Today is two weeks for me on Steemit. To say that it was a learning experience is an understatement. Fourteen days ago I knew nothing about this place. It was recommended to my at a gathering so I decided to take a look. I will say it was a good decision.

Before going any further, I will state where I am now. Presently, I have a reputation of 44, there are 273 people following me, I follow 671 and have posted 1362 times. To all those who followed me and helped with my reputation, I thank you.

So what did I do to get to those numbers? Obviously, I spent a great deal of time following people. To me, this is a core activity. I see many accounts that have few people they follow. I presume this makes it more manageable. However, to me, we all want followers. I spend some time each day going through my following list and reading what those people post. If someone is going to take the time to write it, I should at least read it. Of course, there is the proverbial "time permitting". The other thing I did with the followers is that I follow everyone who follows me. Again, if someone takes the time to add me to their list, I should do the same. I know...there are people out there who follow to get the follow and then purge their last later. So be it. Unless someone is consistently stuff that is totally vile, there is no need to get rid of anyone.

The other thing that I did was commented as often as I can. This is a social network and the only way to interact is to get involved. In the comment section, I had some pretty decent "conversations" with people. It is also a way to acknowledge the author for taking the time to put forth his/her ideas. Finally, commenting is a way to get a post moving. It is always nice to click on a post with a lot of comments. Again, I feel if my comment can help someone to comment, that only helps the author.

That is basically what I did for the last two weeks. Now, what I learned.

The most important lesson is the value of the upvotes. On three different occasions I found myself in time out by the voting gods since I used up all my votes. I zapped the voting power to nothing. When I first joined, I thought votes were helpful to people so I gave them out endlessly. Only later did I realize that voting so often diminishes the power to the point where the vote really gives them nothing. Add in the fact that Congress moves faster than the replenishing of votes on here and you can see how I got myself into a bind. I resolved to turn this around by putting myself in voting timeout to rebuild my power. Hopefully soon, when I give a vote to someone, it will mean something to them. No longer will my vote be non-penetrating.

Another thing I learned is that when posting as an author, quantity is better than quality. I see many who post a lot but they are very low impact articles. Sure we all love a good job and that will get some upvoted, but overall I dont see much coming out of it. On the other hand, I see some articles that are long and well written, and they are upvoted to the tune of hundreds of dollars. This is the recognition that their work is appreciated. It is okay to throw up some quick things when the mood strikes. However, to truly get established, write some good stuff.

The last lesson is persistence. We all want to go from zero to whale in 2.5 days. It doesnt happen unless one brings a huge following over from some other site. It takes a lot of work to keep putting up material that gets people's attention. Ultimately, this entire community is dependent upon people consistently posting and commenting. Without interaction, there is no site. Also, each of us needs to move ourselves ahead because there are newer people joining everyday with the same hopes we had. I think it is obvious that many came to steemit so they could profit off their work. Reddit and Facebook have done well to ensure they have a huge following. To be frank, they offer a lot to those who use it and most are very happy with it. Yet, none of them profit from those sites. Steemit offers a chance to be compensated for one's work. This is rather unique and a driver to help this place grow. The challenge is when the whales control everything and do not give back. Of course, there are many who are willing to explain things and give guidance to a newbie. I want to give a shout out to @igster. He is one who took a few moments to explains how some things work. I know there are many more out there doing the same. My point is that most coming on here do not have a huge following and have to trudge forward to make any headway. The vast majority of us can appreciate that since it is our story too.

I am a believer in this site. My goal is ultimately to become a whale. Of course, the money is a wonderful motivation but, believe it or not, it is not my primary. I love helping people and I find this site to be one of those that can change people's lives. In fact, I came across posts that show it already is. In the western countries, for most of us, a few dollars means very little. However, $5 to someone in a third world nation can make a huge difference. The same is true for people such as single mothers or those who are unemployed. They have a way to get compensated for providing content. I want to help these people out and the best way to do that is to have the power to. Imagine who nice it feels to take a newer, struggling person and help them become a whale. To me, that is what this place is all about.

So there it is. My Steemit knowledge packed into one post. I do not know a lot at the moment, but I know a ton more than I did two weeks ago. I thank those who followed me and all the pointers everyone has given me. As always, anything you have that can help, please put in the comment section. If this did move you at all, flip me an upvote and a resteem.

To everyone, let's make this as big as Facebook and, instead of one person having tens of billions, we spread it to millions. Just let me know what I can do to help.

Pictures from Google images.