It's hard to be a content creator but there's a limit too to be investor, so I prefer to be both investor and creator . Its ashamed to have self voting but since it's hard to get a vote newbie always ignored it. It's because of the minow even a whale nobody give a damm to a plankton. 
For new steemit user please joint the comunity, its get harder each day to earn a vote, let's survive :)

I see content creation as a -means- to investing, interestingly enough. Regardless I am both, through and through. I definitely try and reserve self voting for getting my comment noticed...self voting on my own content is a no brainier as it takes me insanely long to produce a track and paying myself .15 sbd is the least I could do. :)

Thanks again for you Mr. @sumatranate who has been trying to develop ideas that are profitable for all of us.

I am grateful to have friends like you. You write a smart article that is very profitable for us this beginner. This is the very reality we need.

I agree with you ! 

let me share your articles for the good of us all.

Definitely a content creator here.

- I take half the sbd I get out of here daily. 
- I reinvest the rest into delegated sp and bots to boost my post payouts.
- I will power down once when my account value is over $5000 and use that to boost my presence more. And again at $7500 etc assuming I get there.

All my steemit posts link out to my other sites and that is the real gold for me. Traffic and sales are up everywhere else I post or sell anything. My affiliate sales are way up and book sales are double from last year. I've had 2 coaching gigs - not from steemit people - from other platforms where I cross post. I'm not sure what else, but it's all great.

I came here for the alexa ranking and to promote my health and weight loss content. I had no idea about crypto or any thoughts of making money here. But now - I paid for my Jan 2018 expenses with Dec 2017 steemit money alone. 

I am all in with this and posting 2-4 times a day.

But I do not trust the place for a minute. Too many shenanigans at the top. All the money concentrated at the top. Infighting with the big guys 24/7 when not circle-jerking each other.  Little support for gasping minnows. 

Now witness idea that they "need" to cut post payouts by 75% asap. Right as the Alexa drops beneath 500. No initiatives to make the place more welcoming - instead - cut post payouts. OK.

I will be here until they pry the alexa ranking from my cold, dead hands, but no - I am most definitely not an investor beyond what I have to be to succeed here.

By default Steemians become investors and content creators. If I post on busy.org I have no choice but to upvote myself. It is automatic.

I agree, there are two semi-opposing philosophies on Steemit.  The content producer who 'let the chips fall'.  Or an invester who markets and promotes his work to gain a following of upvoters.  A user can do both - as long as the motive is the content, not the investment.  @ironshield

I am both! And i upvote my posts... tough, i do not upvote my comments.

And i upvote almost every comment on my posts. I think if people took the time to comment there, the least i can do is give them something back, altough it is still very little (Hope it will grow up over time)

Thank you for sharing!

I think I'm both, and yes, at times self-voting seems a little odd. 
I love to create fitness content and hope to steer my blog that direction going forward. My primary reason for participating on Steemit is as a business/income stream. But to do that effectively on any platform you have to provide value first. You can self-vote all day on a worthless post and not get very far as a business. To that end, if you provide value to the community there shouldn't be any reason not to allow a vote for your own content.

First, I have never self-voted; look it up. Secondly, Steemit is about "sweat equity." To achieve results, one must invest in him/her self and the requisite skills. Thirdly and connected with skills, one must engage with pensive and quality comments; not expecting anything in return.

There are numerous tools and even folks who will teach the use of those tools for free. There are few posts which I will upvote, because of blatant spelling, grammar, and syntax mistakes. Hello? If you are serious about being on Steemit, Grammarly Premium is a must.

Furthermore, all thoughts must be connected with bridges and street lights. Nomad pieces belong in the desert. Tell your audience as if they were sitting in your living room with you.

On Steemit, one is a businessperson. To succeed in a business one must fulfill a need and possess integrity. So go ahead and self-vote. However, you won't get my vote and from those like me. Now that is a bad investment.

the post is very remarkable. I learned a lot from your posts. sorry if my language is not too true because I do not understand English .. and I find out your post via google translate .. regards from me ***@andhika12*** steemian indonesia.

Chamo, que bueno este tipo de publicaciones, me gusta mucho leer sobre estos temas. Pasa por mi blog y apoyame porfa! https://steemit.com/love/@caropaez/palabras-de-enamorado vota por la mia tambien porfavor! Y gracias
https://steemit.com/amor/@caropaez/15-dias-de-prueba

Well, I’ve not invested monetarily into Steemit, but I’ve done as much content creation and curation as I can. I see the time that I spend contributing to and supporting the community as an investment. So maybe I’m both investor and creator?

I haven’t self upvoted because from the time I began here I’ve seen quite a few posts about it, and the majority of them shine a negative light on it. I read some that are almost apologetic or defensive explainations as to why the author has self upvoted. So I guess I haven’t done it for fear of being shamed.

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it's curious to me that content creators don't look at this as more of an investment. we get 20% regenerating amount of voting power daily. i am here to make money and as a consequence of coming here and sharing, i have also met incredible people and made valuable connections. i am still here to make money and i am also amazed at the connections. 

in some way i feel it's taboo to say that, as if we shouldn't self vote. out of my 20% regenerating voting power, i have always voted up every single post i create. i frankly don't understand why it's so taboo. People seem to bring their ideas about money and that we shouldn't be self interested to this platform. If my account grows, my voting power grows and everyone I upvote gets a higher vote from me. I fully disagree with going to someone's post, not voting it and upvoting your own comment. To me that is just rude and that person wont achieve a good connection with me very easily, but upvoting your own posts- no brainer! Especially if I had money invested in the platform. It's a basic ROI. Where else can you invest money, write articles, upvote them and continue growing your initial investment? 

Thanks for the thoughts!

Im both.i'll do self voting if less upvote from other...