Hello Steemit!

I'm a baby minnow Steemian. I've only been involved with this platform for a little over a week. The exciting thing is that I made more yesterday than I made my entire first week even though I've posted just about every day. I just wanted to share what I've learned in the last couple of days that would have helped me from the first day.

Sure, it was only coffee money, but I think I can use momentum to make lunch money some day! Actually, I can see how work, experience, reputation and of course, Steem Power should keep building to keep increasing income over time. I can also see how badly I missed the boat the first few days I was active, so most of my work really didn't generate a lot of attention or make any coins.

Lessons From the Steemit Minnow Tank

Hopefully, these suggestions can save some other minnows from some of the learning curve I went through. Of course, I know I've still got a lot to learn and some lessons that I can't put into action yet.

Remember that Steemit is a social network:

We all want to earn revenue from this site, but mostly you will probably do best in the long run if you treat Steemit largely like any other social network.

In other words:

Go out there and socialize.

Comment on interesting posts even if you don't think you will get rewarded.

Reply to sincere and useful comments on your own posts. When you post, ask for comments.

Follow people you connect with and go ahead and let them know it without begging for a follow in return.

These activities add value to your posts and other people's posts even if they don't always directly result in rewards. They also add value to your own blog and feed. You will gain followers and some folks will throw you an upvote for adding value.

Don't make comments begging for follows and upvotes because the people who are already really engaged with this community will see you aren't adding value and won't offer you anything in return. If you treat Steemit like a social network and add value, you won't have to beg.

Connect on Other Platforms

I found a few good Facebook groups that helped me get a few connections too. In addition to Facebook, there are Discord groups (which I haven't really explored well yet), Reddit groups, and other places. This activity helps you connect with other SteemIt members, and it also helps attract other people into this platform, which will help it grow.

I've seen other Steemians use videos very well to their advantage too. I haven't done that yet, but I think it's a great idea because online users love videos. If you can produce graphics or infographics, you might try that too.

In the long run, the positive things you do to help this platform grow will also help you. That's called enlightened self-interest, and it's a good thing.

Work on Providing Quality Content

Some folks give advice to only produce content under hot tags. I think in the long run, you'll be better off just producing quality content about your own range of interests. That could be Steem, but it could also be politics, jewelry making, food, or even the city you live in.

Since we new people are all minnows, it's good to remember what people say about being a small fish in a big bond. Some of you may do better developing your own niche, even if it's not one of the most popular areas.

Work on basic formatting. I'm not using all of the formatting and markup tools yet. But I see posts that are just walls of words. At least, break up your paragraphs and use headings to make your longer posts easier to read online.

Be a Good Steem Citizen

Also, remember that many of the dolphins, wales, and larger fish have already invested their own cash in Steem. Respect that. It's fine to disagree on comments or joke around, but make sure what you're doing isn't detracting from the value of the platform. You can lose your hard-earned reputation fast, and you won't help yourself.

Don't Go Crazy With Upvotes and Use Tools

Like many other newbies, I went crazy with the upvotes the first few days and ran out of "steam" too fast. You can use tools (I like SteemWorld.org - read here: https://steemit.com/steemworld/@jeetmandal/steemworld-org-for-steemit-data-and-account-information) You can use it to monitor your Steem Power, activity, and upcoming rewards. I believe the developer of this fantastic tool is here at this tag: @steemchiller

Some other tools that help are steemd.com and steemnow.com. They all offer a lot of the same good information, so just pick the format you like.

Anyway, my experience and the tools taught me not to use my upvotes too quickly. As minnows, we don't have a lot of Steem Power to start with, so we can't use it up too quickly. If you are running close to 80 percent, you should probably restrain your activity to posting and commenting until you charge back up again. Every upvote seems to take about two percent of your power, and that seems to take a couple of hours to charge again, so newbies should probably not upvote more than about 10 times a day and maybe less.

Should You Upvote Your Own Posts?

I still don't know. Yes, no, maybe. There's something about voting too fast or not doing it at all. Anyway, I'm not sure about this. I'm experimenting, and honestly, it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. Since I don't have a lot of Steem Power, not voting helps me reserve upvotes for other people, but I'm not sure if using them really strengthens my own posts because I don't have that much power.

Honestly, I'm leaning towards the argument that it's better to reserve my own power to upvote useful comments on my posts.

Hopefully, somebody will comment with a better answer.

Do You Have Any Tips?

Let me know what you think about what I've written, what I've missed, and so on. You can help add value to this post and to the entire platform.