Great advice shayne! The do not follow-beg bit is especially good, for I tend to almost always follow people that leave a quality comment on my posts. Spammy-begging stuff not so much. I remember what it felt like being new so I try to take some time and look for new users to follow.
Also, loved this tidbit of Steemit-truth:
If you care about Steemit, Steemit will care about you
Indeed. I try to reply to every comment I get. But when it's clearly spam or if it's asking for a follow or to check out a link, I usually just ignore it.
Authenticity counts for a lot.