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

in steemit •  7 years ago  (edited)


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


Dirk here, new member here at Steemit as I joined last Saturday after receiving the email that my account was verified. Currently the registration process can take up to 72 hours, but instant verification is in the works. Seven days later - I have 58 followers and increased my rep score to 41 (Dirk Nowitzki's jersey number, just sayin'). Pretty good start if you ask me.

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!

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One very important thing to note, the $$$ amounts you see next to posts/comments are NOT in USD, but instead in STU (steem token units). I'm not going into the calculation of it, but based on current STEEM and SBD prices, a quick shortcut to get USD paid out to the author is to multiply the $$$ shown by 3. THIS IS A GAMECHANGER!

I didn't want to get into the payout structure because when you first start you should be focusing on quality content rather than the rewards. #quality

thanks for bringing me on board !! looking forward to learning more on steemit!! Well written article , looking forward to more valuable content

Welcome @johntdaballa! As many wise Steemians said when I first got started, take your time, research up, and feel free to reach out to me with any questions. Get excited, this is the future of social media!

@dirkboy41 Thanks for introducing me to STEEMIT bro! And great tutorial on how to get started!

No problem! Glad you decided to join and welcome to the community. Take your time, read up, and reach out if you need anything. Follow some bloggers that interest you and start making some insightful comments!

This post is the most valuable I have ever read. The quality is just amazing.

Thanks @franangelico, keep learning and slowly you will see the potential in this platform. Simply amazing...

I have been trying to grow my network of Steemit users by making sure I Upvote people that comment and upvote on my blogs. I want to promote teamwork with Upvotes.

Me and you both! Still trying to build up followers and learning everyday. Appreciate the upvote!

This post has received a 35.71 % upvote from @sleeplesswhale thanks to: @dirkboy41.

This post has received a 14.76 % upvote from thanks to: @dirkboy41.
For more information, click here!!!!
Send minimum 0.100 SBD to bid for votes.

Before sending a transfer to @minnowhelper, verify that your publication meets these conditions (http://www.minnowhelper.com/conditions.php). After the transfer is made, no claims will be received.


The Minnowhelper team is still looking for investors (Minimum 10 SP), if you are interested in this, read the conditions of how to invest click here!!!
ROI Calculator for Investors click here!!!

This post has received a 40.36 % upvote from @kittybot thanks to: @dirkboy41.

Thank you @dirkboy41 for making a transfer to me for an upvote of 2.74% on this post! Half of your bid goes to @budgets which funds growth projects for Steem like our top 25 posts on Steem! The other half helps holders of Steem power earn about 60% APR on a delegation to me! For help, will you please visit https://jerrybanfield.com/contact/ because I check my discord server daily? To learn more about Steem, will you please use http://steem.guide/ because this URL forwards to my most recently updated complete Steem tutorial?