The purpose of this post is to help educate those of you considering using Steemit, new to Steemit or perhaps you’ve been here awhile and are growing frustrated. There is a lot of misinformation one can stumble upon from hucksters who would exploit your efforts. There is no knowledge based FAQ, other than here’s your account, have at it. This lack of explanation can be costly, sometimes even devastating if you try bringing habits from elsewhere here. Before beginning, it would be a good idea to understand what Steem is, as it is often confused with Steemit, which is one of many apps built on top of the Steem blockchain. 

[What is Steem]( https://steemit.com/steem/@practicalthought/steem-for-beginners-why-steem)

# <center> Expectations And Reality </center>

Many of the hucksters on YouTube will show you posts that appear to be earning hundreds or thousands of dollars. They will pretend this is easy to achieve. 

# <center> Do Not Believe Them </center>

In my article on what is Steem I linked to above, I mentioned Steem Power (SP or vests). This affects the value of votes. There are vote bot services that passive investors delegate their SP to that accounts for the majority of these high paying posts. I do not wish to get into the vote bot services, as that is not designed to help newcomers in my opinion. I only mention them here to let you know those earnings are not realistic the way the hucksters (who usually don’t mention their use at all) due to this. My last word on the bots is I recommend not using them. They are able to pay such a high return to their investors because of the Steem they are charging YOU. And the ones who you want to see your post typically ignore the trending and hot tabs because they know that those people paid to get those articles placed there. 

# <center> So What Is A Realistic Expectation? </center>

The truth of the matter is, many come here and fail. They don’t earn crap. I was very fortunate when I got here, my introduction post earning a whopping 1.74. Of course, Steem was valued at 3.77 at that time, so the payout was under ½ a Steem, divided 75% for me roughly, 25% for those 10 or so people who voted on my post. Today that 1.74 post would be worth about .23 before being divvied up.

Post 2 Earned .07

Post 3 earned .61

Post 4,5,6 and 7 all earned zero.

I quickly began questioning WTF was going on here. As do many. Don’t let a slow start discourage you. Here I am under 14 months after starting and I went from that initial unknown earning zilch to holding over 1800 Steem now. IT IS POSSIBLE. So the question to ask is: how does this happen? Many who join quit. I see others (who I hope read this) who have been here and are still using part of the initial delegation they were given. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY.

# <center>Steps To Grow On The Steemit Site </center>

1-The most common mistake that results in dissatisfaction can be placed on this truth right here.

No one knows you are here. Nor will they unless YOU let them know. If you wait for them to find your posts, you will continue to have little to zero upvotes/interaction on your posts. So it is crucial for you to target areas of interest for you, and begin commenting on those posts (Do not forget to upvote those posts). Make sure to read comments on those posts of interest to you, as there is a good chance that others of similar interests can be found right there.

Do not spam these posts (nor make your posts spam, write original content). If you can’t write a meaningful comment that contributes to the topic at hand, best to not comment. When you find these posts that you love, add that person to your follow list. They will show up in your feed whenever they post and before long you will have more posts that you will enjoy than you can possibly handle. Also, never ask anyone to follow you, never post a link to any post you have made. Let people come to you because they found your comments genuine and a contribution to the topic in question. Also, never use pictures you don't have permission to use. You can use photos from https://pixabay.com/, and make sure to credit the source.

2- Following step one, you have already noticed now that you don’t have enough resource credits to post/comment a lot. This one could have been step one, but I wanted you to see for yourself that there were people worth engaging with here before we got to this. There are many ways that you can break through the resource credit issue and have more to move about the site more. I recommend putting skin in the game, but will mention other ways after this. Just know, if you have skin in the game, it tells people who you want to notice you are here that you are serious and can see this for what it is. And most importantly, the quicker you have Steem Power the quicker your growth here accelerates. 

You can buy Steem on the markets. I mentioned in another post that Binance was now allowing for fiat entry, Coinbase does as well. There are other ways, but one of those two routes should work. 

Renting Steem Power Delegation. There are markets here to pay for it with Steem, but being new here you probably don’t have the Steem to do so. I rented some in my first 9 months or so here, using Steem I bought. I am happy to share with you a resource I did not have, that allows for you to not only buy an account here, but they will allow you to buy Steem Power delegation for 90 days using your debit/credit card.

https://steem.ninja/buy-delegation.html
They also have an affiliate referral program, but I don’t use the app necessary to participate. I will get to that shortly.

The other way of possibly gaining resource credits is through the kindness of some of the projects here at Steemit. I don’t know of many, but there are many Discord groups (another area of ignorance for me as I don’t use Discord) set up to help accounts pull together as communities. I strongly urge you to begin following @thedarkhorse. He devotes his time to building communities by helping newer members not only through his Pay It Forward initiative, but through awarding SP to some deserving members. Obviously he can’t do this for everyone, but if he can’t help you, he can offer guidance that is crucial to your growth here.

I would also recommend that you keep your eye on the posts with the contest tags. It could be a quick way for you to score some Steem or delegation. 

