@SteemHolidays is back with new ideas & enthusiasm! PLEASE JOIN US ๐ŸŒด

in #steemholidays โ€ข 7 years ago (edited)

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It was 7 months ago when I first had the idea for the @steemholidays account.

I could feel a real diverse community developing on Steemit with more and more business owners creating accounts to offer their products & services in exchange for Steem & SBD, eliminating the need for using an exchange to turn your Steem/SBD into BTC before spending it on a dedicated payment website.

Now the whole process could take place on Steemit!

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@steemshop

One month prior to this I started the @steemshop account with the intention of encouraging the buying and selling of products & services (physical & digital) using the Steem or SBD in our wallets.

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Again, the idea was to keep the process as simple as possible.

However...

The idea was a good one but there were so many potential categories it quickly became impossible to find what you were looking for in this one account.

Consequently I created @steemshopbuy & @steemshopsell to simplify the situation but even this was not enough with the growing number of products for sale (or being searched for) popping up all over the world.

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The Tagging Problem

In order to quickly find a specific item, the sales posts absolutely had to be tagged in the correct way.

Tags relating to the product or service were essential and the tag #steemshop had to be used to ensure I saw it and resteemed it into the @steemshop account. Sounds simple enough right? But unfortunately this didn't happen in the way I expected. And the 'adverts' often didn't even list the prices or show decent photos.

People needed constant assistance and reminders...

Ultimately I didn't have the time or manpower to promote the tagging system and Steemshop account regularly enough for it to take off. Many people did advertise their products there and still do today, but there have only been a few sales.

After three months of trying to find the best system we ended up with a pretty complex Phase 1 as you can see here.

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But this clearly wasn't working.

BECAUSE SIMPLICITY IS ALWAYS BEST!


Why is @steemholidays more simple? ๐ŸŒ…

In the case of a specific subject like holidays one would simply use the search engine in the following way to find hotels/hostels/B&Bs in their desired location.

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Assuming that the hotel owners were creating their 'adverts' using the correct tagging system, it would be simple to find exactly what you were looking for.

The tagging system could be more generalised too, for example (assuming the tagging had been done correctly) one could try the following words...

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Now all we need are the venues!

Just a few weeks ago I started chatting with @buttcoins who owns a hotel in Guatemala and accepts payment in Steem. He stumbled upon my dusty old account and has since then re-invigorated me to find the best way to make this work together as a team.

Please don't be put off by his username! His work is outstanding. And you can see his latest post HERE

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He is not the first person I have met on Steemit with an establishment willing to accept Steem/SBD and like me, he believes this could in time grow to be a wonderful tool for us Steemit users. An incentive even for resort owners to sign up and learn about crypto.

Having a clear vision for this kind of thing is essential.

@buttcoins and myself will continue to discuss this idea till we can see clearly how it will work.

He is connected to a network of resorts as am I, and together we can potentially create a very appealing selection of venues around the world, all posted under the @steemholidays banner, easily findable using the correct tagging system.

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The Steemshop Connection

The idea of selling holidays for Steem ties in nicely with the Steemshop concept and I hope holidays will now become a big part of what we see for sale there.

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What's the next step?

We are looking for resort owners interested in joining Steemit to advertise and accept payment in Steem or SBD. Perhaps you might know of people who are connected to these kind of establishments? Please help us by getting this article out to them. Right now we need all the help we can get.

What do we need from the venues?

Decent photos, basic details, location & the price.

The price would still be listed in Dollars or the currency of their choice and the STEEM or SBD rate would have to be agreed upon at the moment of exchange, going directly from one Steemit account to another.

An escrow account?

The development of an escrow account could potentially help build confidence in using payment the system?

However, it didn't seem to help much with @steemshop so perhaps it will simply be up to personal preference and intuition? One can always check up on a person/account by reading their posts...

