I love all of the great infographics that @Steemitguide has put together!  He/she has done a great job of succinctly answering a lot questions that we all have about the Steemit platform. 
As an example, here is the the post that they made for introducing Steemit to newcomers: https://steemit.com/steem/@steemitguide/steemit-101-who-need-s-a-decentralized-social-network-and-what-makes-steemit-so-special

Tips for being successful:
When writing posts:
* Be genuine
* Be creative
* Use pictures to tell your story or related to your topic
* Stay within your posting limits each day
* Build your reputation score, you can monitor it on http://steemwhales.com

When curating:
* Powerup your STEEM Power first, this increases your voting power
* Keep an eye one your voting power percentage using https://steemstats.com  or  https://steemd.com

And above all have fun, read posts of interest to you, comment on posts, and follow those with similar interests.

Steem on,
Mike

I think it's important to focus on creating value long term. Like any other venture, it's good to set the proper expectations. Understand that labor and effort crystallizes over time. Consistency and longevity are always neccesary to generate maximum value, or to put it simply, the story of the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race ;)

My best tip is to have an abnormal amount of patience.  When you get paid something today, you should look at it, like you're vesting in the platform and will reap those rewards later, when they are worth more.  Cashing anything out should only happen if you really need it .

I would use the search bar at the top

Even if making money is your goal, do NOT write in order to make money! Write about something you are passionate about... educated about... skillful at... etc. Think first and foremost about what you can ADD to the Steemit community and the money will follow.

Interact with the community as much as possible. Comment and reply to comments, up-vote content you enjoy and follow the authors. 

The more people you follow the more that will follow you. 

Have fun, life is short.....

Hi @timcliff,  thank you for choosing my question. Well it seems that I am answering my own questions. My best tip for newcomers will be to join  #steemprentice at steemit chat. This is a mentoring group and they will try to answer any questions that you have or try to assist in any way they can. I am not very technically inclined and have benefitted from the assistance from this channel at steemit chat. Good luck to all newcomers

Treat Steemit as a unique publication for which you will develop an original style. Reading lots of articles, here, you'll start to notice techniques that many have adopted, such as referencing other articles, thanking other members, or using Steemit-specific lingo. Study and experiment with the techniques you see value in. Being yourself in a Steemit-specific way shows authenticity and respect. It's not always easy to see, but many of the most successful bloggers here developed their seemingly effortless styles over months of honing.

**Come to give, not take.** I actually wrote a post about it a little while back. https://steemit.com/psychology/@shenanigator/come-to-give-not-take-the-power-of-reciprocity

Happy to upvote. Nice post. Did a recent piece about Dan, Ned & STEEMIT. You might be interested to read it. Now following and looking forward to reading more of your posts. Catch us also on Twitter [Twitter✔](https://twitter.com/StephenPKendal). Cheers. Stephen

My tip is to spend time reading other people's posts and commenting when you have something of value to add. Writing comments on other people's posts is a good way to build an initial set of friends/followers. Reading through other peoples posts will help you to see what is doing well and give you ideas for how to organize and create your own posts. These are good things to do when you first start out, and will help get you more integrated into the community.

Out of the $ 1.69 SBD payout:
- 0.34 was paid to the author of the question (@positivesteem).
- 0.44 was set aside to boost future Daily Steem Poll posts.
- 0.91 was divided equally among everyone who participated. (Rounded up to the nearest .01) 

@positivesteem
@sykochica
@lscottphotos
@steevc
@majes
@goldmatters
@etcmike
@pulpably
@stephenkendal
@intelliguy
@applecrisp
@shenanigator
@jahtech

Thanks for your contributions!