I've written a number of guides that have gone into a lot of detail, linked to many resources, and attempted to cover all of the bases. I will continue to do work on those types of materials, and work to improve on the ones that I've already made. Here I'd like to cover some more general ideas that can lead people to have fulfiling experiences as bloggers on Steem.
When I got started on Steem, I was reading the book
How to Win Friends, and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
I'm going to have to credit this book with a lot of my success here, and I hope to blog about it in more detail in the future. The part that stands out the most to me, and seems the most influential in my growth on this platform is summed up in this quote.
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
I'm definitely not perfect in putting this to practice. However, to the extent that I have suceeded on Steem, I'll guess that 80% of that sucess came from my attempt to follow that advice. Additionally, that ideal is the cornerstone of every bit of advice I'm about to give.
First
If you are brand new, you'll want to make sure to read the Steemit Welcome Page. It contains a simple "Quick Start" guide, as well as "Helpful Posts from Steemit Users". This is an extremely helpful resource, and gives you the basics to get started on Steem. When you want to dig deeper, you'll have to check out the FAQ. If you want to dig really deep, you should head for Steem Whitepaper. Personally, I didn't read the whitepaper in it's entirety until I had been active on Steem for quite some time. In the meantime the Steem Blue Paper is a much easier read and gives you an overview of the Steem Ecosystem.
I spent 3 days, reading all the guides, and trying to figure as much about this place out as I could before writing my introduction post. Not saying that you have to, but there's so much to learn here, and it was mostly new to me, so I think that helped. I think the Welcome Page is the most valuable resource for learning enough to get started participating on Steem. There's plenty of time to learn all of the technical details, later.
Comments
The #1 activity you can participate in to grow your account and begin to gain traction on this platform is by leaving thoughtful comments on the blogs you read. To make this even more effective, it would help to seek out blogs that are on similar subjects as yours, this can attract those writers to come check out your blog.
The more active you are in comments, the more people are going to become familiar with your account name, and the more likely they are to check out your blog, and vote on it.
Linked above is a detailed post in response to all of the "not so great" comments we receive on steem. As well as some examples of great comments. I'll recommend you to check it out.
To put it simply here. When you comment on a post, you must respond to what the post is actually about. "Nice Post" is not a good comment. "Great article, please follow me." is not a good comment.
If we use the above idea "be interested to be interesting" you could ask questions about what was in the post. You could ask for, or offer further resources, and appreciation. If it's a work of art, you could comment on a particular feature of the art that you appreciate. You can choose some aspect of the blog, and reference it, and add further commentary. The idea is to relate to something that was in the blog, not to beg for votes or followers.
Not only are your comments on other peoples blogs more likely to be noticed than your earliest blog posts, they're more likely to get votes! That's right, as a new member of Steem, commenting a lot is the quickest way for you to grow your account, and begin getting votes.
@spiritualmax is one of the fastest growing users I know. He tries to comment 30 times a day.
Chat
The best way to make new friends, and build relationships on steem is through chat. It's hard to make a lot of progress in developing a friendship through comments. For that, chat helps a lot!
There is steemit.chat and then there are the multitude of Discord Chat Servers. The largest of these is the Minnow Support Project. That's a great place to go when you're new, to learn some of the social order behind steem, make some friends, and figure out which direction to go.
There are many more chat servers listed in that link.
You'll also want to know some etiquette for how to get along with others in chat.
Don't randomly message people you don't know. Instead spend some time in chat rooms getting to know people and try to follow along with the conversation a bit. You can ask for help understanding things, but don't just jump and ask people to look at your post. You can ask your friends to look at a post and give you suggestions, but you have to make friends first. A better way, that goes back to "be interested to be interesting", is to ask them what their steemit name is and go start looking at their blog! They're likely to want to check yours out, in return. During chat with people you don't know, it's good to be curious about them, and find out what they are doing on steem, and why they are here.
Blogging
We all have our favorite subjects that we'd like to blog about. One thing that can be difficult on steem, is there isn't a niche here for every subject. If there are bloggers who are already blogging on your favorite subjects, dive in, and make sure to follow them and develop relationships with them in their comments section.
Something I've learned that can gain you some more attention on your blogs is by blogging about people and projects that are here on on the blockchain. There are so many amazing people here! I used to do "Steemian of the Week" posts, where I showed off what my favorite authors were doing, with links to my favorite blogs of theirs, and showing off some of the things that make them special.
If you're an artist, you could make art for your favorite steemians. Creating art that's free for others to use is another good way to make friends!
It also helps if you're willing to dig deep and create excellent content. It seems like most people don't want to spend the time it takes to do really detailed deep coverage, making the posts look super nice with great formating.