Rating System

In the end a rating system will be created, so that the resorts which are most successful at attracting Steemit customers, permitting them to pay in STEEM or SBD will gain the right to use stars in their titles. For example:

Taman Petanu Eco Neightbourhood โœฎโœฎโœฎ

The more stars the resort gains, the more confidence we will have to send our payment (or deposit) before the date of the booking.

Creating the adverts

This is the tricky bit. Teaching the hotel owners to set up and start using a Steemit account will take some time & a fair bit of effort. We all know this place can be a bit complicated at first.

So, it would have to be done for them to ensure continuity of style and correct use of tags.

Perhaps a small fee could be agreed for this service or even a free night at their venue?

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Speed, simplicity and the sense of community

The thing that made McDonalds different from every other restaurant at that time was the speed of the transaction between buyer and seller. And to quote the recent film, they recognised the power in promoting the idea that โ€˜McDonalds is familyโ€™.

So... as a firmly established and quickly growing community/family of Steemit users, it seems logical to me this is the direction in which we are headed.

With the help of this initiative, the process of booking holidays using your hard earned Steem & SBD is about to get a whole lot easier!

We appreciate all suggestions at this early stage of re-development and look forward to hearing the thoughts of the community as we work now towards turning this dream into a reality.

Those of you who are interested in becoming part of the @steemholidays team please PM me in steemit.chat

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Who is @samstonehill?

He was a London based filmmaker until he sold everything and set out on a barefoot journey around the world.

Currently based in Bali he travels with his partner & two children. With no bank account he has been living on STEEM & crypto for over six months.

All content created for this account is 100% original (unless otherwise stated), produced by @samstonehill who invites you to use & share freely as you wish.

@samstonehill is the creator of:

SEE MORE@steemshop account where you can buy or sell anything you like using your steemit wallet

FREE TUTORIALS, personal training & resteeming services. Website HERE
Contact me directly on steemit.chat if you want to know more about this@steemmasters which provides

@steemholidays which encourages resort owners to offer holiday packages in Steem or SBD

@steemtv which aims to provide the best in decentralised films, exclusive to Steemit & DTube

The dailyquotes tag initiative designed to encourage steemians to share their most life changing quotes with the community on a daily basis.

The Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins group on Facebook which seeks to help newcomers make the transition from Facebook to Steemit, providing them with detailed notes and personal assistance with their posts... resteeming them when he can.

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Here is a list of Steemit Witness I have voted for & recommend you do the same:

Without them our beloved Steemship would not fly.

Learn what this means HERE and place your vote HERE

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@teamsteem @timcliff @jesta @good-karma @someguy123 @blocktrades @pfunk @klye @krnel @blueorgy @ausbitbank @thecryptodrive @ura-soul @pharesim

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Wow it is exciting to know that we are finally able to book hotels with @steemholidays. A great initiative indeed.

Not quite there yet! But it's coming.... No question about it ๐ŸŒด


I also live in Lake Atitlan and I also have a hotel and also an organic farm (www.atitlanorganics.com). While we havent made any concrete moves, I am 100% down to accept steem. And I am very very interested in helping you develop this idea, in any way i can contribute. Looking forward to connecting more.Greetings @samstonehill Thanks for this post. I absolutely love the idea of Steemholidays. I am a good friend of @buttcoins (and im put off by a lot more than just his username...just kidding!!!)

Great to meet you! And even better to know you are up for getting involved with this. We will need all the help we can get :)

What you are doing looks amazing on your website. I am living in a community which seems on a very similar path to your own. http://www.alamsantidesign.com

Look up Taman Petanu Eco Neighbourhood if you are ever in Bali! After two years here it has completely transformed my understanding of how humans can live in harmony with nature.

And when I am finally done travelling (which probably won't be for a few years yet!) it is my intention to create a place like this for my family and anyone who wants to join us.

I have actually been dreaming about this idea since I was 7 years old and always imagined I would end up somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest!

Let us keep in touch. Can't wait to get my family over to Guatemala. It's been high on the list for some time.

