Has anyone seen the price of STEEM lately? It's the lowest I've seen it since starting my journey on the STEEM Train and although everyone blames a low bitcoin price we only have ourselves to blame.

Well at least in Australia anyway.

You see 6 months ago a small company called **TravelbyBit** announced they were now accepting STEEM on their merchant platform as [reported](https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@scooter77/retailers-accepting-steem-in-brisbane-australia-travelbybit) by @scooter77

https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://s18.postimg.org/dtg7o0ht5/POS.png
<sub>[Source](https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@scooter77/retailers-accepting-steem-in-brisbane-australia-travelbybit)</sub>

It was a really positive sign that Steem was getting noticed in this part of the world.  

Yes, STEEM was finally being listed up there with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash as a Cryptocurrency you can buy things with.

And as the owner of [SteemAustralia.com](https://steemaustralia.com/) I asked some members of TeamAustralia if they could pop into a merchants store and make a transaction in STEEM so we can get some press-worthy video footage of someone buying something with Steem to validate the currency.

And at the time TravelbyBit only operated in Brisbane, so given there was an active Steem Community up there I thought it would be a no-brainer.

Support the companies that support our token.

But it appears others didn't share my enthusiasm, and nothing eventuated.

I blame myself, more than anyone, because I should have just flown up there and got the job done myself. But this wouldn't have prevented what happened next...

You see, today I discovered TravelbyBit successfully raised 100K from [Tourism Queensland](http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2018/8/1/government-invests-in-bitcoin-boost-for-bundaberg-tourism) to expand their business and promote crypto in Queensland to the rest of the world.

Wow! What a big deal and STEEM could have been a part of it if we, were more organized and supported this platform and it's merchants with STEEM transactions.

Yes, that's right in the press release TravalbyBit states:-

>“With this next phase of technology, we are targeting a different brand of tourist – the tech-savvy traveller from anywhere in the world who are looking to book their travel experiences ahead of their trip and use digital currency to pay for their travels.
"They can now pay with Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, Ethereum, XEM and soon BNB.

Noticed how STEEM has been dropped from the list?

![TravelbyBit fail.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQme5mTb5KDDQvMySuJMsRoDkghTGULr6FjSyrMhnifqN3i/TravelbyBit%20fail.png)

Yes, and I suspect it's to do with a general lack of use of the TravelbyBit platform by the STEEM community, so I don't blame them.

But there is a lesson in it for everyone. 

### If you want STEEM to be what you imagined or dreamed of you'll need to start supporting the people and businesses that are prepared to give it a try.

<br>Because there are another 1000+ alt-currencies looking to jump above us on the list.

#### Do people even get it?

<br>Writing content on Steemit isn't going to be enough to make you rich. 

As the price will continue to fall until we create more demand.

And the only way to create demand is to actively, promote it in the community. Then support the people and companies that stick their neck out to give it a fair go.

I see @jackmiller is super pumped about #promo-steem and this could be the spark the STEEM Australia Community needs. 

But you can't start a fire with a spark. 

You also need the fuel.

And the  STEEM Australia Community needs to be the fuel for that fire.

But...

>Nothing is going to change until we do

Until then I'll keep trying to uncover 20-30 totally committed Australia Steemians that are prepared to do the work to make STEEM a success in Australia.

But until I uncover this AMAZING team, I'll just keep doing what I can in the background, promoting STEEM to those that'll listen and hopefully you will too.