When I'm a whale, I will ____________. How would you fill in the blank?

I think we all have our dreams about making it big and what we're going to do when we become whales. But how do we get there?

Now, you're probably checking my rep right now and thinking, what do you know about being a whale?

Nothing. LOL

But I do know a little about success. By the time I was 22, I had helped start a school and was making enough to buy a duplex (why didn't I buy crypto ... ughhh). I ended up training three people to take my position so I could leave everything and teach in the Middle East. But that's another story.

Since I was 16, I've worked all kinds of jobs ... pretty much taking whatever opportunity presented itself and learning as I went along. With every position, I learned how to succeed. And I think that what I learned there applies to this platform too.

Don't worry, you won't have to wait until I become a whale to see what I mean...

Success comes by learning, doing, and striving for improvement.

Which whales on this platform do you admire most?

Whales tend to get a lot of attention and scrutiny. But this gives you the opportunity to see how they respond and what they're doing to get all that attention.

Find the ones that you admire and learn from them. Imitate what they do. Don't spam their blogs and wait for them to give you handouts ... instead, do what they do.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

What kind of content do they create? Do you like the format, style of writing, regularity of their posts? Whatever it is, try to do that with your own content.

A few quick reminders: 1. Do NOT copy and paste their work as your own. 2. Do NOT translate their work and post it as your own. 3. Do NOT translate their work into three other languages and back into English and post it as your own. [I actually had students who would do this ... and I'm pretty sure I found someone here who had done that as well.]

What kind of behavior do you expect from whales?

I've seen whales (and dolphins) who are consistently giving back to the community. I've also seen whales who place huge last-minute bids on bots and ruin the ROI for everyone ... 😕

What do you like to see whales doing? Do that too!

Maybe you're thinking ... "I love it when a whale helps out their followers, but I don't have enough to share right now."

But that's not true.

Everyone has something they can offer and contribute.

Maybe you can't give your followers a lot of Steem or SBD. But what can you give them?

Sharing with the community

I'm just plankton, but I recently held a design giveaway. Participants didn't have to do anything besides share their favorite colors, an image, etc. so I could tailor the design to them.

You might have a skill you can share. You might just provide really great content. Maybe you share something that you've learned since being on Steemit. Maybe you just show gratitude to your readers.

Helping your readers

I think we all like to see whales who give back to their faithful followers and readers, whether that's by upvoting and replying to comments or giving out rewards.

Guess what? We can be doing the same!

And don't stop there! Make it easier for your followers to get good curation rewards. By posting on a schedule, followers can upvote my content during the peak time (20-25 minutes after I post) and HOPEFULLY maximize their curation reward.

Additionally, I'm using the SBD that I've earned to buy upvotes from bots. Though I'm still testing out how this works, my goal is to put my "earnings" back into my posts so that they can be distributed among those who regularly upvote my content. I may take a loss at times, but if my followers can benefit in curation rewards, then it wasn't a complete waste!

Closing thoughts

I recently heard a celebrity comedian being asked, "You're the top celebrity in your country right now. How has that changed you?"

He responded, "I couldn't wait to look down on everyone once I made it big, but now I realize that if I did that, I'd lose my ratings." 😄

But in all seriousness, if we think we'll start being generous just as soon as we become whales ... then we're wrong. We have to practice being the whales now that we want to be someday in the future.

Happily, Steemit is the type of platform that rewards generosity. Some whales were lucky and struck it big. But many whales will acknowledge that they couldn't be where they are without the support of their friends and followers.

How do you help your followers?

If you have thoughts on how plankton and minnows can be generous and help others on Steemit, please let me know in the comments! I'd love more ideas and suggestions.

If you liked what you read, but aren't sure how to act swim like a whale, please leave a comment below. Hopefully, I can give some advice and if not, then maybe a whale will happen by who can answer your questions! :D

Please considering sharing this post with your followers. Maybe if more people acted like generous whales, we'd find this a happier sea to swim in!