![peachmspwhale.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmayj6XmtTkEzhLdPkLmLqEhzGsPoWP1G3pCpEqvBwJMAu/peachmspwhale.jpg)

I joined Steemit on June 25 2017 and I am proud to say I just passed 2000 followers! In that time I have had my ups and downs here. Steemit is quite a complex ecosystem and though it can be used with a limited amount of knowledge, to really have success here and use the platform to the fullest it helps to understand some of the basics. After joining I probably did a full month worth of reading to really grasp the basics and since the Steemit search isn't the best right now I've decided to compile as much of my knowledge as I can into one post!

As some of you may know I am a moderator over on the PAL/Minnowsupport discord so I often hear the same questions over and over. I have a pile of posts saved to send newbies but I have yet to find one post that covers/compiles all these aspects, and is up to date, so here we go!

## PASSWORD SAFETY

Keeping your password safe is arguably the most important thing you should understand, after all if you lose your password all the rest of this information will become useless because you won't be able to access your steemit account.

A few weeks ago after seeing numerous users  with unsafe key practices I wrote this guide for the minnowsupport account: [The Ultimate Guide To Key Safety](https://steemit.com/steemit/@minnowsupport/steemit-passwords-the-ultimate-guide-to-key-safety)

In this guide I cover what each password is for and what keys you should be using for optimal safety. **This is a must read!**

## POST QUALITY / POST REWARDS

Now that your passwords are safe and you want to make a post, the first thing we will address is post quality. Obviously this is highly subjective and we all have different ideas of what makes a great post. Despite the objective nature of this there are a few things we can all agree on. **Originality is important**.  I am going to state the obvious here, don't steal/plagiarize other people's content. Aside from being morally wrong this will most likely get you flagged by Steem Cleaners, and even if you get away with doing it a few times you most likely won't make great rewards. **Steemit likes to reward original thought and content.**

Many new users complain that they don't know what to blog about. Even if you have never blogged before I guarantee you that you have a skill, you just need to find your niche. If you write genuine blogs about your life/interests/hobbies or anything else that you are enthusiastic about you will get followers who share the same interests. Nobody wants to reward an image or a copy pasted post that they can find through google. **Provide something personal that nobody else can and you will do well**.

Although not necessary it also helps to make your blogs look nice, so learn how to spruce up your writing with some simple markup. @gmuxx has written a great guide: [A Beginner's Guide to Markdown](https://steemit.com/markdown/@gmuxx/a-beginner-s-guide-to-markdown)

### 50/50 or 100% powerup?

Now that you've finished your post all you need to do is choose your rewards. There are three options, 50/50 which is default, 100% powerup or decline rewards. It is important to understand what these mean.

100% power-up means your rewards will come in the form of 100% Steem Power. These rewards are not liquid and to access them you would need to power down.

50/50 means you will receive 50% Steem Power and 50% Steem Based Dollars (SBD) 

Decline rewards means you will receive no compensation for your post.

**When SBD is more than 1$ you should always choose the 50/50 option for maximum profitability!**

Currently SBD is at roughly 4$. Until it drops below 1$ continue to choose the 50/50 option!


## HOW TO USE THE INTERNAL MARKET

If you have been using the 50/50 option you will have some liquid SBD in your account. If you would like to convert that to Steem (recommended so you can power up) the simplest way is to use the internal market. Go to your wallet and look for STEEM DOLLARS. On the right hand side you should see a dropdown menu under your SBD balance that looks like this:
![Screen Shot 2018-02-01 at 3.15.30 PM.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVQsewxE2Re6d8UGQbLLKmvVSjpuRYJ1sMK96Wru2CmXx/Screen%20Shot%202018-02-01%20at%203.15.30%20PM.png)

Click market and you will be in the internal market:

![Screen Shot 2018-02-01 at 3.14.58 PM.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmR53ffAxS6QoUKUxBu7JQD4kDYPotJLLB2eYRYrvXju2W/Screen%20Shot%202018-02-01%20at%203.14.58%20PM.png)

This may look a little daunting if you have never used an exchange but it is quite simple to use.

1. You want to BUY STEEM with your SBD so you will be filling out the fields on the left hand side.
2. First fill in the amount of SBD you would like to sell, if you want to sell all of it, click available and it will add all of your available SBD.
3.  The amount of STEEM you can buy will autofill using the lowest available sell price.
4. Look at the sell orders, the lowest ones may not fill your quantity needs so you may need to adjust this price a wee bit higher.
5. Once you are satisfied click the button BUY STEEM
6. A window will pop up asking for a password. Enter your ACTIVE KEY to confirm
7. A notification will pop up telling you that your order has submitted
8. Check your wallet and the Steem should show up in your balance shortly.
9. To power up this Steem, click the dropdown menu under STEEM and choose power up 
 
## COMMENTS

As a new user you are probably not making tons of cash on your posts. This is likely because you don't have a lot of followers yet and you haven't found your niche community. In the early stages commenting can be your key to finding these people and making meaningful connections.

