to a user who gets none.
• Post with passion and personality. If you've just commented on someone's post there's a chance they will look at your own blog (I do this) and if they see stinky shit then they may not want to engage. You want them to see something interesting.
• Set yourself a target...Work out what getting into the top fifty in the EL takes and aim for it...Then the top thirty, top ten and so on.
• Get into Communities and look for posts and people to comment on - It doesn't matter that you may not love what you see, as long as you relate in some way, have an opinion or thought, you can make a comment.
• Encourage everyone else you know here to do the same thing; Daily.

That's pretty much it.

Doing this will drive your own brand forwards, will almost certainly increase your rewards per post and with some of the larger accounts now focusing on upvoting comments more and voting outside of their own Community, @ocd for instance, the dividends gained from a few simple comments could be large.

Doing the above with a little consistency will help you to put yourself in the picture here on hive and in a short time frame you will find your followers and rewards are increasing, your knowledge may increase and certainly your enjoyment will.

So, go and review the dot points and get on it y'all. Trust me, you will benefit from doing so. I promise.