ย 7 years agoย (edited)ย 

Nice @Samstonehill here we go... and soon enough...here you will be able to go. This idea truly has such a simple and needed use case. Look how many travelers move through this world steeming. During our trips there is one thing we will do at the end of every day.... Sleep somewhere. #steemsleep That we can link the natural need to lay your head down with the money we hold in our wallets....Genius!

So yes... as Sam mentioned... we need help making some of these links...cause hundreds of heads helping make links is better than 1, 2 or 4..... so if you own, work at, or have a connection to hotels, backpackers, resorts, campgrounds that you think would be up for taking part in this new platform for discovery... then please let us know.
i think this could be expanded beyond steem as well...a resource found through steem for any crypto friendly place to rest your head.
seems it could be cool to link in with steemitworldmap as well.

so lets get our Hive Mind going. all are welcome!

I think there will have to be a fair amount of proactivity on our part to build awareness. Most hotel owners would say yes if they understood. Why wouldn't they? The real challenge is packaging this awesome energy into a single email which then gets sent out ....to everyone!

There is much to be discussed still. Great to have @squdsi1 with us too!

Have a great new year ๐ŸŽ‰

Very exciting stuff @samstonehill

Hopefully we can all come with you to the grand opening of the First STEEM HOLIDAY!

Hope you all the best for your work towards this project ๐Ÿ˜€

Thanks budster. We will buy an island and the holiday will be endless for anyone who chooses to visit us ;)

STEEM island! Sounds a bit rubbish really. May have to come up with something better...

Looking forward to learning more Sam! Wishing you a Happy Holidays. I've included this article in me new magazine. :) https://steemit.com/news/@jacobts/jts-steemit-magazine-1

Thanks very much! Hope you are having a great holiday period too. Really hope to kick-start the crypto holiday revolution with this one!

Thanks for including me in your mag. I checked it out and it looks great. Upped & resteemed ....naturally ;)

i'm not going to bother with personal comments anymore since the 1% eliitst fascist whale party saw fit to wreck my rep a fourth time cos they own the place like wallstreet , so

no, this is not an automated message, its all handpicked, nonetheless i see there's still content dictators trying to tell me what to like and what to write and how to write it, well ...

viewed, voted, commented, and re-steemed ...

anyone follows me i'll follow back within a few days

if you have complaints please check the blog or i can link you the why ... a resteem is a resteem, atm to 147 people, thats 147 chances to have it re-resteemed,

If you take this for what it is : a re-steem by someone who doesnt spend 12 hours a day on steemit, then it is what it is, i usually use my remaining daily votes to up replies that arent threats or content dictator bs. If those people wouldnt bug me and stick to their own zone then this text wouldnt be so lengthy , #fuckwhales, community -- diversity!

if you consider this spam, then by all means, the mute button is on the top right side, feel free to do so and you'll never have to read me again :). Yes, quite simple : instead of acting like you own the place. Just mute me and send me a reply that you did, i will mute you too and ofcourse never resteem or reply anymore (end of spam) its a lot more sympa and we'll never have to see or hear eachother ever again.

otherwise, good luck ... be wary of whales and stalkers, content dictators and bedroom nurrd fascists ... extortion bots and hatebots ...

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This is a great idea - I host personal development and healing retreats/workshops in beautiful locations in Spain combining plant spirit medicine with energy work and other treats. I'd be happy to accept Steem and Steem Dollars as payment for them. Please let me know when this is up and running and I'll provide the info.

Hi @eftnow, see my comment below. I produce a list of Businesses accepting payment in steem.

Would you like your retreats to be included in that? Do you a website or similar to link to?

Hi Sam, good to hear SteemHolidays is rolling again. It seemed to be a bit dormant when I checked by a few weeks back.

I recently published the first list of Businesses accepting payment in steem :

I am currently working on the next version of this list. Is it okay to include steem holidays in that?

Are you on Discord - it would be good to discuss some ideas further.