You need to consider, if you want to get paid for writing, then that should reflect in the quality of the work that you are doing. Same goes for art or any type of content you create. There is really no ceiling on how much you can earn from your blogs if you are willing to take the time to build relationships, and create quality content.
It's incredible that I wrote that when I was only 1 month old on steemit. Soon I'm going to give it an overhaul and write another in depth guide like it, but a lot better, since I'm plenty more experienced on Steem these days. However, the tips and suggestions in that article still wring true today.
The most important is Patience, and Perseverance.
After going over this a few times and trying to get it ready to publish when I wake up, I already have some other ideas for something else that I need to write. Of course this is going to take some time for me to get my idea together, and chat with some other folk for feedback on how I can make the best content for all of you. Until next time ....
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
How-To Steem Resources
- Welcome Page
- Welcome to Steemit. A Simple Guide to getting Started on Steem
- Comments. The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
- How to Actually Succeed as a Steemit Blogger
- Steemit FAQ
- @timcliff - The Ultimate Guide of Tips for new Steem Users
- @thecryptofiend - The Complete Steemit Etiquette Guide
- @drakos - The Secrets to Success on Steemit
Funny I encountered this post on my first day on the platform, a not responded to my introductory post, telling me to read the white and blue paper, I glanced through both of them. Your post simplifies it even further and I appreciate that. I hope I'd get more support from you during my journey.
Welcome to Steem(it) !!!
After you get the hang of interacting on the platform, some of the stuff makes more sense as you will be running into many of the more technical stuff in your regular browsing. have fun, and good luck!
I appreciate, I'll be looking to you and others who have been here for advice.
Such supportive and cool vibes!
I agree. I’m new, but I’ve been growing steadily.
Comments help a lot, but if there is no content on your blog, it’s hard for people to follow you and get to know you. I think it’s good to have both.
I also join lots of challenges and contests, because it give me a little bit of community building opportunities.
And yes, I recently joined discord and getting to make deeper connections and gain a stronger sense of being part of the steemit community.
Thank you for your posts and your help, it’s hard to get started but easier when there are people like you guiding the way.
yes, contests and challenges are a good way for new users to grow, also :)
I am a couple days old in steemit and have not started writing. I've been doing a lot of reading to get myself familiarized with the platform and have come across articles for new steemit members. I've seen tips such as, be patient, persevere, be original which of course is true for when you want to succeed in any endeavor but this
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
is probably the one that makes most sense and is by far the best tip I have read. Thank you @inquiringtimes. I shall try my best to put this into practice as well.
Not only have you inspired me but thousands of other people. Just goes to show you can do anything as long as you push yourself and work hard like @inquringtimes. I have never considered studying the welcome page before but to see you achieve all this. I have learnt so much just by going through your posts and can't wait to explore more on steemit and meet great people like you.
_Thanks @inquiringtimes
Commenting and curation is so key to getting anywhere on here as a content creator. You have to be put the time in finding and reading others' work.
Once I built a following by commenting on articles that interest me, I could get some of an audience for my writing and recording, as the interests matched.
I always tell new bloggers to put in the work in, provide a good product, and market yourself by providing worthy commentary. Start discussion. My growth has multiplied by doing so.
You're doing it right mate!
Agreed! Quality! Take the time to do it with passion
thank you for brightening my world on steemit,sometimes i ask myself on how to get like( 75 rep) like other people..now have got the ideas,i know if i put them in action,my reputation on steemit will increase because its the number one sign of being succes on steemit
well, don't take the reputation thing too seriously. it's not a perfect measure. but yes, it does help to have a bit of rep :)
Fantastic post! I agree, building relationships is really important here. Because if you never try to build relationships here, you will probably never get noticed no matter what kind of content you create. Commenting is a great way to do that, but many new users fall into the bad commenters category. Also, getting upvotes for great comments is a big bonus and motivation to continue building relationships. Not only are you connecting with people, you also get rewarded for awesome comments! Obviously after some dedication, people will come and check out your blog. Hard work pays off here :) Just gotta provide quality whatever you do and stay consistent.
yup, it's a lot of work, but it's a lot easier to grow here, gain an audience, and find some monetization of your content than it it out in the rest of the interenet
Indeed, it's easier and faster to build an audience and get rewards for your work than anywhere else. That's why I love Steemit!
It's a lovely site, just pity not having found it sooner.
I too am a creative consultant in ux , Sr , vr and ui
Thank you for posting this.
"How to make friends and influence people" is actually one of my favourite books.
It's amazing how old the book is but the principles are still the same.
