Unless you've been living under a rock, it's a good bet that you've heard that *"things are really happening"* at LeoFinance.

At the moment, the LeoFinance community is thriving in large part because of the *engagement level* of the community, which reminds me a lot of the engagement levels people experienced on the old Steem(it) platform in the second half of 2017. 

There's little doubt that communities *thrive* on engagement. But let's take a deeper look, starting with the nature of *content creation* on the web.

![0810Pens.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/SfRcWaL.jpg)

## *You Need "Creators" AND "Consumers!"*

A common marketing strategy — and this extends well *beyond* just blockchain/crypto social venues — of web venues that offer *rewards* is to emphasize that people can get *paid* for their content. 

Fair enough.

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The often overlooked part of that equation is that it's ultimately an unsustainable approach unless you also have content *consumers.* Perhaps this points a little bit to the issue we're seeing on Hive proper... there's endless *creation* but not very much *consuming.*

It's easy to make the argument that people like to *get paid* for their but there's more to it than that: Most content creators you'll ask are also motivated by knowing that their articles are *read and appreciated* by an engaged audience.

It's a pretty safe bet to say that there are about 600 *million* blogs on the web... *BUT* only a little over 30 million — 5% are *active.* A very large percentage of the *inactive* blogs end up that way because their owners got the sense that they were offering a message... and *NOBODY WAS READING IT!* So they threw in the towel and quit, after 3, 11, 23 posts or whatever.

The power of the *intangible* reward of simply knowing that *"someone read and liked my post!"* is often underestimated, *particularly* in terms of its importance in *retaining* an active blogger in the long term.

Hence the importance of meaningful comments on web content... and why I am really excited about what's happening with LeoFinance! 

## *With LeoFinance, That's not All!*

Whereas rewards and engagement go a long way, they do not represent the be-all, end-all answer to anything.

One of the other things LeoFinance is getting right is the continuous development and updates that creates the sense of *"things happening."* Add to that having a genuine focus and roadmap — presented with a good degree of transparency — and you have another key element in making a venue *"sticky."*

Yes, *sticky* is a scientific term!

Let's face it, we all like to be part of something that feels like it is *alive* and *going places.* And when improvements and new features are continuously presented, it's part of what drives *brand loyalty.* We might not admit it *openly,* but we want to stick around to be part of what happens *next.*

In some ways, that was a significant part of the decline of old Steem... there was this sense of *stagnation,* like nothing was ever going to happen to move the community *forward.*

![CC0192ComputerMouse.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/xyKBQqe.jpg)
*Yes Virginia, this blog really DOES contain a cat...*

## *All it Takes is WORK... and More Work...*

I only created this account some seven weeks ago, as an *"alt"* to my primary account. I actually was never planning to create top level posts; this was simply an effort to contribute to *engagement.*

SteemLeo — as it was called back then — was the *second "SCOT Tribe"* I grew interested in and staked a few tokens in... and I have followed it ever since, because it *made sense* as a niche community. 

And that's the final point I wanted to make here, before I go back to my usual commenting pattern: You have to start with a good and meaningful idea, and then you have to constantly *WORK* it.

I have been part of web communities — and web community building — for over 20 years, and the common denominator for thriving communities is that you must start with a focused and meaningful core idea, and then you have to *work at it, every single day!* There are no *"vacations"* in community building... at least not until the community reaches *"critical mass"* where it becomes self-sustaining. And, trust me, that takes *thousands* of loyal regular contributors. 

As part of the Hive-Engine extended universe, I see a fair number of communities that *could* follow in the footsteps of LeoFinance. Sadly, many of them have never moved beyond the *"let's create a community and a token and see what happens"* stage... I am not wise as to *why,* but often the discovery of *just how much work* it is to build and grow something is the deterrent.

And that's why I find myself here on LeoFinance... and even shilling it with a post like this!

*CuratorCat out... 06 NOV 2020 21:48PST*
*All photos are my own*

Posted Using [LeoFinance <sup>Beta</sup>](https://leofinance.io/hive-167922/@curatorcat.leo/behold-the-power-of-engagement-but-that-s-not-all)