I've spent the last month trying to get involved in this community and to be honest, in the beginning, I didn't expect much. Even now, weeks later, my expectations aren't unrealistically high but I must admit, I'm beginning to think this venture was worth it. I’ll be hanging around for quite some time, hoping to build a bit more of a following. Mostly for two reasons, which happen to be the first two points on this list:
I've been able to connect with so many lovely people who are only interested in supporting artists and giving content producers full power over what they make.
The aim of content producers everywhere is to earn from their passion and hard work. As a musician, I accept that the best way for me to earn a living from music is to practice entrepreneurship. Therefore, I'm not only a musician but I'm a producer, sound engineer, mix engineer and songwriter. Like many other musicians, I'm seeking a part time, non-creative job so I can have a more stable income (can I get some sad faces in the comments??). I'm not at the point where I can make a living from music but I'm still finding many outlets, and one potential outlet happens to be Steemit!
Whale upvotes are rare, but they happen.
At the time of writing this, I had two posts worth over $100 usd. Both of these posts were massively upvoted by 
Steemians can earn way too much for one post and way too little for others
I'm sure this isn't a surprise to some but being upvoted by a whale seems relatively rare. That being said, when it happens it can be an instantly gratifying experience. It sends your post to trending in certain tags immediately and heralds a flood of more upvotes and comments. It's easy to lose your grounding when you earn over $100 for an afternoon’s worth of work. Sure that takes time and effort, but if you were busking you wouldn't make nearly as much. Steemit makes it really easy to support people for no consequence.
On the other hand, you could put your life and soul into a project that gets no recognition at all. I can imagine for some people that this could just as easily warp someone's perspective. It's worth noting that whenever you send a post into the world, it's like gambling - except instead of gambling money for money, you're gambling time and passion for money. And people who gamble feel very similar frustrations.
You can connect with people who have made some amazing contributions to art in the world
When I say connect, I don't mean that I've had some thrilling conversations or collaborations with them. I just mean that I've been able to connect with them, give them my support, and see that they are seeing my support and are grateful for it. I've had some passing comments from 
Steemit could possibly revive the comment section.
I constantly see so many big content creators talking about how they don't read the comments. You could read 100 comments of support, but one piece of hate mail can tear you down. Even now, the most I've gotten on one post is around 15 comments (not from me) and if even one of those had been rude and unfair, it would have been quite jarring. Thankfully, Steemit is designed in a way where if you are rude, you're penalised with less financial reward and a worse reputation. If you write a positive, constructive comment, you're more likely to make that almighty SBD.
That being said, I think it’s kind of funny. It’s almost like people are talking with a gun to their heads, forcing them to smile and be polite. I see a lot of comments, like “Haha thanks for sharing friend, I really enjoyed reading, you are so beautiful and kind”. While seemingly inconspicuous, it’s a stark contrast to the YouTube comments, or heck, even the Facebook comments.
Steemit requires work
The brilliant thing about Steemit is that you can make money at home by simply blogging. Unfortunately for most, it’s not like printing money. People who find success on Steemit do the grind - both online and offline - offline because you need to have proper experiences to fuel your writing/creative output.
Learn from others' mistakes
Every now and then I'll post a blog, and maybe this blog will have a 3 minute video. Within three seconds I'll have someone reply to the post saying something like "Great work, follow me". I'm not exaggerating, that is all the information I'll get. On the surface this seems like a good marketing technique, but in the long run you don't see these people succeeding.
Other mistakes I see:
- Copying and pasting Wikipedia articles as posts
- Making more than 5 posts per day - this can turn potential followers away
- Poor grammar (this one only applies to native english speakers - not people from other countries who are trying their best and doing a great job. Remember to read what you write aloud if you have trouble with grammar).
- Posting rants against other users
- Posting rants against the system (eg. Why Am I Not Getting Upvotes?!?1?)
This is really all I can think of at the moment. There are probably more things lying dormant in my brain. The only other advice I can give to people in their first month is this:
Enter contests - they’re good prompts, and even if your individual posts don’t win the contests, they can still get a lot of traction.
And - comment a lot! It can feel a bit unnatural and it’s difficult to gauge how to use your language so you seem genuine (the best thing is to be genuinely interested in what you’re commenting on!). Take some time and you’ll get used to communicating differently.
Finally, if you're interested, here are some amazing, passionate people who work very hard on the platform and deserve your support:
@alannapendragon : a fantastic artist, who drew a very nice picture of my dog.
@danieldyemusic : he does some fantastic music. He has a very genuine, heartfelt southern tone.
@datascience : the first person I connected with on Steemit. He helped me find some information early on.
@elmere : my lovely girlfriend. Not much on her account but she'll put some nice photography up occasionally!
@heymattsokol : he's putting together The Musicians Guide to Steemit and his posts are full of good brain nuggets. It's been a great guide for me so far!
@luzcypher &
@pfunk : the hosts of the weekly Steemit Open Mic. While you're at it, support the judges
@soundlegion ,
@krystle ,
@verbal-d ,
@passionground , and
@jessamynorchard
@nicmeredith : my girlfriend's dad, who introduced me to the website!