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

[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.

Comments

[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 :)