<center>![plans.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmX5Eo8yP55JLFjRTEpoNm7bdfcv3oKy6oYeyZzkYY5ftk/plans.png)</center>

<center><h2>*"Seaweeds play a major role in marine ecosystems.."*</h2></center>

As the Benefactor of @asapers I have many ideas and thoughts on how to grow our community. I obviously discuss these things with the core members on a regular basis but wanted to share this with everyone, so others have the chance to be a part of the process. Asaper or not.

I have many times in the past mentioned myself as *seaweed*. I know that we're talking about Red fish, minnows, dolphins, orcas and whales, but instead of using the already existing titles at all times, I once felt like talking about myself as seaweed. Even though I have grown since those days, I am still nothing near being a dolphin or anything above that, so I can still easily relate to many of the feelings our beloved **newcomers** have. I also believe that the asapers are unique in that sense. The **core** asapers are a group of 6 Steemians I handpicked myself, I delegated all my own Steem Power to those 6 Steemians and to the official @asapers account. I have also made promises about new delegations for each 1000 SP I have but I quickly realized that such promises is far from what I want to make, as those can easily be seen as "empty" promises. I mean, it's very easy to promise people that I will delegate more Steem Power in the future, but never state a day or a date. It's like telling you that I will do it, but I don't know when that will happen... And even though I had every intention of keeping my promise, I personally felt like those statements could be seen as empty promises.

That is why I decided to delegate **all** my Steem Power right off the bat. By doing that, I have not only kept my promise, I also *"over delivered"* (which always have been important to me as a Freelancer), and to delegate all my own Steem Power should be seen as an act of dedication.

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<center>https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/kelp.jpg
[Image Source](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seaweed.html)</center>

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> Seaweeds play a major role in marine ecosystems. As the first organism in marine food chains, they provide nutrients and energy for animals – either directly when fronds are eaten, or indirectly when decomposing parts break down into fine particles and are taken up by filter-feeding animals. [Source](https://teara.govt.nz/en/seaweed/page-1)

What I want the asapers to accomplish is to make a difference in young Steemians lives and to help them make a difference on Steemit. Much like other curation teams out there. The difference is that the asapers are **not** dolphins, orcas or whales. The asapers consist of fairly new, non-wealthy Steemians, who all are striving to *"pay it forward"* and to support others. Inspired by @fulltimegeek and his #StewardsOfGondor, I came up with this whole delegation project, which quickly turned into an awesome mini-community within Steemit itself. A group of people all willing to put in tons of effort and time to help others to grow at the same time they are growing.

The *"pay it forward"* system is amazing in it's true form and it is extremely easy to be part of a chain reaction... Or to see the ripple effects of one persons actions. Once again, look at @fulltimegeek and his SOG. And take a look at the Asapers. Both are similar to each other, meanwhile they are completely different.

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Let me tell you what *"pay it forward"* really is. You do **something** for another person. That person does something for someone else. And it's that simple. So imagine that you do something for 5 others. Or for 50 others... The chain reaction will be amazing.

@fulltimegeek decided to delegate Steem Power to me. I delegated my own Steem Power to others in an attempt to pay it forward and as a token of appreciation for the generosity. It looks like this:

<center>![spsp.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmfDzY2X7pMtNpupjk7sQHid1H3XLqZENeTjTxtBwMKHgD/spsp.png)</center>

Each arrow goes straight to a fellow Steemian. **6** arrows equals 6 delegations to 6 other Steemians. **One** of the arrows goes to @asapers, which is the official account for the curation team. We're already up to **6** curation posts that includes 3 different authors each time. (6 **x** 3 = 18). So with 6 posts from the official asapers account we've already given the others within these posts more exposure and more rewards. Sure, this is nothing life changing and we're talking about a few cents here and there... But imagine how the future will be like.

The @asapers have existed for **6** days in total. We're already up to 65 followers and we don't only resteem and upvote the articles within these curation posts. We also share the rewards with the authors.

However, that's only **one** of my arrows. Other arrows goes to the asaper members. Each member have **more** Steem Power due to my delegation and they can upvote content I probably wouldn't have been able to... Which basically means that **my** Steem Power (or parts of it) are being used to spread the wealth, support and motivate others I would've missed.

