I’ve been on Steem for  a while now, and have managed to acquire a few extra SBD that aren't really going to any use, so I have started to look into the pros and cons of powering them up into Steem Power.

![20180529_081811_0001.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUAUZKP7jbcVcQcAeiHMQiWhWAF45gLRwRN348qoUyGEQ/20180529_081811_0001.png)

<h1>Powering up</h1>
Powering up is essentially converting your liquid Steem/SBD into Steem Power - Steem Power are less liquid but will give you more influence over the Steem platform - leading to your upvotes being worth more, increasing the amount of allocated bandwidth and also increasing curation rewards.

I remember when I joined Steemit, and up until recently have held onto any liquid currency as I know it will be much easier to convert to FIAT. However, after being on here around 4 months I have realised a few things:
1)    Steem and blogging on the Steem blockchain is a long term thing - most of us won't get rich quick on here, and by investing in more SP you are investing in the platform and also in your own future success
2)    SP is important especially in the beginning - the sooner you can acquire around 30SP the soon you will be done with those awful bandwidth issues (I wish I knew this when I joined!).

So I think that if you are ‘in for the long haul’ and believe in the future of Steem then powering up is the best way to grow your account and influence. I will always leave a few SBD in my account as I run competitions from time to time, and want to keep some spare for any prizes.

However, make sure that you are committed to Steem, because once you have powered up, it takes 13 weeks to power that SP down into Steem again!

<h1>Timing of powering up</h1>
In a perfect world it would be best to power up when SBD are greater in price than Steem - In November last year that ratio peaked at about 4:1 - meaning that for every 1SBD you would get 4 Steem! However, I have been here four months now and have yet to see SBD great in price than Steem.

At the moment the ratio is sitting at around 0.7 - meaning that for every SBD you trade you will get around 0.7 Steem.


So in terms of the timing it is really up to the individual, but I am personally going to start putting away small amounts of my SBD into SP - it seems a small amount here and there will make a big difference in the future! I read a great post about this idea by @tarazkp [here](https://steemit.com/steem/@tarazkp/put-it-away-why-to-power-up-a-little-continually)

<h1>How to power up</h1>
Powering up is a pretty simple process on Steemit. Firstly you need to convert your SBD to Steem. To do this simply navigate to your wallet click next to your Steem dollars and click market:

![Screenshot_2018-05-27-21-09-25-1.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWQNyhS6Amg5JctqpBuaNgyHQzUnTLFha9mi6tgGZ9SHK/Screenshot_2018-05-27-21-09-25-1.png)

You will then be taken to the market screen (it looks a bit confusing but don't worry it isn't!) What you are interested in is the left side in green where it says ‘buy steem’. The price should already be entered as the ‘lowest ask’ - meaning it is the lowest someone is wanting to trade for at the moment - you can put this lower if you would like but it means you probably won't find someone who want to trade. Now all you need to do is enter the amount of Steem you want to buy and then click buy steem! You are essentially trading with other users, so depending on the demand the Steem could take a little while to appear in your account.

![Screenshot_2018-05-27-21-10-05-1.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmf9C5uDMgKpFo5BXz2doqUb1NBGoxfvExLvRVDm5JPMSF/Screenshot_2018-05-27-21-10-05-1.png)

Once the transfer is complete all you need to do is navigate back to your wallet and click next to Steem, and then click on power up, and enter the ammount you want to power up in to Steem Power.

<h1>Conclusion</h1>
Powering up is essentially converting your liquid currency to Steem Power, which will give you more influence on Steem - higher upvotes, more bandwidth and higher curation rewards.

If you believe in the long term success of Steem, and want to grow your account then powering up cana be a great way to increase you influence on the platform.

If you have any questions, comments or reccomendations I would love to hear from you!

![DQmQzFM2sDp5wYpaoktgk9L8RzJCCwPgheNTHo23JUwfAGZ.jpeg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPeY2ebcMNHfpzuGbxVDWRRpNfKbLa3gndN3vX9pRowVe/DQmQzFM2sDp5wYpaoktgk9L8RzJCCwPgheNTHo23JUwfAGZ.jpeg)