3 Fantastic Months on Steemit

I joined Steemit nearly 3 months ago on the 4th of June 2016.  

I had a brief break after my first "introduceyourself" post due to dealing with the aftermath of the DAO hack which I was heavily involved in to my (now) regret.

I returned a few weeks later to the shock that people actually liked my first post and that it had earned an amazing $600!  To say it was a surprise is an understatement.  I didn't think anyone would look at it or even appreciate it.

Since then I have been steadily posting and though I have never reached the same level of earnings as my first post I really enjoy using Steemit.

I have been gradually powering up through posting rewards and (mainly) through buying Steem and SBD on exchanges.  

I really believe in the platform potential of Steemit and the proof is in my wallet.

Over the last few weeks I've gone from just over 1000SP to just over 4000SP - which was one of my major milestone targets!  

Now I have a new goal to try to double it to 8000SP.  So I will continue to keep buying Steem/SBD on the exchanges and powering up gradually over time to reach my new goal.

My Philosophy - He(or she) Who Dares Wins

Whilst others have been expressing fear and doubt over the falling Steem price - I see it as an opportunity to increase my Steem Power and influence in the community.

As I have said before there are no guarantees in cryptocurrency.  Investing in cryptocurrency is definitely risky and one should never put all one's eggs in a single cryptocurrency basket.  Steemit and Steem have their problems and issues but they are both in their infancy.

I personally believe the risk of failure in this case is outweighed by the massive potential if Steemit succeeds and I've been backing my opinion with my own money.

There is no reward without risk.

Community is Key

Throughout my experiences on Steemit the most rewarding ones have been in my interaction with other members of the community.  

I get a lot of pleasure from commenting on other people's posts and curating content.  

I think going forward the community is Steemit's greatest asset.  I feel I have made many great friends on here and have learned a great deal from the other posters.

There are too many great posters and community members to really list in full but I would like to give a special mention to @stellabelle and @tuck-fheman for posting great material and being very supportive to me here.  @craig-grant also did a lot to help build the community in the first few weeks by creating the "craigrant" tag.

There are many others I could list but I am sure to miss someone out - so I will leave it at that.  

Thank you all for making this such a fantastic community.

My Forthcoming (Reluctant) Break from Steemit

Unfortunately due to having surgery on my left eye (on 1st September - this Thursday) I will likely be unable to post, comment and curate for several days in the first week of September.  I would just like to apologise in advance for the break.  

Don't worry I will continue posting over the next few days (up to Thursday) and will be back to posting normally after I have recovered.

It will probably be tough being away though!

A Selection of Photos from My Early Posts

I thought I'd post a few photos from those early posts as many of my current followers were probably not even on Steemit at the time and didn't get to see them.  I have linked to the original posts so you can see the bigger versions if you want to.

This is "Venus" from my introductory post.  It was one of the finalists in this year's "The Face" International Photography Competition. Model is Rachelle Summers.

       

This is "Daydream" from my 2nd post (w. Rachelle Summers) and "Oh the Horror!" from a post a few days later (w. Axel Von Rosencroft).

Conclusion and Your Own Milestones

It has been a great 3 months and hopefully Steemit will continue to get even better.

So enough about me and my experiences so far.  

Please feel free to share your experiences and milestones in the comments below or in your own post.  

Let's continue to make Steemit a great place:)

You can see more of my posts and photography work by following me @thecryptofiend

(Note images not taken by me were from Istockphoto, Verification for me here: http://www.aapicture.com/about-me)