#### Time to put on the rose colored glasses.  Here it is in a nutshell.  You need to start posting while the price is low, and ignore the dollar signs.

#### It's like how mining difficulty in Bitcoin can go down if mining activity drops (which has never happened for Bitcoin, mind you).

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/steemimgimgs/2016/10/24/357908606_55397a7076_bad081.jpg)

---

"Author difficulty" on STEEM has dropped.  A lot.  This *does not* mean you should post low-quality content, although, if you do, you'll probably do ok.  But I recommend posting your best content now.

You won't see big rewards in dollars.  Under the hood, though, you'll be getting the highest STEEM Power since before July.

Here's what I mean.  These are some of the posts I've made with high-ish payout, compared to VESTS:

| Date | Post | Earnings | VESTS | Ratio |
|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
| 2016-07-15 | [OpenBazaar API Ruby Client](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/openbazaar-api-ruby-client) | `$119.39` | `387.885 kV` | `0.308` |
| 2016-07-18 | [Bob the Builder Lives in a Socialist Society](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/bob-the-builder-lives-in-a-socialist-society) | `$46.09` | `31.324 kV` | `1.470` |
| 2016-07-19 | [Blockchain Fiction: Warner to be Executed](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/blockchain-fiction-warner-to-be-executed) | `$330.25` | `222.232 kV` | `1.486` |
| 2016-07-28 | [Re: Over $1.4 million distributed to Steem community! Details inside!](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/re-masteryoda-over-usd1-4-million-distributed-to-steem-community-details-inside-20160728t031345979z) | `$613.50` | `365.739 kV` | `1.677` |
| 2016-08-12 | [Dilution: Not a Tax; Not Theft](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/dilution-not-a-tax-not-theft) | `$21.23` | `19.250 kV` | `1.103` |
| 2016-08-15 | [Depressed Cloud Instance](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/depressed-cloud-instance) | `$10.68` | `12.339 kV` | `0.865` |
| 2016-08-22 | [radiator - STEEM Ruby API Client](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/radiator-steem-ruby-api-client) | `$231.75` | `271.656 kV` | `0.853` |
| 2016-08-25 | [How to Write a Ruby on Rails App for STEEM](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/how-to-write-a-ruby-on-rails-app-for-steem) | `$44.11` | `51.960 kV` | `0.849` |
| 2016-09-17 | [How to Write a Follower Feed in Ruby](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/how-to-write-a-follower-feed-in-ruby) | `$26.25` | `124.234 kV` | `0.211` |
| 2016-09-19 | [Radiator Update: Streaming](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/radiator-update-streaming) | `$25.58` | `136.760 kV` | `0.187` |
| 2016-09-20 | [Crab Bucket - The STEEM Blockchain as a Local Database](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/crab-bucket-the-steem-blockchain-as-a-local-database) | `$4.81` | `27.500 kV` | `0.175` |
| 2016-09-24 | [Identifying Economic Cause and Effect](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/identifying-economic-cause-and-effect) | `$16.37` | `105.953 kV` | `0.154` |
| 2016-09-25 | [A Liberty Minded Assessment of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/a-liberty-minded-assessment-of-jamie-oliver-s-food-revolution) | `$20.87` | `135.086 kV` | `0.154` |
| 2016-10-01 | [5 Minutes with Charlie Shrem](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/5-minutes-with-charlie-shrem) | `$67.04` | `380.444 kV` | `0.176` |
| 2016-10-13 | [I Miss Her](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/i-miss-her) | `$19.26` | `161.030 kV` | `0.120` |
| 2016-10-24 | [Kitchen Doors](https://steemdb.com/tag/@inertia/kitchen-doors) | `$20.18` | `239.096 kV` | `0.084` |

In the VESTS column, it looks pretty steady.  I'm happy with this.

If you look at the highest ratio in these examples (`1.677`) and you arbitrarily apply that ratio to the example with the lowest ratio (`0.084`), instead of `$20.17` earnings for that post, it would have `$401.07` in earnings.

Granted, this is *not* a scientific method of looking at these things.  I'm not using a consistent sample frequency.  This is cherry picking.

There are other reasons for later posts getting higher VESTS.  Namely, the reward pool is being divided between fewer posts.  I just want to remind everyone that the dollar figure shouldn't be the focus, for right now.

Is it objectively better to post now?  Depends on what your time is worth, I guess.  It can be.  But if you always spend the same amount of time on posts, and you are steady, your payouts (in VESTS) should be steady as the dollar price drops.  Don't get distracted by the dollars.

Keep on steeming. 🐟