The advice there is pretty much timeless:)
indeed. I need to read it again and again. someday I will do a blog series on it, hopefully to imprint the messages in my brain.
I literally just met you, this way. Sometimes a faux pas brings something marvelous! Your advice is powerful and helpful and I am so glad you are alive!
Nice to meet you, albeit under direct violations of one of your guidelines.
:p
Just :p ? I was hoping you owed grace me with a word or two. I suppose I should take what I can get. You are pretty awesome.
it's late. and been a long month ... wipes brow. will catch up with you over in slothland :)
Outstanding reminder to everyone, and cheat sheet for the new steemians. Resteemed / Peace
thank you, friend!
What a lovely and inspiring set of actual instructions. I want to especially thank you for the part concerning Discord chat and how to connect there. I just wasn't sure how to start, how to go about it. You explained it very nicely and I know it's effective in your case as I see you a lot e.g. on Slothicorn. Fantastic and helpful post!
Another great piece in your own particular style:
Well done my friend and thank you for the mention.
You're far too kind.
Cheers
There is so much useful information here for a newb like myself. "How to Make Friends and Influence People" has been in my mental queue of books to read for a while; definitely going to get on that, now!
:) glad I could be of assistance.
This is going on my clipboard to send to very user who dms me asking me how to do well on steemit! Thank you for making yet another great guide IT!
honestly not my best work... I whipped it out in 5 hours or so.... and right as I felt like I was "done" I thought of a whole set of aspects that I didn't even consider initially. almost didn't post it, but hey. Folk need guides :) I'll be making more new and improved guides soon. Thank You for the kind and encouraging words.
You're too much of a prefectionist IT. But just as you don't nag me on my "fluff" as you call it, I won't nag you on this :p
we all have our own styles that make sense to US, and for us, depending on our lives... I may have given you a bit of a hard time, but you happen to be one of three I delegate 300 to, so... :shrug: obviously I see something I like :p
Thanks for the post, it answers many questions and doubts I usually have when I try to create content "for" steemit, as me in the community. Always plenty of resources!
Good post!
I didn’t even know Steemit had a chat room until your article!
I’ve read How To Win Friends And Influence People, but it’s been a while. Maybe it’s time to re-read it and see how I can apply it to Steemit!
I feel like I could use another read of it. good luck
It’s always great to brush up on good books like that once every few years, I find!
Thanks for the post. I forget sometime to write comments on articles I like I'll have to try harder on this. I know how deflating it is to see no comments on your post, even if you got a couple upvotes. Feedback is always nice. As for the chatrooms, I've joined a couple of the discord ones but I have a hard time jumping into conversations in chatrooms. I swear I have more anxiety talking in them then to actual people XD. But makes sense about just joining into the already in progress conversation. Thanks again for the suggestions.
you can always join in and say "Hi, I'm new here, and I have no idea what's going on!" :p that's a good icebreaker :)
Wonderful post! Thank you for all of the tips and valuable information. I told a few friends about steemit and one of them already joined @angelfish I hope she finds your post useful as a newbie. Followed, upvoted and resteemed! It's wonderful to come across such articulate and helpful people such as yourself!
thanks, I hope this helps :)
The hard thing to do is explaining this steemit related stuff to new steemit user, I am also new to this platform, I try to inform my friends about this platform, then I stuck at explaining more deeply about steemit.
I should resteem this blog post therefore my friends can take advice from this post.
I know networking is very important to succeed in steemit as a blogger, if you never had your own audience. I spend most of the time on PAL, and loves to hang out there ... but the thing is most of the times I miss on commenting on other people post .. which is not good ... and its I believe that is cause of poor time management ... so could you suggest something how you manage time between different chat group, chatting and blogging initially ... or suggest me something in reply ?? .. ty
I never spent too much time in chat rooms. Maybe it was too fast paced and busy, but I prefer direct messages with the friends I make in the chat room. Ultimately, there is no easy answer, but it's important to have a priority on posting and commenting. I still struggle with it today, and find that I lost the day to chat .. but it is good to build those relationships in the chat room, too
I will follow you because
I am pretty sure i can learn a lot, to improve my Blogs or my Blogging-style, but as you can see, i really like the formating system on Steemit.
I think if i comment some more i will find those english words i am lacking?
And then i might even write some nice Photo-blogs with english and German Words in it.
End notice
oh, i see, it seems i can't resteem it, because of the 7 Days past? so my upvote is useless on it too?
Need to learn a lot here!😉
btw, there is no Favorite feature on steemit?
This blog about learning for every blogger. Because the success of blogging will be easy to achieve by following this advice.
Thank you for your insight. I'm new to Steemit and these are valuable tips for how to navigate around here.
