How Can I Be More Successful in Steemit?

I've been getting direct messages in discord from newer Steemians, the topics of these DMs are varied, but are mostly about how to become more successful in the platform. I have only been in the platform for a little over six months, and I truly wish I know the answer to that question so I can be more helpful. The question in itself is not very clear. There are several measures of "success", and it may vary from user to user. Here are a few things that I can think of as variations of "success":

Increased and consistent Author Rewards
Increased and consistent Curation Rewards
Growth in Reputation
Growth in Steem Power
Increased number of Followers
Improved content, and formatting

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While the six things listed above may be thought to point towards the objective of earning more from one's Steemit activities, it is still largely dependent upon individual user's intent. For some the rewards are indication of acknowledgement of their work, for others it is food on the table or payment for a long overdue vacation, and for some other it is a motivation to keep Steeming on!

I feel quite unqualified to answer the question having very limited experience on the platform. I am still a student trying to learn this myself. While I attempt to help those that ask, I always tell them that I only know the things I tell them based from my observations from more successful Steemians, and how they can do the same. In this post I will attempt to answer the question in the tittle based on observations from other more seasoned Steemians I stalk. I will start with trying to answer the reverse based on activities and behaviors that I don't see from seasoned and more successful Steemians.

What Successful Steemians Don't Do

Ask/Beg for Follow or Upvote

A lot of the direct messages I get are from new Steemians who are asking for upvotes. I still respond to those as politely as I can, and offer other form of help. I often review their posts and offer some tips on how they can improve those, I'd tell them about really engaging with the community and avoid directly or indirectly asking for upvotes.

Asking for upvotes in my opinion belittles ones own work. If the time and energy are instead invested in honing one's skills, engaging with the community, and marketing your work in other platforms; asking for upvotes would not even be necessary.

Quantity Over Quality

There are days when I simply don't feel inspired to write. In those days, no matter how I try, nothing comes up that I can be proud of. I try my hardest to post only things that will make me proud, else, I don't post. I have learned early on to value reputation over the Dollar amount I see on my posts. I am not saying I don't want the rewards, it is most certainly attractive but I don't let that distract me from valuing my work.

I cannot offer a yardstick that would measure how good a content is better than your own view of the quality of your work. For as long as you are proud of what you've done, and you know you've done your best, that is enough. How many times a week does your favorite successful Steemian posts? Chances are, not very often.

Me First Attitude

I do not know if I've just been lucky, but I haven't really come across someone who's doing well in the platform who is selfish. Thus, understanding that this is a community meant to tolerate no such-selfishness early on may be beneficial for anyone who's just getting started.

Have you come across comments on your posts saying he/she upvoted your post, and invites you to do the same for him/her? Then you'd see no upvote from that commentor. Everything is recorded in the blockchain is another thing that I always tell those who reaches out. Everybody can see what you've been doing. Some of the most successful Steemians I follow would have benefited more if they use their own Steem Power in posting multiple times daily and upvoting their own posts each time they do. Save for some exception cases, I don't really see a lot of Steemians (who are already successful) doing this. I see this more often in fact with new Steemians who hardly even have Steem Power, not realizing that they would have benefited more by using their upvotes in engaging with the community.

Belittle Other Steemians

Most of the successful Steemians are polite, courteous, and are carefully selecting the words they leave a permanent record of in the blockchain. They do that either because they are smart, or are genuinely nice people, who knows. They tend to be not overly selective on who they engage with. Look at the posts of your favorite successful Steemian and scroll all the way down to the comments. Successful Steemians responds to comments from anyone regardless of Reputation Score, or Steem Power holding.

Limit Themselves in Small Circles

Don't take me wrong, there is nothing bad about supporting a specific community. I tend to be partial to Steemians from the Philippines largely because of proximity. When I was just starting, I almost exclusively engaged with only Filipino Steemians. When I started widening that reach, the result was just great. I still am partial for Philippine based Steemians in our @steemph family today, but also engages with my fellow cohorts in @sndbox, other @utopian-io contributors, and the many nations represented in @steemgigs.