These suggestions will probably sound like common sense but here are a few do's and don'ts for commenting
* Find people in your specific niche and leave thoughtful comments, if it seems like you have similar interests they will most likely look at your blog
* Make your comments genuine, don't leave kiss ass comments on peoples post only hoping for an upvote, people can smell that a mile away
* Don't ask people to follow or upvote you, i consider this outright disrespectful if the person leaves no indication they have read my post and just ask me for a vote
* Relating to the above don't link a post of yours in the comment section unless it is relevant to the topic at hand
* Stop leaving lazy comment like NICE POST, seriously nobody likes this and will just assume you are a spammer!

## CURATION REWARDS

Lots of people seem confused about how curation rewards work. There is some complicated math that I don't understand to calculate how much you will make per post voted but I will try to explain this simply. *note that if there is a fork soon this information may change!

Currently if you vote as soon as a post comes out you get zero curation rewards, they go 100% to the author.
At the thirty minute mark you get 100% and none go to the author.
In between these two points it is on a scale so at 15 minutes you and the author share 50/50.

This seems pretty simple, with this model the best time to vote is around the thirty minute mark or after, but theres a catch.

The amount of curation you will receive depends on who votes after you and the final payout of the post. Ideally you want to vote closer to the thirty minute mark but also before any whales. Tricky!

As a minnow if you have very little Steem Power curation rewards will be very small, so I wouldn't worry too much about voting at the perfect time, I think you should just vote what you love! As long as you aren't voting on things the second they are posted you will make some curation, though if you really want to support an author voting early can help them out by allowing them to keep more of the curation rewards so this is a nice gesture!

### COMMUNITIES/DISCORD

Aside from doing your best to write quality posts and comments another great way to enrich your Steemit experience is to join some of the various external communities. There are many Steemit related groups on both steemit.chat and discord. I am more familiar with discord so I will talk about that!

Since I'm a moderator on the PAL/Minnowsupport discord I am obviously a little biased in saying this is the first one you should join: https://discord.gg/Hvtguy7

We have various services for newcomers, and lots of smaller groups that form under our umbrella. We also have a Steemian run radio station that is interactive and tons of fun! I wrote some advice for joining the PAL discord here: 
[How to get more out of Minnowsupport and PALnet](https://steemit.com/minnowsupport/@juliakponsford/how-to-get-more-out-of-minnowsupport-and-palnet-why-community-is-more-important-than-bots)

Aside from PAL there are a million other communities to join depending on what you're into. If you are an artist check out @slothicorn, if you're a writer take a look into @thewritersblock! @torico has compiled a huge list of servers, have a browse and join in on the fun:
 [Torico's Magical List of Discord Servers](https://steemit.com/newsteem/@torico/torico-s-magickal-list-of-steemit-discord-servers-v-2)

### MISCELLANEOUS BITS AND BOBS

**Other ways to earn Steem as a minnow** An often overlooked way to earn a little Steem is through contests. Searching the contest tag here on Steemit and finding ones that suit your skills can be a great way to earn a little and also to meet an engage with other users. I run a weekly contest called [Art Explosion](https://steemit.com/art/@juliakponsford/art-explosion-week-26-theme-vintage-25-steem-in-prizes-all-forms-of-art-welcome) and have found so many excellent accounts to follow and made tons of friends. If art isn't your thing there is a contest for just about everything. On the PAL discord we even have a room dedicated to contest posts so you can scroll through and look at them all in one place.

**Bandwidth** If you are a new user and confused about why you are having trouble posting and commenting read this post: [What is Bandwidth? Why does it keep me from doing anything?](https://steemit.com/steem-help/@sykochica/answering-common-questions-what-is-bandwidth-why-does-it-keep-me-from-doing-anything)

**Reporting abuse** If you have found an account that is abusing the rewards pool, plagiarizing etc. you can report it here:  https://steemcleaners.org/abuse-report/

**Useful sites for account info** steemworld.org/@yourusername (replace your username in the url) is one of the best sites I have found that concisely has all your account info in one place. You can see your voting power, delegations, bandwidth availability, rewards and more! 

There is also steemnow.com, steemreports.com, steemreports.com, steemdb.com etc. Explore these and find one you like, these can give you summaries and valuable info that Steemit can't!

**Accounts you should follow**

@minnowsupport aims to put out posts that are informative for minnows and resteems lots of useful posts and holds weekly contests

@inquiringtimes has become somewhat of an ambassador for Steemit and writes excellent and informative posts that are extremely useful for understanding the Steemit ecosystem

@minnowuniversity also aims to write and resteem posts that will enrich your understanding of the platform

___

Hopefully I've given new users enough links and resources to keep them busy for a while. If you feel I have missed something integral let me know in the comment section, if I can add it before the editing period closes, I will most definitely do so! I want as many people to succeed here as possible and for that to happen I believe knowledge is the key.

### Happy Steeming!
### Julia

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