@Mountainwashere's Guide for New Users:

Welcome to Steemit! It's got a steep learning curve, but it's worth it in the long run if you keep putting in the time! Just know that it will take quite a while before you start getting attention and followers. The biggest secret to success? Keep posting high quality content regularly, and make sure to search out other people's posts, read them, and give relevant comments.

Tagging is extremely important. Always make sure to use all five possible tags, and to keep them relevant. You can always just tag something "blog" or "photography" or something else really general (so long as it's still relevant) to fill the quota if you need to- most of your tags should be established ones, though one or two less used ones are fine.

Posting more than four times a day can reduce your potential rewards, as well as turning off potential users. (I aim for one post per day most of the time.) Consistency is important, though, so try to have a regular posting schedule. You should also be sparing with resteems- only do it for really important posts. (I resteem a post once a month or less, generally.)

Always make sure to attach a photo to your posts! You should also have a finished profile: Write a description, add a profile picture and a banner- neither needs to be a photo of you, necessarily, but you should have something- and set a website.

There are a lot of really good resources out there for plankton and minnows (new users). You should check out the following groups and services, they offer a lot of valuable resources:

@thesteemengine (Check this one out first- they're an extremely supportive group that can help out in a lot of ways.)
@qurator (These guys offer an excellent liftime upvote to accounts that post consistent quality content.)
@steembasicincome (Another lifetime upvote option.)
@steemstem (The biggest and best STEM curation group in the game. If you're interested in writing or reading about science, check these guys out!)
@geopolis (A fairly new science curation group, this one's dedicated to the study of the Earth.)
@ocd (A curation group that seeks out undervalued new writers.)
@photocontests (Runs contests and provides other support for photographers.)
@steemitworldmap (Lets you tag the location of your posts and share your travel stories.)

Much of the activity on steemit actually takes place off Steemit, on places like steemit.chat and discord. Learning to use them is a great idea.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out the official Steemit FAQ.

And, again, the biggest thing is just patience. Breakout successes are incredibly rare on Steemit- you've got to find your way to success through perseverance and hard work. It takes time, but you'll eventually succeed if you put in the work.

Please feel free to repost this guide on the posts of other plankton & minnows you run into (though I'd appreciate it if you credit me.) If it was useful to you, feel free to check out my posts and give me a follow!