What a journey, it has been so far and man, did that 100 days fly by. From the excitement of joining this new and exciting platform, to the friendships I have developed across continents from behind my trustee keyboard - it's been quite the ride so far.

It started off with my curiosity about crypto currency back in February 2013 when my cousin sent me an email asking for my opinion on Bitcoin. I read up on it, saw the concept, then allowed my cynical side to debunk it and advised him against it. Bitcoin was priced at $25.39 that day....

Yes, I've checked!!

And, yes so has my cousin!!

I know, think of the lambos we could have had!!

An investment of $2769 that day would make me a bitcoin millionaire today and had I decided to sell on December 15th, I would have walked away with $1,952,443.

However, it is also worth pointing out, "if my Auntie had balls, she'd be my uncle!" Or in less crude terms, I am still working on the patent for my crystal ball :o)

As Shakepeare once said "Coulda, shoulda, woulda" or maybe I just made that up just now... :o)

Right, moving swiftly along...

Finding Steemit

Fast forward a few years, and with Bitcoin on a surge and lots of other Alt coins now prominent in the market, I decided to dip my toe in to the crypto waters. I became a slave to my Blockfolio app, as I watched the daily, hourly and minute by minute fluctuations... It was around this time, that I happened upon Steemit..

Where did I read it? Who told me? I can't actually recall, but I found myself typing www.steemit.com into my browser and seeing that I would have to choose a username. That made me pause for thought, and it was another day before I actually signed up with my chosen username of Ablaze. I was really excited at this stage, and was thinking about all of the articles that I was going to write, and the positive reaction I hoped they would receive. This was at 01:20 on January 26th this year. I was now officially signed up, and was pumped to get writing, but then I had the dreaded wait for approval. It seemed like an eternity, in reality it was three and half days, but it seemed like longer!

Account goes Live

So, now I had a voice, now I could Steem... I spent the first little while finding my way around the site, wondering where I might post, and what I might post about. I could literally talk about anything in the world, and then I couldn't decide what to post! All of this choice stifled me...

It is kind of like when you go to eat at a restaurant with 100 choices, and you cannot decide what to get. Sometimes, a limited choice, is a good thing, but the better idea is to go for Tapas and get loads of things! I think that is why some of my favorite restaurants are Tapas style!

Now let my come back from that tangent. I think, If I was a form of mathematics, I'd be Trigonometry, as I am partial to the odd tangent or rambling off topic, a bit like what I am typing now..

My First Post

So, my first post came that day and I read over it a few times, and was really happy when it came to time to click post (link here). Then, I waited for the feedback, for the upvotes. They never came, the post ended up getting one upvote and one comment, and instead of an engaging comment it said "I followed you follow me" I did wonder at the time, that this platform is not all it is cracked up to be, and thought maybe I can't make it here, then I remember reading some posts from other Steemians explaining how it is very hard at the beginning, and how you have to presevere and success, followers and upvotes would follow. They advised us minnows and newbies to post quality content, and just basically stick with it. Now that I have reached 100 days on the platform, and simultaneously just surpassed 100 Steem Power and gained 785 followers, I wanted to write a little about my experience and also try and give some advise to the new joiners and encourage them to stick it out, to keep posting, keep engaging and success will follow.

So here are some thoughts on how you can win on Steemit, particularly if you are a new member, and are trying to figure it all out.

Top 5 pieces of advise for New Steemians.

1) Picking a good username

This is very important in my opinion. I am listing it at number one here, not because it is the most important thing on my list, but because it is the first thing that you need to do, when you take that initial plunge and sign up for Steemit. I remember the day I signed up, I stalled for a full day, as I thought about what kind of username I wanted to have.

Would I use my own name?

Would I use a username related to what I planned on posting about?

Would I use a username related to where I am from?

In the end, I decided that I would try to chose a name that was an actual english word. I figured this would be tricky, as I was a little late to the party, but I would give it a go. As I searched through different names, and finding all of them were used, I put on my thinking hat, and thought of some other criteria to follow. I wanted as short a username as possible, so that it would be snappy and easy to remember. And I wanted it to begin with the letter A if possible, with the thought of appearing at the start of lists of people called out on posts, as well as hopefully appearing on the first or second page of peoples followees. It became clear to me that early in peoples Steemit journeys, they went through other peoples lists to find people to follow themselves.

So I tried the word "Ablaze" which relates to light, something I love. I work with light every day, as I am an Optical engineer, I love nothing more than a sunny day - don't see too many in Ireland mind you ;o)

So, a word relating to light was perfect for me, and it also met the short word and beginning with "A" criteria, so I was onto a winner. I was officially ready to sign up.

So, for you guys getting ready to join, don't rush the username, take your time, pick carefully, and think it through, after all, this is how you will be known on the platform from here on in.

