Steemit creators could have decided to only give us Steem Power, but @ned and @dan were smart enough to create the Steem dollars. Here's whare they can and should be used for.
Steem dollars are more than just quick money and an illustration of your stories success. They can be the core of the system if you use them wisely.
OPTION1: Invest in STEEM POWER
So you made $50 ? Why not empower your account and trade these SBD into STEEM (use @bittrex or @poloniex).
Once you have STEEM, powering up your account will allow you to get more power when upvoting, and will give your self upvoted posts more immediate visibility.
OPTION2: Invest for the Steemit community
Get the cash out, and spend it into cool t-shirts, billboards, or like @guerrint did: get a video crew and create original content. As you can see on her blog, it's a very smart investment !
OPTION3: Invest in your own-self, and write more stories.
This is what @heiditravels did: she simply cashed out the Steem dollars and decided to go on a trip in Peru (check her blog, it's great). Thanks to the fresh money, she can continue to write the great posts that made her famous for.