Celebrating 2nd Year Anniversay on SteemIt: Looking Forward and Helping Minnows

[etcmike]

Well it is here... my second year anniversay on SteemIt. I am still here and still Steem'on!

I joined SteemIt on 7 August 2016 after watching a video by the @dollarvigilante

New Cover URL

In honor of my second anniversary I have updated my Cover URL on SteemIt to reflect the images I have posted and the topics blogged about during the last year.

Generated using the free photo editor Canva.com

Looking Forward

Looking forward to continuing my journey on Steemit. In the near future I will be expanding into new topics on SteemIt.

I am also looking forward to watching the new applications coming to the STEEM block chain as a result of the new Smart Media Tokens.

Over the past few years I have seen a number of changes to SteemIt and hard forks to the STEEM blockchain. It will be interesting to see the new changes to the SteemIt interface and the STEEM blockchain over my next year on SteemIt.

Helping Minnows and Encouraging Engagement

Like many minnows on SteemIt my first posts on SteemIt earned very little. My first big payout was not from a blog post but from a comment I made on a post.

As a way of saying thank you and paying it forward, I upvote the comments I like on my blog posts. For great engagement, do not be surprised if I use a bidbot to upvote your comment.

For curators of my blog posts, I do not upvote my blog posts at the time of creation. I typically wait about a day to upvote my blog posts. This gives a greater portion of my curation reward to those who previously upvote my blog posts. Then to further increase curation rewards on my blog posts, I typically use bidbots too.

Over the next year I also look forward to supporting those projects like #SteemTalent that support and promote the SteemIt community and the STEEM block chain.

Thank You!

If you like this post, you can upvote, follow, share, and re-steem this post.
Thank you!

Comments

[yenipaola]

Happy anniversary @etcmike, I'm happy to have met you on this platform.

[emperorofnaps]

You got a 3.58% upvote from @emperorofnaps courtesy of @etcmike!

Want to promote your posts too? Send 0.05+ SBD or STEEM to @emperorofnaps to receive a share of a full upvote every 2.4 hours...Then go relax and take a nap!

[csharma]

Thanks sir congratulations for successful completed on steem two years I wish you all the best for future.

[emperorofnaps]

You got a 3.58% upvote from @emperorofnaps courtesy of @etcmike!

Want to promote your posts too? Send 0.05+ SBD or STEEM to @emperorofnaps to receive a share of a full upvote every 2.4 hours...Then go relax and take a nap!

[csharma]

What is this

[littleeasy]

Woww After 2 years your rank superb.. congratulations 💐😊 best of luck for future @etcmike.. i hope my rank is growing fast then i start earning.

[etcmike]

The biggest tip I can give any newcomer to SteemIt is to be persistent and consistent. Eventually you will find your audience, your list of followers will grow, and then you too can help newcomers to SteemIt.

With this comment, your rank is already improving!

Have a great week!
Steem on,
Mike

[littleeasy]

Really best tip Thank you so Much for Tip and for UpVote @etcmike 😊

[shashiprabha]

mike sir, congratulations for you have completed 2 years on the steem much many many returns of the day i wish you for the second year anniversary. i hpoe you grow day by day much more and i always in your suopport you well-deserved success .Congrats! May your life be showered with success and joy. Wishing you all the best for the future.

[opera.shoujo]

Congratulations, man! I bet you have had a lot of fun in these 2 years on steemit.
It's so cool that you like helping minnows like me :D you are such a great guy!

[rehan12]

Happy 2nd Anniversary @etcmike
Recently I completed my 1st year in Stemit. While this 2 years have sure been great for you :)

While i do really hope that you go much more further in the coming days as well !

[ssgdude]

I joined this Platform last months , I want you to post some tips to survive here. I have picked a few from this post of yours too.

[etcmike]

Thank you for asking.

It took me months to gain traction on SteemIt. And back when I started and was picking up a few STEEM for a post, the price of STEEM was around $0.10 USD. How did I get through those months of starting out? By learning all I could about SteemIt and the STEEM blockchain, being consistent and persistent with my blog post got me through those beginning months.

Tips:

• Always include at least one picture with each blog post. Blog post with pictures get more views/votes than those without pictures.
• Watch your voting power. I use https://steemworld.org/@ssgdude This tool is fantastic because it tells you how long you have before your voting power recovers to 100%
• If you want to grow your number of followers, a simple way is to greet and support new users making their first post or "introductory" post.
• You engagement is worth it. When I first started out I got my biggest payout not on a blog post but on a comment. I read the person's blog post and engaged with the author by writing a meaningful comment. The most powerful upvote did not come from the author, it came from another person reading through the comments on the blog post.
• Support those promoting and growing SteemIt and the use of the STEEM block chain. Even if your vote does not amount to increasing the value of a post, your comments and just your vote showing support does count.
• If you believe in the platform invest in STEEM. When I first started the inflation rate of STEEM was around 100%. I powered up my STEEM Power (SP) to take advantage of the inflation rate and increase the value of my vote on the platform. In those days I bought STEEM between $0.08 to $0.50 USD. The inflation rate of STEEM is far less than 100% now, but even now the inflation rate is greater than the interest rate you get in a U.S. bank. Powering up your SP increases the value of the vote and allows you to increase your SP through the STEEM inflation rate.
• Why is etcmike powering down? I am retired now and use a portion of what I earn to supplement my income.
• Stay positive. As you build traction on the platform, your SteemIt "reputation score" will increase. Even if a vote does not count much on one of your post, being voted by a user with a higher reputation score increases your reputation score.
• Do not get involved with flag (down voting) wars. There is no winner in these wars. But if you do flag a post, make sure you enter a comment on the blog post or comment to inform the author why you flagged their post.
• Curating rewards: Know the rules for maximizing your curation rewards. Today there is a 30-minute rule. As proposed in Hard Fork 20, the rule will be changed to a 15-minute rule. Today, users with little SP should not upvote a blog post until it is around 30 minutes old.

