Hey Guys! Its barely a week I joined this amazing platform and every time I log into my account there is always something new to pick out. Of recent, I just learned that my voting power determines how well I can vote after noticing my vote amounting to nothing on upvotes I made on contents I really like. My first few days here I made sure to upvote on every content just because I would get a curated reward on the upvotes instead of me planning and strategizing properly. It broke me to realize that I had exhausted my voting power but then again it is allowed to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. My previous content was about [how to get started](https://steemit.com/howto/@iamjimmy/do-you-need-help-getting-started-read-this) and at the end, I mentioned to prepare an article on the dos and don't of steemit. Going through various articles and contents that I like I notice certain mistakes newbies make, mistakes that could have been averted but then again, you only know what you know. In this article, based on my experience here I will be dishing out certain notes and tweaks to do when creating contents as well as the practices that could mal your content creation.

Follow Moderately.

Do not be eager to gain a strong presence by following every Tom, Dick, and Harry because at the end you will be doing your feeds more harm than good. You want to have a feed that no matter which steemian pops up you are certain that it is a content you want to read, contents that are associated with your own content, contents you can relate with, content you are sure to register a well thought out comment. This mistakes among newbies, I was on the verge of making the same mistake until I saw this by @herbertholmes ![Howto monday ep1.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQNC1LVBCtoaaCLZMJymJ73CnZg7bmjnrur42t4dsskmo/Howto%20monday%20ep1.png) image by @herbertholmes

Comment After Upvoting.

When I started here I was so all about upvoting and then hoping that the content owner will take note of me and then possibly upvote my own content after following me. The wrong assumption because these people have so many followers and people they trust so regardless of how much like I give it still will not get their attention, well except you lay a well thought out comment after reading their content. This is another thing before commenting you would want to read the content very well so as to have an idea of what the post is about. This way you will have enough information to give, this is the only way the owner will take note of your presence. A well thought out comment will inspire the creator to reply your comment and you might be lucky to get your comment upvoted. ![Howto mondays ep1.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWzLFUC47XCaQesqD62hfXcuSetpPxkBSrYwS2k8aPVZk/Howto%20mondays%20ep1.png)

Source for Whales.

Whales are referred to as the top dawgs on steemit, that have been able to amass steems in abundant thus making their voting power high. Commenting and upvoting on their post early enough put you on their radar and you could possibly get an upvote from them on your comment. You can get up to $100sbd just for getting an upvote from this whales. Here is how; 1. Go to the trending or hot topics on the left side of your screen and you want to look for a recent post of at most 30minutes. Read the content, upvote and then make a constructive comment. Also, being one of the first three to upvote their content gives a good position in getting the rewards for curation. 2. Follow them so that you get to see their latest post on your feed. Read content, upvote, and comment when you do. Remember you want to be the earliest or at least one of the earliest ones to upvote and comment. 3. This last one is about how to identify whales and one I can think of right now is on the upvote bar. When you upvote your name appears amongst a list of other voters. The one with the highest voting power appears on the top and it descends accordingly. Therefore, when you spot few voters with more allocated steem dollars, you should check the list and follow the top voter. If you repeat the process of the first two on this steemian you stand a chance of getting high steem dollars when they comment on your post. ![howto mondayy.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbBdP7j4n9brPt9DzsyGM7SWHNFdoJwGrkHaeNRenqRqm/howto%20mondayy.png) image from reggaemuffin I sorted for this whale just as I was writing this article and went on to check reggaemuffin. See that he has more than 4000 followers with over 22000 steem power, making him eligible to boost your comment earnings. see below! ![howto mondayss.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTHuLzqac9ADVSy3DeUxUtJKh7eNs7k7SQhvuYPjSg8HT/howto%20mondayss.png) See image on ***commenting after voting*** above. This is a perfect example of how much you can earn for just comment. There I got up to 1.27 steem dollars for commenting on that post alone. You could make a good $5 daily just for commenting!

Always Check Voting Power and Bandwidth.

Always keep in mind the level of your voting power and your bandwidth by using this link steemd.com/yourusername ![howto mmonday.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmX9M3ZFVtXunomCcm6BE1trx84kKJrvTNqiz9gCHEt8Vd/howto%20mmonday.png) The life force of your steem depends on this two data, therefore, upvoting, commenting, and posting drains the data leaving you unable to perform certain functions effectively. Recently, I had an issue with upvoting as there were no steem dollars allocated. This is meaningless to the content creator and more importantly to me because I do not get the curated reward at the end of the 7days. I had to pend upvoting for a while pending the time the data goes up again. Now I am conscious of the voting power not going below 50%. The same goes for bandwidth, make sure it doesn't go below 50%.

Build your Network.

One mistake we newbie make is the mentality of getting rich quick. I have nothing against getting rich. I am all for getting rich quick but we also need to understand that there is a process involved in this money making platforms. Steemit is a social media site and like every social media platform, you can only grow by connecting with other users. Steemit is one better than other platforms because it pays to curate data, and with that in mind we should not be in a hurry but rather take our time to relate with other users on steemit. Be it old or new, whales or crayfish **BUILD** !**BUILD**!! **BUILD**!!! Building your network on steemit is the only way you can start to earn good coins on it. Also, remember to devote your time to create quality contents. This is how you can really get people to associate with you.

Sharing my steemit experience is the best way I can push newcomers in the right direction as I grow as well. This is why I decided to create the ***HOWTO STEEMIT MONDAYS*** so we can all educate howselfs on what is and what is not on steemit. Thank you for taking time to read. Kindly, leave a comment below if this was helpful in any way and if it wasn't, still leave a comment. Please do not forget to **UPVOTE** and **RESTEEM** Thanks. @iamjimmy