All Steem Newbs Read From Start to Finish. This is REQUIRED READING that will help make you money and save you from frustration.

I look over most new posts for an hour or two each day and then upvote the good ones in an attempt to get curation rewards. What annoyed me is seeing this butthurt post by someone saying they're leaving in a futile attempt to garner upvotes from a whale.

https://steemit.com/investments/@resten/so-i-finally-realized-i-m-a-total-useless-idiot-on-steem-i-m-leaving

This article struck a chord, because after 5 days being on here, I was ready to give up like this guy did. But then, I reflected: Why did my posts not trend?

That was the real question, because I'm here like everyone else to make money posting content. I had to figure out why It seemed all these people were making money while I was getting left behind. Then I questioned my assumption that a lot of people are making money. Because really if you look at the numbers, there are only 211 people that can make you money with their vote alone.

The whales vote is what everyone is after, but most people don't even know how to draw out the whale. When I look at the new posts page, I see lots of posts with 1 sentence, or 1 photo posts and that's the issue. Most people who don't make money here who eventually get frustrated and leave, never really understood that the content they post is supposed to be valuable. The content I have previously posted, was garbage, there was no point, nothing I was leading you, the reader to. No reason you should care, and I've figured out why you didn't care now.

No one cares, because you don't make them care

Examples & Explanation:

This post is literally a useless information byte, if I wanted news about this race-car driver, I would look it up myself.

Cool looking post, but there isn't enough analysis on it, why does it grab you. There needs to be a bigger explanation about why Steemit is better. Won't trend because there's no analysis, no justification for his views. Also could use a catchier title, but that isn't super important when the content of the post is crap.

This is a crazy man rambling to himself and here's why: There's nothing to grab me. No photos on the page, there is a catchy title, but once I see a boring wall of text, I'm out of there, not going to trend because it doesn't pull me in. Just a weird title, no pictures. It definitely needs pictures.

Look at the page of trending posts. What percent of posts that are trending don't have photos?

Exactly, all trending posts currently have a picture, and a catchy, interesting title, and I guarantee you if I click on one, other than a picture of marijuana, it'll have more than a few sentences of explanation. In other words, it is real content, there is entertainment value. I can read most trending posts and it will take some time, and I will walk away with something about someone else's life, and hopefully something I can implement in my life. And that's what I look for, something that's useful, interesting or cool. I would assume that is what the whales look for also as that is the kind of content they want on steemit.

DO

1. Have a picture to grab my attention
2. Add value
3. Be funny, share something cool
4. Have a catchy title that grabs me and pulls me in

DON'T

1. Write all text
2. Write 2 sentences

That's it. Get out there, and give em hell.

Image source:
http://reifundamentals.com/the-secret/