![20170715_185329.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6XziEUd.jpg) Introduction - I found Steemit about 3 weeks ago. My [first post](https://steemit.com/funny/@akuda/this-is-my-adorable-son) did fairly well all things considered pulling in $0.03. I posted a video of my son from YouTube. At that time I had very little understanding of the Steemit community and even less understanding of how Steemit works in general. The first post I made that did fairly well was my [introduction post](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@akuda/hello-steemit-i-m-zach-and-i-finally-found-some-time-to-do-this) which originally pulled in over $40! It's now decayed to around $30 but I'm still happy with that! I would like to share some of the things I've learned that I think might help new users! _Music to listen to as you read, or don't, I'm not your mother._ ------ Getting Started - First and foremost, for the love of God there is an [FAQ](https://steemit.com/faq.html) on the website! I found out about this the long and hard way. Until I made [this post](https://steemit.com/steemhelp/@akuda/newbie-question-curation-rewards) as a matter of fact I was basing all of my strategies off of outdated information from [Steem.io](https://steem.io/). Don't be like me, use your noggin and read the [FAQ's](https://steemit.com/faq.html). (thanks again @eliyahu, @bryan-imhoff, @preparedwombat for [straightening things](https://steemit.com/steemhelp/@akuda/newbie-question-curation-rewards) out for me. If I had more vote power to give you I would! While lots of things regarding the specifics of how things work are addressed in the [FAQ's](https://steemit.com/faq.html). There is still a lot left to learn in the _wild_ . I'm not for one minute claiming to be an expert but I have enough of a basic understanding now to at least help a couple noobs (like myself) _stumble_ through their first few weeks. ----- Start Earning! - Things start slow, that first week of waiting for rewards to start trickling can feel like it will never end. All the while your first few posts' value starts to fluctuate. For me that means they have lost value due to the ever shifting values of Steem. Don't lose heart though that's just the way of the world and as Steem starts to grow again they should (hopefully) _grow_ in value. Be sure to make a thoughtful #introduceyourself post and don't give any of the no effort bots your votes, _they don't deserve it_. Look for people that post generic welcomes _immediately_ after you post (example below taken from single account). ![DQmfBZR6iK2tpRtdb3YJ6LYkhoaNhTMryBUQ2CAfdGMxcyx.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXNkxsa9njF52AhKRgDVJ62PfTEjb3APazVGMMKD3H5xi/DQmfBZR6iK2tpRtdb3YJ6LYkhoaNhTMryBUQ2CAfdGMxcyx.jpg) _Image slightly altered to protect identities._ Include a selfie that has a piece of _dated_ paper to _prove_ you are a real person. Not only does this improve the chances of your post performing better but it is also the right thing to do for transparency's sake. ![DQmWp7jVbS1EthPzwbKEXSBcp4hynweyKuNmTKZLM5YEd24_1680x8400.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQPgjK8XbPHKG3Sni92v7fcR8kBQuixkpwziad34APRWK/DQmWp7jVbS1EthPzwbKEXSBcp4hynweyKuNmTKZLM5YEd24_1680x8400.jpg) _For added bonus, don't take your photo with a potato like I did._ ------------- Dos and Don'ts of Posting and Commenting - - **DO** Proofread, stylize and edit your posts as well as comments. - **DO** Use correct and fully punctuated grammar. - **DO** Actually read posts you respond to. - **DO** Actually read comments you respond to. - **DO** Be courteous to everyone whether they can do something for you or not. - **DO** Act like an adult. - **DO** Center almost everything in your posts **(NOT LISTS)**! It looks nice and all the cool kids do it. - **DON'T** Post spammy comments. - **DON'T** Ask for votes, follows or anything of the like. - **DON'T** Be an asshat. - **DON'T** Hijack other people's posts. - **DON'T** Post walls of text. Break it up with a thing or two. - **DON'T** Steal content or plagiarize. Add value to content don't take it! - **DON'T** Act like a child. I know there is likely a lot I missed but this is a good start. This is a noob's guide afterall. ------ What Not To Do. - I have gone through several strategies to build my account. I want to share them with you so you can learn from my mistakes and hopefully save yourself some time and heartache. My first strategy revolved around getting as many followers as possible. I learned quickly that many people come to Steemit with the Twitter "Follow for Follow" mentality. With that in mind I spent several hours over several days manually _mass_ following and un-following people. Not only is this a waste of time, it's borderline scummy behavior and I'm not proud of it but in the spirit of transparency I felt it prudent to mention. This method works well enough if you just want numbers. But if you want actual engaged followers this method is a _complete_ waste of time. After that I moved into a phase where I tried building value by constantly refreshing the New tab to catch posts from high rep users early. I thought that if I was one of the first to vote for it my curator rewards would be substantial! Turns out this was also a complete waste of a week. There is a time frame during which upvotes give all rewards to the author. It phases out starting at 15 minutes (50/50) then 27 minutes (97/3) and finally at 30 minutes you receive the full curator reward. The last lesson (for now) I have to impart is fairly straightforward. Low value posts will (in general) generate low value. If you spend your days reposting memes you'll reap very minimal rewards. --- What You SHOULD Do! - Firstly, be thoughtful and engaged in commenting on posts. If you are simply after building account value look for posts that interest you from thoughtful content creators. Once you find a post that you can easily engage with **READ** it. I can't tell you how many times people simply glance at a post and comment in hopes of getting votes. If you do this you should feel bad. While not everyone is willing to share their votes, and in fact many people simply _won't_ give you a 100% vote there are many people that aren't that way. Sadly people often just vote their own content. They'd rather use 9/10 100% votes on themselves and then break their last vote up as small as possible to garner votes from commentators. Those people aren't **WORTH** your newb 100% vote and don't bother with them. Instead engage with those that are engaged themselves with the community. I have had numerous comment chains earn $5-10 just by being thoughtful and engaged. Secondly, post thoughtful posts. If you spend the day at [the beach](https://steemit.com/photography/@akuda/long-beach-sandcastle-competition-2017715t225651593z) snap some photos and write it up (though try and do it sober as that post was a MESS drunk). When you post be certain to take the time to read your replies and respond in kind. SPREAD THE LOVE, for the love of GOD VOTE for someone's comment if they took the time to read your post and thoughtfully comment! You don't have to do all of them but do make an effort! Thirdly, be prepared for rejection, be prepared to fall on your face. It's not at all likely that your first post will make you rich or even leave you satisfied. Scrape together some SBD and start using some of the vote bots. While many don't encourage this, the way things are now new people really can't get a leg up without them and you _almost_ always make at least the amount spent back. Lastly share your lessons and experiences, ENGAGE, ENGAGE, ENGAGE! If you learn a valuable lesson SHARE it so other's can benefit from it as well. Don't give up and don't complain when you don't succeed. Just keep trying and keep making yourself better. Who knows, maybe someday you'll be a big-shot with 100 sp like me! ----------- Thank-you so much for reading and to those of you that comment and vote! You all rock! If anything here is wrong, I apologize, it is a noob's guide after-all. Akuda (Zach)