**Quickstart Guide - Started From the Bottom, Now I'm Here....(One Step From the Bottom)**

Started from the bottom now we heahh...Not quite there on Drake's level, but thought the song was appropriate.

As I learned more about the platform, my excitement grew exponentially and I started evangelizing to friends calling them to make the switch from the traditional social networks. I want to share my success so that each and every one of you get off to the best start possible. "Why not recruit friends from the start and grow together with the STEEMIT community," I thought. So here's to you, my friends, and any other newcomers to the community, my "Quick Start" guide for STEEMIT:

What is STEEMIT? In my words, STEEMIT is a blog that runs on a blockchain and rewards it's members with STEEM cryptocurrency for quality content created by its users.

1. Quality Content and Long Term Outlook

Quality, Quality, Quality. That's the name of the game and is the single most important concept that should be always top of mind. From posts to comments to upvotes ~ always think about interacting with high quality responses and commentary.

Come in with a long term outlook. It takes time to start making a mark at Steemit as with any new endeavor you tackle. Good news, you're still relatively early as the blockchain movement is just beginning. Last I checked daily average users have been on an accelerating positive trend while still sub-100,000 daily average users.

2. Increasing Your Reputation Score

Rep score is the number that appears in ( ) next to the username and is calculated by a super complex algorithm, but the concept is intuitive. New members start with a 25 rep score. Your rep score increases if the community interacts positively with your content through uptoves and comments. Conversely, if you post useless click bait or plagiarized content, you will be flagged, negatively affecting your rep score. A few tips to increase your rep score:

1. Follow high-rep score bloggers and upvote quality content (the earlier you are the better)
2. Reply with insightful commentary on articles that add value
3. Respond to all comments on your postings and develop a rapport with your readers

3. STEEM, STEEM POWER (SP), STEEM Dollars (SBD)

On a very elementary level, STEEM, SP, and SBD are the cryptocurrencies that are used on the STEEM blockchain. STEEM and SBD are traded on multiple exchanges and can be converted into other cryptos like BTC and ETH. SBD is supposed to track $1 USD value, but is trading much higher than that.

Once you accumulate some STEEM in your account, either by purchase or earning it through interactions on STEEMIT, you can "power-up" STEEM into Steem Power (SP). SP is not traded on exchanges and is only useful on the STEEM blockchain. How does SP affect me, you ask? In a nutshell, the more SP you have, the more influence you have within the community meaning your upvotes are more valuable.

Powering up is essentially investing in STEEM for the long term. Alternatively, you can also "power down" and convert your SP back to STEEM. Once you initiate the "power down", your SP will be converted back to STEEM in equal payments over 13 weeks. Think of "powering up" as investing longer term in STEEM as it will hold the STEEM value while accruing "interest" by increasing your influence and voting power. This will start making more and more sense once you actually start and see the results come in, I promise...

Keep in mind the big picture - long term, be patient, do your research, produce quality content, and the rewards will come sooner or later.

4. Interaction - Upvoting, Commenti5ng, Re-Steeming

When I started, I read a few articles on best practices on rep score and just dove right in with upvoting, re-steeming, and commenting. Before adding any STEEM in my account, my upvotes were worth a penny. After powering up some STEEM in my account, my upvotes were suddenly worth 40+ cents. One way to jump start you're journey here is to power up some STEEM, upvote your own posts/comments which will increase your visibility and exposure to more eyeballs which will ultimately naturally grow your audience sooner rather than later.

Think outside the box on how to increase your visibility and following.

5. Continuing Education

There are numerous articles out there and you can probably find the answer to any of our questions about STEEM by simply searching withing Steemit. Always keep learning and sharing valuable information with your followers. There's tons to learn and I'm pleasantly surprised by the knowledge and willingness to share of highly-influential Steemians.

@gold84 is in the middle of a very informative series for beginners. I found it extremely helpful and enourage all of you to read through the entire series (not completed yet). Here is Chapter 1 of his series:
https://steemit.com/steem/@gold84/chapter-1-of-11-have-you-recently-sign-up-on-steemit-and-don-t-know-what-to-do-first-basic-things-for-new-people-make-their-way

Pro Tip: Follow @cryptographic & @taskmaster4450 too. Join in, keep learning, spread the word, and lets grow together!

Please share, upvote, re-steem if you found this to be helpful. Don't be afraid to ask questions and comment below. I'd like to promote more comments on my posts and WILL UPVOTE quality comments!