2) Creating quality content

I read a lot about this in my early days, and it struck me as obvious, but looking back on my short journey so far, this was really really good advise, so I just want to re-iterate it here.

Take your time and create quality consistent content. Do not expect your first post to get dozens of upvotes and comments. It is quite likely that it will not, but keep going, keep posting, and most importantly, don't let the quality of your posts slip. Think about Steemit as a Marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself, have patience, success will come, but don't be fooled. You will have to work hard at it, at least that is what I have had to do. But the hard work and hours has been enjoyable, and I have found out things about myself on the journey, and also met some really cool people from around the globe along the way.

So, stick with it my fellow minnows, believe in yourself, and above all be respectful and helpful to others, as for me that is at the core of this Steemit revolution.

Viva la Steemit!!

3) Join discord and interact with different people - find your niche

Discord has been great, and here you will find loads of different groups to join. I have met loads of really cool and helpful people through this medium, and I encourage you to do likewise.

Pop along to https://discordapp.com/ and sign up.

Discord is also home to The Minnowsupportproject which is a really good project to help minnows like us. I can pick one post of mine every 48 hours and ask for an upvote, which can vary from $0.10 to as much as $0.60. It has been a really good helper to me as I have grown, especially in those early days when I was delighted to see any upvote at all on my content.

Here is the link to this discord channel for Minnowsupportproject - https://discord.gg/6ghv54

I'd like to thank @aggroed @ausbitbank @teemsteem @someguy123 @canadian.coconut @thecryptodrive @theprophet0 @minnowsupport @banjojo for there tireless and altruistic work on this project.

If you are new, get yourself signed up to discord and join the guys at the Minnowsupportproject and watch your page grow and grow.

4) Enter contests

Enter contests, and when you're done enter more contests, and when you're finished doing that, enter another few contests. These are a great way to post to your page, gain some followers, gain some upvotes and gain some comments, and if you're really lucky, you may even win some contests.

In this regard, I have been very lucky. I have won three contests, which paid $20SBD, $5SBD, $5SBD and $2SBD respectively and these were a huge help in me growing my account, as I transferred the majority to Steem and powered up, and therefore accelerated my growth in Steem Power, which I am proud to say now stands at 102.099 Steem Power

A big thanks to @customnature @niallon11 @edprivat and @detlev for each of these wins, the latest of which I literally won in the last hour! Here are the posts for each win.

https://steemit.com/aswcontest/@ablaze/abondoned-temple-of-ta-prohm

https://steemit.com/music/@ablaze/written-in-ireland-recorded-in-johannesburg-made-possible-by-steemit-and-dsound

https://steemit.com/health/@ablaze/mental-health-issues-addressed-through-humour

https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@ablaze/irish-craft-beer-review-11-jack-cody-s-amber-ale

So go on, enter a contest, the worst thing that will happen, is you won't win, but I bet you will enjoy it, gain a follower or two and gain some of those elusive upvotes that evades us all in those early days..

5) If you comment, remember to upvote

My last little nugget of advise, is to upvote for people when you leave a comment on their page. I think that it is a courtesy. It doesn't matter if you vote is worth $0.00001 or $100000, for me it is just the right thing to do, if you enjoyed what you just read.

Now everyone may not agree with me on this point, or some of the others above, and if that is the case, that is absolutely fine, it would be boring if we all agreed all the time :o)

What do I think the future holds for Steemit?

I see a very bright future for Steemit. Yes, I may have rose-tinted glasses on, as I am on the inside looking out. But, I think this concept of getting paid for quality content and posting is a novel and revolutionary idea. I truly believe crypto currencies are here to stay. However, I do believe that many of the several thousand coins will die off over time.

As with other industries, such as the US automobile industry of the late 1800s into the early 1900s for example, where there were initially hundreds and hundreds of manufacturers. They all vied for a piece of the pie, and they all got their share, but over time over 99% of these companies died off. Have a look at the wiki page below, if you don't believe me :o)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_automobile_manufacturers_of_the_United_States

The secret then, as now, is to spot which ones are going to stand the test of time, which ones are managed well, which ones have potential to grow. I really believe Steemit is one of the ones which will thrive and stand the test of time. I'm so glad to have found Steemit in these early days, and anyone reading this and wondering whether it is worth it to stick with Steemit, and put in the hours and hard yards. It is my opinion that it is worth it, and in 5 or 10 years time, you may well look back, and think to yourself, I am so glad a listened to that Ablaze guy all those years ago.

So, go on get posting and engaging with this wonderful, helpful community. The sky is the limit, just don't throw in the towel before you've given it a good go...

These are the sources for the images I used above which I do not own.
Image 1
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Thanks so much for reading.

I try to post every day, so feel free to follow me and check out some of my other posts here.

Peace Out,

Ablaze 🔥