Gday guys, i wanted to do a guide for new users to steemit who are making great articles but are jumping the shark in terms of content output.

I myself recently started on steemit and got straight to work making articles and putting pieces together, i wanted to produce the best content i possibly could and hopefully make some money doing it, but after the first week i noticed something.

I wasn't getting the attention i thought i would, even though i was writing to the best of my ability and trying to provide the best possible reading experience to my small follower base i quickly came to a realization that i may be wasting my time on big articles at the moment, and i soon found out that i was right.

After a quick skim through of some top users and high payout posts I noticed a trend emerging, there was two types of people who got paid.

People with big following bases

And people getting whale votes

Now, one is obtainable, the other is pure luck so i'm only going to be focusing on the one that is obtainable.

Get a following base first.

This is important, it doesn't matter if you content is literally the best on the site, if no one is reading it you're not going to get anything you're planning for yourself, establishing a following base is tantamount to success on steemit and I mean a real following base.

Follow for follow programs are great, but eventually there is diminishing returns, if someone is following a thousand people and you're the thousand and one being follow the chances of your content being seen are almost non existent, it's great at the start but it quickly falls off and you're lost in the crowd so how do you establish a real follower base?

Make friends!

Steemit is a social media platform, yes there is money to be made here but the key word here is social if you aren't being friendly why will people upvote you? establish new friendships with people on the site instead of mass spamming peoples walls with "follow for follow?" trust me, there are more than enough people doing these programs out there, they don't need you doing it as well.

Making friends on steemit is investing in your own future on the site as people you have interacted with regularly are going to be more mindful of your blog if they're thinking about something you've posted or have regular talks with you, i have a few people bookmarked that i check whenever i log in to steemit everyday because i know them and i know their content, eventually this will translate into followers for you as well.

Take it slow at first.

No one comes to steemit and becomes a pro instantly, unless you're bringing a huge following with you, taking your time is required when learning a new site and gaining followers, you may be eager like I was to get to work and start making original content but without a following you're just posting for posterity's sake.

Don't fall into the traps of plagiarism.

Look your content may be a masterpiece of writing but eventually seeing someone make a thousand dollars for a 100 word post about ice cream is gonna hurt and you're gonna want a piece of that as well, but falling into that trap is a great way to not get noticed by dolphins and whales who have been here longer than you and have seen it before.

Not only is plagiarism a ban worthy offense, you're not going to make the hundreds of dollars you think you are and it's a great way to get people to unfollow you and overlook your work in the future.

Don't be discouraged

Okay, it happens to everyone, but you're new here you've got a ways to go before you make the big money you aren't going to be a success overnight, a lot of people see the money on offer here and think "awesome i can do that!" and get a week or so down the track and give up on it.

Also, some of your original content will go unnoticed sometimes hence why you should save your best for when you have a solid following base but at the same time don't hold back, if you have something you want to share on steemit go for it, every post increases your exposure either way!

Engage with people in their articles.

If there's one thing that annoys me is when i post something and it's completely ignored by someone in the comments section looking for a quick upvote it's annoying as hell and you won't get anything from it, but if you bring something to the conversation you will quickly find yourself with a new friend or follow.

Comments are great for new users to generate a bit of steem power however don't abuse it, commenting on a post that has a $700 payout with "wow great article never thought of that!!" is about as subtle as a flying brick, we know what you're upto!

Be consistent

Nobody follows a never poster or an empty poster, if you have a chosen topic you like to talk and write about, write about that first, Steemit people run in packs depending on the hashtag and having exposure there can get you recognized by other people who frequent it as well.

I admit i'm a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to consistency as the things I like are all over the place and wildly different to each other, for exampling posting alex jones memes and then writing an article on how to be an effective debater sends people mixed signals, while they make like some of the things you post, they will never like ALL of the things you post all the time, but there is one more thing to do, and it's the most important one.

You have to enjoy being here.

Money or no money, i love being on Steemit, it gives me a creative outlet online that i can get my content and ideas out there, iv'e tried it on other sites like Wordpress and Facebook but it doesn't come close to Steemit, every time i want to look into something or want just want to browse while i'm doing something else, there is always something there, from Philosophy and memes to Gaming and food.

If you don't enjoy being here and treat it as a job your passion will die out rather quickly and it will eventually show, remember this isn't a get rich quick scheme this is meant to be a new social media platform for getting your content out into the world and having people see it, if you love what you're doing you will keep coming back to it, if you only came here with dollar signs in your eyes you're just gonna disappoint yourself in the long run.

And that's my guide to getting started on steemit and how to shape your blog to be the best and most liked there is! if you liked this article feel free to upvote it and resteem.

But really i would like to get peoples opinions on this more than anything so Please leave a comment below on what you think, take it easy guys!