I am personally aware of a few new steemit users, so I thought it might be a good time to post another article for beginners. Most of us here at Steemit might not need another getting started article, but some of these new folks might, so here are answers to a few common questions that arise when starting out. Hopefully it will be helpful to a few folks.
Q1: What should I write?
Image Source: pixabay.com, License: CC0, Public Domain
Image Source: pixabay.com, License: CC0, Public DomainOf course, there is no right answer to this. Everyone is different. My recommendation is to spend some time browsing the site first to see the sorts of things that succeed and the sorts of things that don't. One thing to keep in mind is that Steem is not just for blogging. If you want to blog, that's a tried and true model, and you can do it through steemit.com or busy.org. But if you prefer something else like art, music, short form content, photography or video you can do that, too. Maybe check out steepshot.io (like instagram) or zappl.com (like twitter) for sites that are tailored for those creative styles. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even post videos through d.tube or audio through dsound.audio. Of course, if you're blogging, you can stick to youtube links, which the web site will embed automatically for you.
There is no right way to do this. Experiment with the different sites and your own interests, and find your niche.
Q2: How can I get more views (votes) on my articles?
- Use good spelling and grammar.
- It's a conversation, not a soliloquy.
o Post regularly.
o Read and upvote other peoples' posts and comments.
o Respond to other peoples' posts with relevant comments demonstrating that you read more than just the title.
o Look at tags that are highly used and choose the ones that are relevant for your own content.
o Conversely, "tag spamming" may lead to down-votes, so don't choose irrelevant tags just to gain visibility.
o In the beginning, a big part of what you're doing is building reputation and attracting an audience. This is not a "get rich quick" scheme, so be patient. - Don't plagiarize. There is a bot named @cheetah running around who will try to find plagiarism. You might get away with it once or twice, but eventually it will be caught and damage your reputation.
- Use pictures, but make sure that you have rights to use them. I get just about all of my pictures from pixabay.com because their pictures are all public domain. Include the source of your images in the body of your article, in a caption, or in a "references" section.
- Use attractive formatting. Use the Markdown Style Guide for things like headings, lists, and tables. Also, below is example code to pin text or images to the left side, right side, or center. (Public Domain image from pixabay.com) You may also want to use HTML code, but it is not necessary.
<div class=pull-right>Right side</div>
<div class=pull-left>Left side</div>
<center>Centered</center>
<p><br></p>
<div class=pull-right>https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://s15.postimg.org/o64jdir3v/easter-1237585_1920.jpg</div>
<p><br></p>
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
<p><br><br><br><br><br><br></p>
And here is what that looks like:
Q3: How do I take the money out?
Image Source: pixabay.com, License: CC0, Public Domain
Image Source: pixabay.com, License: CC0, Public DomainThere are many ways to do this, and it depends on your location. If you're under 18, you might need help from your parents. In short, you need to convert Steem to another cryptocurrency, then convert that other cryptocurrency to your local currency (US Dollars, in my case). To do that, you'll need an account on an exchange. In the US, I think that means coinbase.com, kraken.com, or bitflyer.com. Personally, I only have first-hand experience with coinbase.
You'll have to keep track of changing market conditions, but at the moment, my own preferred conversion path is to use blocktrades.us to send Steem (or SBD) to Litecoin (LTC) at coinbase.com, and then sell that for US Dollars.
Q4: How do I know values in US Dollars?
You can check the current values for Steem and SBD (Steem Based Dollars) at the CoinMarketCap.com web site. You can look at your posts' pending dollars by using steem.supply, from @dragosroua.
Note that the second web site uses an experimental funding method by mining cryptocurrency in your browser. I recommend opting out. My preferred method of funding the sites I use is with BAT tokens through the Brave Browser.
Q5: What are Steem, Steem Power, and Steem Based Dollars (SBD)?
Steem is the cryptocurrency that powers the block chain where all of this content is stored.
Steem Power (SP) is an agreement between you and the block chain that you will limit your withdrawal speed to a small portion per week for a total of 13 weeks. In return for that slow withdrawal agreement, the block chain pays you interest (roughly 1.5% I believe) and your votes on posts and comments become more influential. One SP is worth one steem.
Steem Based Dollar (SBD) is an agreement between you and the block chain that you can turn an SBD in for approximately one US dollar worth of Steem. The intent behind these is to maintain a stable value for merchants. In order to maintain the value of SBD, there may be times when they earn interest. At the moment, the value of SBDs are substantially above the value of a dollar, so no interest is being paid.
It's beyond the scope of this article, but you can convert between Steem and SBD using the internal market. There is also a block chain conversion function to redeem SBD for one dollar in Steem, but it's been removed from the web site and you really don't want to use that right now.
Q6: What if my post doesn't jump immediately to the top of the trending page?
- Give it time.
- Think of it like a lottery. Post quality is one factor, but there is a lot of luck involved, too, especially for new people.
- Just keep posting regularly and following the suggestions in Q2, and you'll see steady improvement.
In closing
In closing, I'll offer one final caution, the block chain is permanent. Once you hit "Post", that content is out there forever. Although it can be deleted from the web site, content cannot be deleted from the block chain itself. So don't ever ever ever post anything that you wouldn't want your mother to see on the front page of the NY Times.