# <center>Voting </center>
Vote every day. Never vote under 80% voting power, or you diminish your growth. Always take it to 80%, then let it recharge over 24hours back to 99%. Never let it hit 100% as you begin giving away your claim to the rewards pool for yourself and those you support.

My to follow list for Steem(it) knowledge would be:
@tarazkp
@abh12345
@paulag
@pennsif (this one is a must for staying current on ALL new developments for Steem and Steemit.
@taskmaster4450

I could easily recommend everyone on my follow list, however many of them are suited for my interests and not a general Steem(it) base of knowledge. The above accounts will help you understand how this works, how it is evolving and help provide inspiration (especially Taraz and Taskmaster) when you may find doubts creep in. Perspective is crucial. 

# <center> The Main Benefit For Serious Bloggers. </center>
Google treats Steemit articles favorably if you make an on topic post using a good title. I have written on this before, and will use my more recent post on what Steem is as an example.

<center>![google rank.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWaqEmeJiv9fTLsLvNhNRWTMY4fvDhLPumEZW5hFC1r6a/google%20rank.jpg)</center>

As you can see in the screenshot above, just 5 hours later my previous article on Steem For Beginners was the second listing on Google search. It lasted a couple of days before falling into obscurity; however I have a couple of posts that still rank well. To qualify this, I tend to write in an area that is not a favored area of the establishment. I also have not put much thought into my article titles, nor used any tools to help keyword enrich them as I prefer my posts to flow more naturally. So I imagine that for those who are mindful of such practices, it would be fairly easy to rank high on search for organic traffic when posting here.

# <center> My Last Tip </center>
I feel I could write so much more as we have barely skimmed the surface. Steem and the Steemit DApp have so much depth to them it could fill a book, and this post is already getting lengthy. But I simply must mention this last part, as it is an integral part of the reward system in place here. 

# <center>WALLET SECURITY </center>

Steem makes wallet security a priority in a way no other blockchain does. From making your wallet a name instead of a long string of characters, to having 4 different keys to use as passwords. You must understand these keys and safeguard them however as though you are James Bond. This exciting world of crypto in some aspects makes you your own bank. As such, it deserves due diligence in the handling. This article is perfect for understanding the purposes of the different keys.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitguide/a-complete-guide-on-steemit-permission-keys-posting-owner-active-memo-digital-passwords-with-unique-functionality-that-allows

I highly recommend that you don’t keep your passwords (keys) on your computer. Some people use Steemconnect or come other plugins to store them. I don’t, as I am wary of involving other parties to the rodeo. This is an individual choice and I urge you to do your research to understand what is best for you. You can use a flash drive or external hard drive to minimize the exposure your keys have to hackers. I would also urge you to keep a master drive for all your passwords, and separate ones for the others, so your master password never touches your computer except for the very rare event you need it. Your posting and active passwords should pretty well see you through most everything you need to do here. 

In the event that you somehow do get hacked, unlike any other chain I am aware of it is possible to regain control of your account. I can’t speak for how the other signup options work, but through Steemit signup you must provide them with your master key in the wallet under password. It will say recover account above the current password box on the right. They will email you a rest within a day or so typically, so make sure when you sign up you give them an email address that is real. This feature really sets the Steem chain apart from other chains. Get your wallet key hacked on other chains and seconds later your wallet is empty.

Last, I mentioned that powerful thing called Steem Power several times. Not only does it make your holding and actions grow in power that feeds on itself, it also buys you time in the unfortunate event you do get hacked. When you power up your Steem, it is a commitment that has an added perk. Once vested, you can’t access it immediately. It takes 13 weeks from initiating a power down to get it in liquid Steem form in equal installments. So you have one week from a hack to recover your account before the hacker could even touch the first 1/13th of your wallet. Of course, any Steem or SBD they can transfer immediately. It will be up to you how much exposure you are comfortable with. I recommend, and practice myself powering up as quick as I can. It just makes sense to grow this into the largest stake I can as it feeds on itself. 

Last thought here (I promise. I know I already said that). There are people here of all personality types. From assholes to saints. Water rises to its own level, and I implore you to set aside your preconceived notions of scarcity. You really do help yourself here by helping others, and some of the acts of kindness I have not only been the beneficiary of, but witnessed for others, has humbled me. If you have a desire to be kind, it will be noticed once you let the communities here know that you are here, and you mean business.

This is a rare community, one where despite the pump and dump mentality that is prevalent in crypto there are many of us here who are glad when prices are down as it makes it easier to buy a larger stake in what I (and many others) believe is one of the most powerful projects one can have the blessing of finding. 

I hope you have found this by no means complete guide helpful. I look forward to seeing many new faces come and grow with us. Look forward to some of you who have already been here awhile growing.


# <center> Edited To Add </center>

If you have been here awhile and had success growing your account here, could you write a post on your tips and share the link here please. My upvote is not super high but will upvote your posts. If we can share our experiences of success with others it could help in not only onboarding new users, but also with retention.