Common Mistakes of Beginners/Newbies during ICO, Airdrops and Bounty Campaigns

[nngella]

As I hear success stories of earning huge sum of money by joining airdrops and bounty campaigns, I grow excited and hurriedly join some of them.  Unfortunately, my journey is not a walk in the park.  There are so many hiccups here and there.  So many mistakes, lessons learned, and things to improve.  Because of these, I want to share some of the things that I discover.

COMMON MISTAKES of BEGINNERS/NEWBIES during ICO, AIRDROPS, and BOUNTY CAMPAIGNS

1. ETH Address vs Private Key

Note that your ETH Address is different from your Private Key.  
Your Private Key is your way of accessing your wallet while your ETH address is used to receive coins.

Sample ETH address       : 0x46678053A1C1F1A3d46d916f93Fd74dAe1c2aF6B

Sample ETH Private Key : a96bc7487e7bd325e0a2dcf1a7adc9a04ecb2ada74cc49604aa2e95c3122e523

2. Bitcointalk Profile

When you want to see your profile by clicking the “profile” in the home tab, you will see this URL : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile.  
This is NOT your bitcointalk profile link!

There are two (2) ways to get your bitcointalk profile link:

a. First, you need to go to your profile.  
On the left corner you will see “summary” then click it.  You will get a URL like this : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2171254;sa=summary.  
Remove the “;sa=summary” and the new URL (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2171254) is your bitcointalk profile URL;

or

b. Go to your profile then on the left corner click “show posts”, it will display your previous posts.  
Click one (1) to show your previous post with your bitcointalk username on the left side of the post.  
Click on your bitcointalk username and it will direct you to your profile.  The URL is your bitcointalk profile link.

3. ERC20 ETH Wallet

Bounty campaigns and airdrops mostly use ERC20 ETH wallet to distribute their tokens.  
Note that ERC20 ETH wallet is different from the ETH address that you can get from an exchange.
https://www.myetherwallet.com/ (MEW) is an example of an ERC20 ETH wallet.
You can also use hardware wallets which are more secure than MEW

4. Forgetting to post your result

You need to take note the day of the week that you need to submit the result of your campaign!  
Failure to do so will make your effort be in vain,  the bounty manager will not credit what you did for the previous week.

In my case, I always document my bounty campaigns using google docs.  
This helps me to manage and sort out one campaign to another (to avoid mixing them up).

5. Quote vs New post vs Same post just edit

Aside from taking note on when to post your report, you also need to be mindful on the matter of how.  
Some bounty managers will require you to make a new post every week hence a campaign having a duration of four (4) weeks means having four (4) posts for reports, one (1) per week.  
Others will require to just edit your proof of authentication post making it just one (1) post for the whole duration of the campaign.  
Lastly, I also encounter others that require you to make a new post every week and quoting your previous week/s.

SHARING IS CARING
How about you? what are your stories?
I would like to encourage everyone to share their stories.  Stories of success, failures, great accomplishments, heartbreaks, and anything that you like.  
The intent is for each of us to learn from one another.

“Experience is a master teacher, even when it’s not our own.”
―Gina Greenlee

EDIT and ACKNOWLEDGMENT

1. Would like to thank jossiel  for the input regarding the use of hardware wallet; and
2. Esterklu for reminding us on her comment that not all airdrops require ER20 ETH wallet, some require different wallets.
3. harizen made a good point that some bounty campaigns and airdrops mislead members by asking for ETH Public Key (which is confusing) and must be ETH Address.
see also:

• My First Week (Newbie) Experience
• Adding Image to Your Post

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[Esterklu]

1.When filling airdrop or bounty forms check which wallet they r asking. There is not only ETH platform, tokens can use NEO, WAVES, Stellar or another platform. But a lot of participants filling ERC20 address everywhere.
2.Check bounties threads from time to time - campaign can change some rules or finish earlier.

[jossiel]

You can also add hardware wallets as ERC20 wallets like Nano Ledger S, Trezor and Keep Key.

Everyone has to explore and grow up as they stay in the forum. MEW is good for people who can't afford to buy their own security(hardware wallet) but you shouldn't stay there forever.

Hardware wallet are much secured than it.

5. Quote vs New post vs Same post just edit

I'll also say something about quoting/posting but it's not about the report.

