Okay - just read through all the responses to date. Most of the suggestions (good ones, admittedly) are about improving Steemit, not Steem as a cryptocurrency.
I am in favor of diversity in general - so, I think the best way for Steem to move forward is to have more applications/sites using Steem - whether as a reward or as currency. The Steem Monsters thing would be a great way of making that happen if done right (it may be done perfectly, I haven't done much with it yet, I only have two cards so far.)
dbooks was a great idea, but has been too slow to develop to usable quality.
dtube is another great one
dlink is a good start, but I have reservations about using it...
Basically, I think we need more sites that tie into Steemit, all using Steem.
(And take the stupid 7-day thing off! Although yes, the bulk of the rewards for any article will be in the first couple of days, it's silly that we can't still earn for quality posts from weeks/months ago! I guess that's two things, but they are closely related and both have potential for helping Steem to become a force/crypto to be reckoned with.)