A Letter to the Newbie Steemians

I have been on Steemit for a little over 5 months and the journey so far have been quite good. I have a reputation of 56.9 currently and a little over 300 SP. I have seen people do a lot better in the same and even less time than I have spent here and I am so happy for them, but that does not make me feel bad about myself and my accomplishments here. I haven't been able to devote my 100% time and effort here because of the many other obligations I have to attend to so I am fine with going slow and steady here and gradually improving and making money.

I have learned a lot over these past few months, but still I feel I am learning more with each passing day and am a work-in-progress. Although I don't think of myself as the expert on Steemit because honestly I am not, but still there are a few things that I have learned that I think will help the newbies joining here. So today, I will talk about a few tips and golden rules that helped me build a decent reputation here and find great friends, and even make some good bucks in the process. This is especially for all those who keep asking for upvotes and resteem on every other person's blog they visit. I get a few of such comments on my posts as well and this does annoy me. Since I do not like getting into arguments and because I know my flagging them won't help them understand my point, I never get into any discussion with them. However, I have been noticing this trend a tad too much elsewhere and I have seen people become extremely annoyed by such behavior, especially those who work too hard in creating quality content, that today I felt the need to write this post.

Here is what I wish to say to all the newbies joining Steemit, especially those who keep asking everyone to upvote them all the time and those who post spammy comments like 'good job', 'excellent post', 'beautiful words' etc. even without reading the entire piece.

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My Sincere Advice to You

Dear Newbie Steemian,

First of all, I happily and wholeheartedly welcome you aboard. Steemit is a diverse and wonderful community enriched with great minds who are always trying to improve the place and even make the world a better place in the process. there are lots of people here whose sole purpose is to help each other and bring out the best in the ones around them. There are just so many wonderful qualities in them that if I start writing about them, I am sure I'll write a 3k word post which I know will be too long for you to read so I'll just move on.

There may be a million reasons why you joined Steemit and all of them must be legit ones, but I know one of the major reasons why you are here is to earn some decent amount of money. That's perfectly fine, friend. That's one of the reasons that brought almost all of us here. There is absolutely no harm in wanting and making more money, and you should do that, but it is best to do it the right way. So what is the right way? Here are a few pointers that will help you understand that.

• Be Genuine and Come Up with Something Original : Well, if you sell pens to earn money, it is a legit form of making money, but if you steal a pen from someone and sell it to earn money, that's not legit right. You are doing a crime that way. Similarly, to earn good bucks on Steemit, you need to be genuine and original as well. Instead of plagiarizing content and posting somebody else's artwork or music or anything else to make money, you should focus on creating something that's yours. it could be anything you are passionate about or are good at. If you are a writer or hope to become one, you could create any sort of content you are good at and publish it. If you are an artist of any kind, post about your art and how you create it. If you do music, are a bodybuilder or are involved in anything else, talk about it in your posts. The more genuine and authentic you will be, the better your posts will be liked. Like everywhere else, people here too are in search of fresh, unique content and if you provide them with that, they will definitely follow you. This will also help you understand your niche and area of expertise that you can work on and improve at to build your own brand image.

• Elaborate on Your Work: While posting artwork or photographs if that's what you are good at, do elaborate on them, if not always then at least sometimes. There are lots of people who are quite likely posting similar work so to make your work stand out from the rest, accompany it with solid commentary that lifts up your work. For instance, if you are posting a photograph you took of your family, talk about that day, what it means to you etc. to make it feel special.

• Connect with People: As important as it is to post genuine, original and unique content, it is equally or even more important to build important and useful connections. One thing that I have observed here and elsewhere is that often 'what you know' is less important than 'who you know.' If you know some influencers here and have good contacts with them, you are likely to get more recognition in less time. Talk to people, join communities and build connections with them. One great way to do that is to read blogs of people whose ideologies you like and leave meaningful comments on their posts. This encourages them to visit your blog too and even respond to your messages.

• Only Leave Thoughtful Comments: Make sure to never ever leave spammy omments like 'Well done' or 'Great work' ever on any blogpost. Spammers are not at all appreciated here and if you turn into a spammer, you are quite likely to be downvoted by someone here too. Always leave thoughtful and meaningful comments on blogposts and one way to ensure that is to comment only on posts you actually understand and like. For instance, I don't understand cryptocurrencies much so I don't follow those people much who only talk about this topic and don't comment on such posts either because I know I won't be able to say anything else than 'good job' and even if I mean it from my heart, it will sound spammy so I refrain from posting on posts I don't understand.

• Be Patient: My dear friend, I know you want to be wealthy fast and there are quite likely to be a lot of hardships in your life that only you are facing and can understand, and this is one of the reasons why you ask for upvotes from people. However, you need to understand that there are many others who are literally spending hours crafting genuine and high quality posts for their readers and by just asking them for upvotes, you are hurting their sentiments. These people have spent a lot of time building their reputation and they want you to respect that. Trust me, you can be even better than all of us if you just show some patience. Just keep posting quality work consistently, interact with people and make good connections and soon enough, you'll be where you desire to be.

• Be Consistent: Consistency for me is definitely one of the biggest keys to success. It has always worked for me and I have seen lots of people do great in life by just being consistent in what they do. Just start being consistent here on Steemit and soon you won't even think of asking for upvotes from people. If you wish for an influencer to appreciate your work or follow you, consistently visit his/ her blogs and leave meaningful comments there. One fine day, you'll definitely get his/ her blessings.

• Participate in Contests and Join Communities: Join lots of communities and participate in contests according to your likes and interests. This helps you make more connections and you can earn some SBDs by winning good contests. Even when you join a community, don't spam there and just ask for upvotes. Contribute to it and upvotes will come automatically.

That's it friend. These are the tips that have helped me out and I am sure they will do the trick for you too. You have my support and well wishes, and I am here to help you out.I try my best to stay calm when anyone asks for an upvote just like that, but if I ever lose my calm, please forgive me.