It's my fourth month here, and I've made above two thousand comments, most times I see some amazing post and I go out there and make it count.
These days forming an amazing relationship is very difficult because a whole lot of people is joining and you will need more than luck to stand out.
Although I don't really earn too much but I'm doing relatively well.
Amazing blog and post here my friend
Thanks for the lesson! I just started my account and this was very informative :) This community looks fascinating.
After reading this I realize that im going to have to dig deep and change my social media habits. I'm the kind of guy that really appreciates peoples creativity in silence. I have to learn to interact better. Thanks to @juliakponsford from minnowsupport for showing me this post, great read.
I have troubles myself. I do not comment as much as I feel I should, but u read tons.. and tend to save my comments for when I really have an opinion. But it's good to remember that people enjoy comments and it lets them know you care. Especially when you leave a really good comment. There is a lot of "weak" commenting. It's good when the comments are strong :)
You put it in the simplest way possible. I'm new on this platform (reading this after 6 months of posting). I wonder if there's new tips that can help people like me, to get us started the better way.
great suggestions for new user !
like it
your post is very good and useful for all
You got a 2.47% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @inquiringtimes! Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
Great and helpfull post my dear! Thanks for sharing this with us i need to have a look onto discord servers!
Before I find this meaningful sentence, I had already practised it when I got into Steemit, steering my little boat into a vast ocean of this platform, commenting and engaging with other people's blog.
Luckily, I find @taskmaster4450's blog which is the drive of motivation for me to continue my journey on Steemit.
I agree with you that patience and perseverance are the traits that we must have to be successful on Steemit. Great article. Upvoted and Followed!
I also liked the way it was written so I was new. the things I wonder about. and it will work very well. I am trying to improve myself and my work. I think the more original content you share, the better it will be. I'm trying very hard for this. it will be fun to follow you.
Thank you
im looking forward for the tips and guidelines you've shared to the newbies like me.thanks a lot!!
Incredibly helpful, thank you so much!
Great article and advice. I'm new to Steemit and you really have given me some ideas. I also have that book as well by Dale Carnegie and it really is a gem of a book. I think I will try to apply that book as much as possible as I begin to participate on this platform. Thanks for the insight.
Thank you for posting this. I'm new to this platform and I have read all the helpful resources in the Welcome Page, but yours has been the most clear one for me. I started to read the Whitepaper but it's too confusing right now in this early stage. I will look into the Blue Paper as you suggested.
Thanks for sharing a post like this, semplificated all the work, we should get something like this instead of white papers.. great job
Hmm!
Thank you @inquiringtimes. I have learned alot from your post and i will read it more and more to grow from a new member to a steemit family and friend.
Wow! I must say your post just blew my mind away. Indeed getting interested in others is the sure way to grow in this community because, in life no man survives alone, we all need each other to survive and this formula applies right here in the Steemit community. Great post!
Hey Thanks for the informative post. Today is the first day for me on Steemit and I gone through this post. Lots of good beginner stuffs you explained. I'm very much passionate about the open data available through out the internet and I want to make some useful infographics to let people know whats happening around them.
And once again thanks for this post.
I'm not really the friends person. But I'm excited at the chance to try and get more friends by being interested in others. Wish me luck. See you on the other side.
Gracias por compartir esta publicación. El contenido ha sido muy útil e interesante, sobre todo para quienes nos estamos iniciando en steemit.
A very good guideline for me and obviously for others also. I have joined steem 3 months ago but did not understand much about steem it but now i will going to give my time to it and start posting also. Thanks for inspiring me
I am a new person, join today first day, need to study hard, thank you for your guidance.
Thank you for your post. I should have read that before posting something else that an introduction post :/ But thanks to you i fell I'll manage better later !
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.“
What an amazing quote . Thank you for sharing it with us. I joined recently and have honestly found your blog and tips very useful. Reading this post, it is easy to understand and easy to follow for new or even old users. Thank you.
when you flag any post , then you will lose money , flagging posts by rich members will not make them lose as the daily interest rates will cover their losss as they have millions, but for a new member like you, it is meaning, you lose RC, you lose voting power and then steem . . . fool --- do not down vote others - this the best advice for you here in this platform
I have been here long enough to learn that I should not to create content that is plagiarism. It seems you have not been able to learn that simple tip even after you have been around longer then me. However, thank you for your input. :)
I reall appreciate all the advise i myself am a new user today. I have no experience on this platform any help is appreciated.
Muchas gracias inquiringtimes por todos tus consejos. Es difícil empezar en algo nuevo, pero gracias a personas como tú que comparten su experiencia es posible salir adelante. Tendré muy en cuenta tus consejos y recomendaciones