With time, the people I have delegated Steem Power to will have become powerful enough to delegate to **others**. So my arrows points at some people who'll have their own arrows pointing at others. Like this:

<center>http://www.tolosapressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Pay-It-Forward-Spread-002-2.jpg
[Image Source](http://www.tolosapressnews.com/pay-forward-day-april-28/)</center>

<center>**That's "Pay It Forward In A Nutshell!**</center>

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What I want you to understand is that I work towards a better place for all of us. I can't do much on my own, which is why I decided to form a team. With our combined powers we're able to move mountains. I might not do everything right or in the same way as others might have done, but what's important is my goal. We have **thousands** of new Steemians joining us **each** day. People are talking about it like it's something truly amazing and awesome... But most people doesn't seem to pay much attention to what happens at the same time.

I don't have any real numbers or statistics for this so bare with me.

Let's say that we have 1000 people joining each day. 

How many of them do you think will **stay** and be **active**? 

My guess? - Probably not more than 100. I think 10% is **more** than how the reality looks like actually. Also, this is not even the issue. The real problem is the people who are **leaving** Steemit. Not the newcomers who doesn't become active. The problem is **why** they tend to **not** be active and **how** we fix that.

Ask **any** newcomer how they feel. Ask them how much they've earned but more importantly... Ask them **why** they joined Steemit in the first place. I would say that 95% of everyone join because of advertising campaigns who tend to promise a place filled with money for anyone who publish content. Unfortunately, we have many **established** Steemians who're doing this too. They spend thousands of dollars every month to promote Steemit and people think it's awesome... But truth to be told, they're doing a pretty crappy job if you're asking me.

I'm definitely not blaming anyone, because Steemit inc were the first to promise tons of money for authors... But after 2 years, people should be able to see that it doesn't work to lure people in with such promises... We don't benefit from 1000 new Steemians each day. We benefit by newcomers who believes in Steemit. Newcomers who stays and contributes no matter of the earnings.

With the asapers, I will not be able to fulfill the empty promises. But I will be able to support, motivate and encourage people who've started to feel despair. Newcomers who've started to think about leaving... We will be able to help them **stay**. And that is our long term goal. That is how we will improve the overall experience on Steemit.

- By getting people to **stay**.

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<center>https://sopheon-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/light-bulbs-succession_orange.jpg
[Image Source](https://www.sopheon.com/what-works-6-best-practices-of-innovation-and-product-portfolio-management/)</center>

I will continue to delegate my Steem Power in the future. And this is something I wanted to shed some light upon today. I will not reveal exactly who or to what I will delegate Steem Power to in the future because that remains to be announced in another post. However, I **will** delegate at each 100 Steem Power I have and instead of telling you this without giving you an estimated timeframe, I will **show** you.

I am an **SOG** and an **asaper** with a pay it forward mindset. I usually upvote ~1000 articles each week and this is my curation rewards for the last week.

<center>![cr.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf9hnBdLzkq4JyTeb6gWriroPUkumdm2zwNZBVYY9yuBA/cr.png)</center>

I will also show you my **author** rewards from last week:

<center>![ar.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYQCkPpfURmxREBeqUTA6xw51HoGtEybXNAjXEpdcd9mX/ar.png)</center>

Curation rewards: 4.76 and Author rewards: 21.62. That's a total of: **26.38** Steem Power. That means that it will take me a little less than **4** weeks for **each** new delegation of 100 Steem Power. If I can manage to have results like this. As my personal account will grow in both terms of Steem Power but also in amount of followers, I guesstimate that I will be able to delegate 100 Steem Power **each** month and I will obviously strive to reach these numbers faster with time so I can delegate **more** than 100 Steem Power each month further on. And there you have it. A promise but also in detail and on paper.



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<center><h2>Don't Forget!</h2></center>

<center><h2>Asapers On Discord!</h2></center>

<center><a href="https://discord.gg/KKzNw2X"><img src="https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmbyidm9vnPr5PFTcFzP33evVnMB1p11JHdpRJ8MLKBHbH/discord.jpg"/></a></center>

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<center><h2>As Always...
Thank You For The Support!</h2></center>