If there is anything I did not cover that you have questions about, feel free to ask me.

Have a great weekend!
Steem on,
Mike

[ssgdude]

Thank you very much Mike for taking out the time and writing all these Tips, they certainly did clear a lot of things in my mind and it really means a lot. You infact did cover everything , however i couldnt properly understand the Curation Reward point. I did read the Hard Fork 20 from here (https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/proposing-hardfork-0-20-0-velocity) but still couldnt figure out the 30-minute thing and why shouldnt they vote.
Thank you once again
Best regards,
Salman

[etcmike]

Current 30 minute rule:

• Vote before 1 minute, then you get no curation reward.
• Vote at the 15 minute point, then you get 50% of your curation reward.
• Vote at 30 minutes and after, then you get 100% of your curation reward.

The change to a 15 minute rule will be similar.

Have a great weekend!
Steem on,
Mike

[ssgdude]

You too mike :)

[chireerocks]

@etcmike, First of all really congratulations for your successfully completion of two years on this platform and i want to wish you more heights on Steem Economy and in life.

Yes, there are many great stories who struggled initially to make something but over the time and with true dedication many attained effective growth for sure and good to know your initial time too.

And great to hear about your plans regarding increasing the engagement levels and in my opinion that's an great aspect for sure because in my opinion engagement is most important aspect in Steem Economy.

And also great to know about the Curation aspect means, you are giving an opportunity to get the effective Curation rewards whoever is voting. Keep up this amazing work.

Wishing you an great day and stay blessed. 🙂

[reddragonfly]

Happy Steemit anniversary @etcmike; two years definitely makes you one of the Steemit "originals." And kudos on the work you do to promote engagement and interaction here... it always makes me happy to see people (and especially newcomers) being encouraged to approach our community in a meaningful and sustainable way.

Here's to many more great years!

[blazing]

Awesome congratulation on this milestone awesome two years such an exciting time to remembered forever

[christian.danny]

Congrats on this huge achivement you are a great inspiration for our community.

[mitsuko]

You got a 24.07% upvote from @mitsuko courtesy of @etcmike!

[osigbhemeh]

Congratulations sir!

[rabiagilani]

Congregation Best Of luck :-)

Posted using Partiko Android

[snrm]

Wow, being on the platform for two years really makes you a massive pioneer of Steem. I can’t imagine what that’s like since I joined 9 months ago when it really was starting to hit that major growth. Cheers to another year!

Posted using Partiko iOS

[galleryworld]

Congratulations :) @etcmike

[sarah.taylor]

Congrats have a great day @etcmike this will be surely one of the days to remember.

[tanuesh]

Hey Congrats i am so glad to see new cover pics.

[faisal79]

Congratulations :)
The entry point looks great and I am sure you enjoyed

[itzzzsumon]

Wow... Congratulations to you! Two years have passed. Hope you will get all the success on steemit. Happy anniversary @etcmike

[rahesi]

Happy 2nd anniversary @etcmike. Congratulations for all your effort in our platform. You are making a good job to becoming a successful blogger. Thanks for all your support to minnows like me :)

[ngwezinyaw]

Good job , fri .
May be a great anniversary .
Let walk together on steemit.

[basant111]

Best of Luck Your journey

[bumshak]

Congratulations and happy anniversary to you!

Posted using Partiko Android

[rabiagilani1]

Congregation brother

Posted using Partiko Android

[bid4joy]

You got a 59.48% upvote from @bid4joy courtesy of @etcmike!

[bpclan]

You got a 26.78% upvote from @bpclan courtesy of @etcmike!

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[lost-ninja]

You have been defended with a 49.08% upvote!
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[emperorofnaps]

You got a 43.47% upvote from @emperorofnaps courtesy of @etcmike!

Want to promote your posts too? Send 0.05+ SBD or STEEM to @emperorofnaps to receive a share of a full upvote every 2.4 hours...Then go relax and take a nap!

[aksdwi]

This post has received a 50.00% upvote from @aksdwi thanks to: @etcmike.

[redlambo]

You got a 38.52% upvote from @redlambo courtesy of @etcmike! Make sure to use tag #redlambo to be considered for the curation post!

[steembloggers]

You got a 74.47% upvote from @steembloggers courtesy of @etcmike!

[stef]

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[shares]

This post has received a 39.51% UpGoat from @shares. Send at least 0.1 SBD to @shares with a post link in the memo field.

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[boomerang]

This post has received a 50.37 % upvote from @boomerang.

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