When the topic is full of quoted post, try to cut or snip it to make it clean. This isn't only good for your campaigns but it's also good for the forum.

[benhill]

The above posts are so helpful and educating but i will like to add General Rules and Rules of each campaign which are very important, if anyone failed to take note of both rules and goes on with campaigns such person does the job in vain he or she will not be rewarded.

[oskalisa]

Thanks for the tips! All correctly on topic! Addition: in status "newcomer", should not write posts in other themes, except as "for newcomers"! It matters!

[nngella]

1.When filling airdrop or bounty forms check which wallet they r asking. There is not only ETH platform, tokens can use NEO, WAVES, Stellar or another platform. But a lot of participants filling ERC20 address everywhere.
2.Check bounties threads from time to time - campaign can change some rules or finish earlier.

First, I would like to thank you for taking the initiative to be the first in making a reply on my first thread  .   

I edited my post and included your input.  I was reminded by this that not all airdrops require ETH wallet and it is better for us to take note of this.

[nngella]

You can also add hardware wallets as ERC20 wallets like Nano Ledger S, Trezor and Keep Key.

Everyone has to explore and grow up as they stay in the forum. MEW is good for people who can't afford to buy their own security(hardware wallet) but you shouldn't stay there forever.

Hardware wallet are much secured than it.

I am not knowledgeable yet to hardware wallet (and this post is a wake up call for me to study this and move from MEW to hardware wallet soon  ).
I also included this on the edited version of the post.  Thank you 

[stomachgrowls]

COMMON MISTAKES of BEGINNERS during ICO, AIRDROPS, and BOUNTY CAMPAIGNS
1. ETH Address vs Private Key

Giving out a merit for the effort you made for this post which do really emphasize or being state clearly and helpful for some newbie bounty hunters which arent even sensible enough on informations being inputted.
Been seeing hundreds of scenarios like this one where;

Private keys are being putted which i can see them clearly on bounty spreadsheets, some do have coins but most of them are new (Lucky). Newbies out there this should really be read out.

[jossiel]

You can also add hardware wallets as ERC20 wallets like Nano Ledger S, Trezor and Keep Key.

Everyone has to explore and grow up as they stay in the forum. MEW is good for people who can't afford to buy their own security(hardware wallet) but you shouldn't stay there forever.

Hardware wallet are much secured than it.

I am not knowledgeable yet to hardware wallet (and this post is a wake up call for me to study this and move from MEW to hardware wallet soon  ).
I also included this on the edited version of the post.  Thank you  

I'm glad that I was able to share and gave you some wake up call that you should start using hardware wallets and explore with it. Although you have to spend some bucks on it, believe me it's worth it.

There's also blockchain.info which is a web wallet that is now supporting Ethereum which is wrongly used for receiving ERC20 tokens but you can import/export it's private key to other ERC20 supporting wallets.
More details: Can I send Ethereum based tokens (ERC20) to my Blockchain wallet?

But still you have to get your own hardware wallet for safety just in case.

[limtjoehua]

very useful and easy to understand, especially beginners. from the knowledge you share here, we must be careful, so that our work is not useless.

[nngella]

COMMON MISTAKES of BEGINNERS during ICO, AIRDROPS, and BOUNTY CAMPAIGNS
1. ETH Address vs Private Key

Giving out a merit for the effort you made for this post which do really emphasize or being state clearly and helpful for some newbie bounty hunters which arent even sensible enough on informations being inputted.
Been seeing hundreds of scenarios like this one where;

Private keys are being putted which i can see them clearly on bounty spreadsheets, some do have coins but most of them are new (Lucky). Newbies out there this should really be read out.

First, thank you for the merit!

I have a personal experience on this one.  Sadly, I am so hasty in joining and enlisting to campaigns that I inputted my private keys to almost eight campaigns.  I need to contact the administrator of the said campaigns one by one in order for me to change it to my ETH address.  Luckily, I discover it before the campaign ends.

In the end, I just took it as an opportunity to see which campaign has active members to entertain my request.  Active management means they are hardworking and have ownership on the project (an indication of a higher success rate of the project).

[nngella]

Thanks for the tips! All correctly on topic! Addition: in status "newcomer", should not write posts in other themes, except as "for newcomers"! It matters!

