The Big Secret Revealed

It's been ages since my last post about Hive, so I think it's time to write another one today. Maybe with this post I can change your mind and make you see the possibilities Hive has to offer, from a different angle.

Not long ago I came across a post by accident, but was very glad I did as the post is brilliant. It was written in 2019, but it's still very valid and will be valid for a long time.

The post is called The Business of Blogging and How To Take Over The World, was authored by nonameslefttouse and discusses Hive, as a business. Please go read it first, as you won't regret it, even if you're not a newbie anymore.

Why is the post interesting and important too? Because it explains why you should plant the seeds instead of eating them and why you should treat Hive as a business.

The Beginning

Being here day by day, reading posts day by day makes you know the user base a little better and you can see how people think. If you want to understand them, you need to know how they think.

Many are joining Hive, hoping to make some money. Hive is not like any other social media platforms, it's more than those web2 platforms out there. I suspect the majority of the new users come through onboarders (friends, family members). This means they get a presentation about Hive first and most likely the keyword during the presentation is make money. I suppose this is the easiest way to convince anyone to join. Yes, you can make money on Hive and mentioning this to onboardees is not wrong, but is it enough?

I suppose obtaining financial independence and financial stability would be the ultimate goal for everyone, but judging from what I see, not many know how to get it, neither are they willing to learn how to get there.

The easiest way to try to earn on Hive at the beginning seems to be by blogging. Author and curation rewards are distributed after a 7 day period. One part of your payout is powered up, transforming it into HP (HivePower), the other part is landing in your wallet as liquid HBD (Hive Backed Dollar). There are cases when we get paid in Hive, HP and HBD as well, but let's not complicate things for now as it's not the case at the moment.

At the beginning, it would be recommended to convert your HBD into Hive and power it up, to be able to post, comment and curate without restrictions. Some do that, which is great for both the user and Hive, while in other cases all the liquid Hive hits the exchanges the day it is distributed. Some don't even take the time to learn how to transfer their Hive to the exchanges, they rather let their onboarder do it, which makes it look even worse.

Obviously you are free to decide what you want to do with your earnings and it's your right to cash it out, but is it in your best interest as well? It's nice to get some dollars or local currency, which can serve to buy something, but as you can't have the cake and eat it too, this equals to eating the seeds.

How To Make Money?

Yes, this is the big question in life, how to make money? Hive is offering a solution to everyone, by distributing rewards from the reward pool. How? That's a good question and if you really want to know the answer, you need to put in the necessary effort to learn how.

Relying on author rewards is one way to make ends meet, if you can earn enough, but it's never going to make you rich or get you financial freedom. It's like a normal job as you still have to show up day by day, do your post and s rewards are not guaranteed, your earnings depend on quite a lot of factors.

I see many newbies rushing to delegate whatever little stake they have accumulated, to get some money. Some are delegating all their stake and are happy as they are getting paid. Delegating is a good thing, as you are supporting the project and you're getting paid too, but delegating all your stake too early, when you're active on chain is not the ideal option for a newbie.

Not long ago I saw an old user advertising their curation trail services. This means you follow their curation trail and automatically vote what they are voting on, to get some curation rewards. They promised maximized curation earnings, which can be tempting of course, but when I checked their curation APR, it was obvious that they could do way better. (Most likely some of you may be asking yourselves what curation APR is. Yeas, there's such thing on Hive.)

Responsibility?

The truth is, everyone wants to get rich and right away if possible. Everyone wants the money without working for it. Delegating your stake to get paid means you're letting others use your money in exchange for some rewards. Following curation trails means you curate on posts other choose for you. In both cases you are accepting the decisions others are making for you and getting paid accordingly.

The question is, how do you want to achieve financial freedom, without taking responsibility for your actions and finances?

Most people are blaming the government for the bad economical situation of their country, their boss for not paying enough for the work they do, banks for not paying higher interest rates and so on. There's always someone to blame and that someone is always someone else.

Crypto is meant to replace the old, obsolete financial system, separate money from politics and the state, stop money printing and all kinds of manipulation. Crypto also means owning your crypto and you can have that on Hive. You own your keys, you own your wallet. Yet, many choose to rely on others to do the job for them, then complain for not getting enough and blame those who have more. You swap one master for another, instead of learning how to earn and manage your finances yourself.

Unfortunately history has the habit of repeating itself and if you've been here long enough, you see the same excuses over and over again.

I didn't know.

Obviously you can't know everything. Hive is a complex place, it's not so easy to understand how it works and learning is a process that takes time. However, how many are putting in the work to really learn how the financial part of Hive works, instead of relying on others?

Unknown Concepts

Every time there's a discussion about earnings, someone (or quite a lot of people actually) gets offended and the perpetual concept of rich must give the poor comes back. Newcomers are amazed by how much some users have and think those must help newbies at any cost. Newbies actually get a lot of help on Hive, there are programs focusing on helping this category of users, however, living with this type of entitlement is the fastest road to nowhere. It stops you from learning, working hard and evolving. Many are leaving because their dreams don't come true. Hive is just an example, but if you look further, you'll see this type of behavior in life, wherever you go.

How about making some changes?
How about making an effort to learn something every day, to be a better version of yourself tomorrow?
How about learning how you can earn on Hive, other than just posting?
How about focusing on making your Hive wallet a saving account, that can be grow in time, to serve as a safety blanket or even more?
How about learning what passive income is and put your money to work, instead of you working for money?
How about focusing on helping others grow, instead of just taking?
How about learning to handle your own finances, instead of always depending on others?

Those times, when you just walked in an office and the clerk took care of everything for you are long gone and never coming back. Today we do a lot of works that a few years ago were handled by trained professionals. Today you are the professional who has to handle things and how trained you are, depends only on you. The outcome depends on you as well. There are a lot of possibilities, but nothing is for free. If you're here for the money, you should learn how to get it. Cheating, stealing and waiting for handouts is not the way. Just my two cents.

If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:

• Communities Explained - Newbie Guide
• Cross Posting And Reposting Explained, Using PeakD
• Hive Is Not For Me
• How To Pump Your Reputation Fast - Newbie Guide
• Tips And Tricks & Useful Hive Tools For Newbies
• More Useful Tools On Hive - Newbie Guide
• Community List And Why It Is Important To Post In The Right Community
• Witnesses And Proposals Explained - Newbie Guide
• To Stake, Or Not To Stake - Newbie Guide
• Tags And Tagging - Newbie Guide
• Newbie Expectations And Reality