I'm not so sure if *experiment* is the best way to describe steem. *Experiment* suggests it's a let's *"see what happens"* scenario and steem seems more permanent than that. Maybe *work in progress* is a more apt way to describe it?

I've been around for a little while and like most have had my highs and lows however, in the main, I would have to say it's been a pretty interesting, positive and enjoyable experience. 

<div class="pull-left">https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/galenkp/TVAg7Zmf-hand-1917895_1280.png</div>

The engagement with many people from all walks of life and from around the world is one of the coolest aspects of steem and I've been fortunate enough to gain a few good connections with some great people - You know who you are. I've also lost connections of course, some I lament and others I don't think about at all. 

My blog presents many varied things: My daily activities and life, hobbies, travel, thoughts and opinions, business-related information, history, some [probably bad] poetry and creative writing, humour, emotional stuff, family, [occasional] rants, art, music...All sorts of things. I've really enjoyed the interaction too, commenting and bantering back and forth with those who take the time to read my posts and engage. 

The blockchain has gone through some recent changes and seems to be evolving into a better place for everyone, an environment where *real* work gets rewarded and those inhibiting progression and stabilisation of steem are being re-educated and brought on board. *A big shout-out to you if you are in this category*, and welcome to #newsteem it's a brave new world.

I'll be honest with you, I used to only look through my own feed for things to vote upon, only finding new work through re-steems from those I follow. The *new* tab was a monumental waste of time for me and as a content-creator, someone who has a corporate job, loads of hobbies and, *life in general* to deploy, I rarely found the time however I've been changing my ways, like many of steem.

I'm a manual curator for the @curangel project and have been actively seeking new work to promote, not only with an upvote from myself and *curangel*, but with some commenting and a little cross-promotion directly with some of my followers as well.

If you're not familiar with the project take a look at the ***<a href="https://steemit.com/curangel/@curangel/announcing-the-curangel-project-curation-serving-everyone">introduction post</a>***. You can also visit the team at Discord and say hi to whomever is around - Usually one or two of us are there.

So you may be wondering what this post is all about? Well, I wanted to identify a few things I look for in a post when scrolling through searching for work to curate. I don't simply promote a great picture, a bunch of words or video; I take a little more care considering my name gets attached to the post-promotion via @curangel and so I felt now might be a good time to open up and give you guys a clue about what I look for.
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**Passion and personality**
Yep, that's number one. I need to feel that you're passionate about your work and what you present. If I see that shine through, a whole raft of other things fall by the wayside. It doesn't matter if you're writing about pimples or that time you went to the Amalfi Coast - Just apply passion and your *own* personality to your post and a lot of the other elements will fall into place. 

**Shpelleeng and punktooaychation** (Spelling and punctuation)
This is a little difficult as there are so many here that do not call english their primary language. I make allowances for it though and won't penalise a post if I feel *some* effort has been made to present it well. Many curators might not count this element as very important however my brain simply rejects poor spelling and punctuation and these days with spell-checkers and online resources understanding the basics shouldn't be too difficult. Learning the difference between *you're and your* isn't a difficult task and will help your writing look better for instance. Of course, having said that typo's and mistakes happen - to all of us.

**In-focus photographs**
We're not all accomplished photographers, or have the right equipment - Certainly *I'm not!* However a poor quality supporting photo is a sure way to demonstrate a lack of passion in an authors work, in my opinion at least. Take a little more time and care and your post will shine a little more brightly. Whilst on photographs...I like to see people use their own where possible however when using stock photos *credit the owner!* This is important. I do reverse-photo-searches to check for uncredited photos so take the time to credit the owner of the images you use.

**Plagiarism**
This means using content that is not yours: Words, video, images etc. These days it's likely to earn you a few downvotes and could potentially turn other users away permanently. Cut and pasted text is not legit and will attract the scorn it deserves. If you want to quote a phrase or passage do so but credit the author, put it in italics or quotation marks. Also, avoid using nothing but quoted text as your whole post. That doesn't show passion and originality, only laziness. Like the images, I do text-searches for plagiarism, like all *curangel* curators do. You're an individual human-being, be that way here on steem too - It will gain you far more of the *right* attention. I *want* to see your personality.

**Words and overall effort**
This one is difficult to define *exactly*. A rule of thumb for me is that I look for words. A single sentence saying, *"I went to Paris,"* followed by 37 photos of Paris won't capture me - I'll probably not even click through to the actual blog. How about a sentence or two on each picture; Where it was, some historical fact, a funny anecdote or story. It shows personality and passion and will help engage me. 

If you're posting a video that probably took you a lot of effort to prepare that's cool...But add some words to set it up, draw in the reader and make them want to click the play button. You're trying to create a brand here and some effort is required.

I tend to write really long posts but I understand many can't, or don't want to, and that's ok. It's important to play to your audience and a stupid fart meme might be what your current followers want to see however here, if you want to drive your earnings and exposure further, you need to do a little more work - Unless $0.00 payouts are suitable for you. My friend and steem-champion @justineh said it well in ***<a href="https://steemit.com/rant/@justineh/are-you-writing-for-your-audience">this post</a>*** so take a read if you like.

You don't need to write Tolstoy's *War and Peace* every time you post but a little passion, personality and effort will pay dividends. 

**Engagement**
For me this is a big one. I like to see users engage with others because *that's* what communities do. Reply to people who comment or they may fail to do so again, and comment on other people's posts, with validity and personality. One thing I learned very early on is that an account that may not look *big* could be attached to a massive user trying to fly under the radar somewhat. Essentially you don't know who it is that's commenting so a policy of responding to all replies and making some of your own is a good one.

**Have fun when you post**
I've posted well over once a day for *every single day I have been on steem*. 829 days and 1201 posts so 1.44 posts a day. It's a lot and takes effort. You don't *have to do so* though...Just have fun. If it becomes a job, a chore, then your passion for it may wane and fall away which will probably see your post-quality suffer. Just have fun, post about what you enjoy, what you're passionate about. My brother @tarazkp often reminded me to have fun with it, especially in the early days, and as soon as I forgot about the reward-factor and began to write for me, for fun, things really took off.

Oh, one other thing...Posting hourly is not legit. You're better to aim for one legit post a day rather than 7 really bad ones. It looks spammy and will turn curators away generally. 

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I believe we are on the precipice of some great growth here on steem and with less reward-pool-abuse through bidbot use and circle-jerking there's a real opportunity for the smaller accounts to gain a few extra steem for the wallet; Steem that may be very handy to have at some point. Further to that, and I believe more importantly, is the opportunity to be seen, to build relationships and to establish a strong presence *now* for the future to come. If you see it as building your own personal brand I believe you're on the right track. 

My suggestion to new users, smaller accounts and those returning, is to engage with others, not just your immediate friends group, to post with passion and get actively involved with your own journey here. It takes a little effort, just like it does in real life, however the rewards will come. 

I'm pleased to be involved as a manual curator for *curangel* and hope to promote your post someday.
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**_Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default_** 

Discord: @galenkp#9209 🇦🇺
@curangel curator



***<a href="
https://pixabay.com/photos/hand-united-together-people-unity-1917895/">src</a>***