Thank you for the recommendation.  I moved this topic to "others-Beginners & Help" section.

[Strufmbae]

Common mistakes of Beginners/ newbies (i consider myself also since i am a jr. Member) is that they think that they can just Hop in to campaigns without reading the given instruction, most campaign participants is just putting and filling up the requirements not knowing the rules and regulations that the manager has written.

The real cause of this topic is "not reading" and "not understanding" the Thread. 

The worst case is there are participants who are not able to distinguish if a project is scam, simply because they haven't read the whitepaper or does not know who the manager is and not being rude, most participants join campaign without trusted escrow.

Is it a mistake by chance or illiteracy? 

[Retty]

As I hear success stories of earning huge sum of money by joining airdrops and bounty campaigns, I grow excited and hurriedly join some of them.  Unfortunately, my journey is not a walk in the park.  There are so many hiccups here and there.  So many mistakes, lessons learned, and things to improve.  Because of these, I want to share some of the things that I discover.

Hi nngella! Great post. Thought it was very detailed and definitely relevant to some people who are simply lost when they first get into crypto as there is quite a lot to take in at first! So somebody will definitely benefit from what you have said. 

I'm also awarding you Merit (the first i've ever sent!  )for the effort you've clearly put in here, and it would be great to see you continuing to post good content.

Have a great day! 

[nngella]

Common mistakes of Beginners/ newbies (i consider myself also since i am a jr. Member) is that they think that they can just Hop in to campaigns without reading the given instruction, most campaign participants is just putting and filling up the requirements not knowing the rules and regulations that the manager has written.

The real cause of this topic is "not reading" and "not understanding" the Thread. 

The worst case is there are participants who are not able to distinguish if a project is scam, simply because they haven't read the whitepaper or does not know who the manager is and not being rude, most participants join campaign without trusted escrow.

Is it a mistake by chance or illiteracy? 

Most newbies, and I am no exception, are so eager to earn money that they start joining campaigns that moment they heard about it.
So they go and enlist to campaigns without having any basic knowledge of what they are getting into.

However, I think we must be considerate to them.  They are labeled as "newbies" because they are really prone to mistakes, even ones that are considered common sense.  On the other side, I agree to you that let us also encourage them to be responsible enough to read and be literate to the cryptocurrency.

[nngella]

As I hear success stories of earning huge sum of money by joining airdrops and bounty campaigns, I grow excited and hurriedly join some of them.  Unfortunately, my journey is not a walk in the park.  There are so many hiccups here and there.  So many mistakes, lessons learned, and things to improve.  Because of these, I want to share some of the things that I discover.

Hi nngella! Great post. Thought it was very detailed and definitely relevant to some people who are simply lost when they first get into crypto as there is quite a lot to take in at first! So somebody will definitely benefit from what you have said. 

I'm also awarding you Merit (the first i've ever sent!  )for the effort you've clearly put in here, and it would be great to see you continuing to post good content.

Have a great day! 

Glad that I earned your first time in giving a merit! 

These are my personal experiences! I am really so hyped about airdrops and bounty campaigns that I became lost to my own excitement. wahaha
But I can consider this as a good learning experience in my part.  I became more careful in joining bounty campaigns and started reading more about them (e.g. their visions, management team, manner of execution, timeline, etc).

[wvizmanos]

To the OP, i do not want to sound I'm promoting but I think MetaMask does a great job as alternative to hardware wallets. I say this because I'm still pulling funds to buy my first hardware wallet. Not to mention that my coins are still few for me to be thinking of buying hardware wallets already.

[omali]

Thanks for taking the time to point these mistakes out. In addition, always choose the right signature that soothes your rank (for those that want to do signature bounty)

[nngella]

Thanks for taking the time to point these mistakes out. In addition, always choose the right signature that soothes your rank (for those that want to do signature bounty)

Most bounty signatures require at least a Jr. Member rank for you to join.  In case that you will join bounty signature in the near future, I would like to suggest that you conduct a thorough research prior joining one.  You can only join one bounty signature at a time (for an average duration of 2mos) hence you must be careful in choosing which bounty signature to join - to maximize profit and prevent yourself from scammers.

[IVOcoin]

Very helpful for beginner like me, Thanks