Last week I wrote a post about how not to Steem, in reference to a serial plagiarist I have encountered. As I seem to be getting a lot of new followers who have freshly arrived to Steem, I wanted to share my opinion on how TO Steem.
It is very important that you keep your account keys safe. Should they fall into the wrong hands you could lose money from your account or irreparable damage could be done to it. Someone else with your private keys could change them, locking you out of your account. Write them down somewhere safe, and copy them into a document. Using something like Winrar, Winzip or another archiving tool, compress the file and password protect it before emailing it to yourself, making sure you don't forget this password. NEVER give your keys to anybody else. It may be possible to wrestle back control of your account, but really, save yourself the hassle.
One of the best ways of getting your foot in the door, so to speak, is by writing a post introducing yourself to the community. Use the #introduceyourself and the #introducemyself tags. WARNING! only use these tags for introductions. Tag abuse is frowned upon and could incur the wrath of 
You should seek out those users with whom you share interests and follow their blogs. This will populate your feed with interesting content for yourself, and give you an idea of how to and what to post. Do not blindly follow hundreds of users, or your feed will quickly become unmanageable. By all means follow some of the bigger accounts as their content will give further indications of how and what to post, but don't do so in the attempt of securing upvotes. This rarely happens.
In your early days you are an unknown entity. One great way of getting noticed is by commenting on other blogs. When you comment, make sure it is insightful - first be sure that you actually read the post, it is very telling when you receive a comment from somebody who has not done so. Add something worthwhile to the discussion, explain what interested you in the post, your viewpoint etc. Be polite and not antagonistic.
As an early user, most of your upvotes will come from comments you make, and you could possibly earn a follow or two. DO NOT ever just click on a post, scroll down to the bottom and write 'nice post'. Make your words count. Commenting should be your main focus early in your Steem journey, so do it well.
BONUS TIPS: Do not spam comments with links to your own posts. This is also frowned upon and likely to attract flags. Do not beg for follows or upvotes. This will have the exact opposite effect and again, may attract flags.
It is almost unknown for anybody new to arrive on Steem, start posting and receive large upvotes on their content. Curb your expectations early on and focus on commenting. This does not mean you should not post however. Use your early weeks as a way of finding your voice on Steem, perfecting how you post. As you gain followers you can then start putting work out there.
Do not use photographs you do not own the copyright to, unless you clearly indicate their source. Make sure your post is 100% original and not copied from elsewhere on the internet. Plagiarism will get your posts flagged, ruining your reputation on Steem.
Try to make sure your post is free from spelling mistakes and poor grammar. This may be difficult if you are posting in English and it is not your first language. Use services like the english-spelling-grammar channel at MinnowSupport or the english-language channel at The Writers' Block to get help with this. Make sure your post is formatted in a pleasant way to make it easier to read, using things like headings, quoted text, relevant images - with sources indicated. Encourage discussion in the replies to your post by asking a question at the end.
DO NOT just post a photograph and expect upvotes. Add something to the post, explain why you are posting it perhaps, why you like the photograph etc. Always be thinking of adding value to your posts to attract new readers.
Don't just post for the sake of posting. If you have nothing to say, don't say it. Make every post count and be sure it's the very best post it can be.
When you get replies beneath your posts, be sure to read them and reply to them. Engage with your audience. If a particularly insightful reply is added, think about upvoting it to reward the poster. By the same token, if somebody simply drops a link to one of their posts in your replies, kindly point out that is unwanted behaviour on the platform. As you grow in power you may flag these replies. Be careful early on with flagging. People can become unreasonable when flags are involved and you might get drawn into a flagging war where all your posts and comments are flagged. Avoid this unnecessary drama, especially as a new user.
Seven days after you post, you will receive rewards based on the upvotes you received. This is split 75% to you and 25% to the curators - those who upvoted your post. When you click on your wallet you will see something similar to this at the top of the page. Click 'Redeem Rewards' for them to be added to your wallet.
The SP portion will be added to increase your account power, slowly increasing the strength of your vote. On Steemit, once you reach 500 SP - Steem Power - you will get a slider with which to dial in a percentage of voting strength to use. This, coupled with the time at which you upvote a post, and dependent on who votes after you, determines any curation rewards. Before you reach 500 SP, you will always be voting at 100%. Be careful not to run down your voting power - you only get 10 x 100% upvotes to use within a 24 hour period. As your power dips, so does the strength of that 100% upvote. Check your current voting power at https://steemnow.com or http://steemforthe.win. NEVER ask for an upvote. This will likely draw flags.
The blockchain, upon which Steem is built, is tended to by witnesses. They play an important part in the Steem ecosystem, ensuring it runs smoothly. Each witness is given a rank determined by a number of votes. Once you have been on the platform and seen what some of the witnesses do to add value either through development work or community involvement, support them by voting.
At the top of the Steemit page you will see your avatar on the right. Next to that are three horizontal lines. Click on these to reveal a sidebar and look for 'Vote For Witnesses'. Click on that and you will be forwarded to https://steemit.com/~witnesses. You will be presented with a list of the top 50 witnesses. If your choice for witness is not in the top 50, scroll below the list until you see this.
Enter the username of the person you wish to vote for - excluding the @ - and click vote. Each user has 30 votes and is encouraged to vote for witnesses. Your vote hasn't come through yet. Remember you need to use your ACTIVE key when voting for witnesses. If you're only logged in with your posting key, it won't actually send a vote.
It can feel daunting and intimidating trying to learn all the ins and outs of this platform. There are many Discord communities through which you can get help and support. One of the largest is the 
If you are a writer or a poet, consider joining The Writers' Block https://discord.gg/8EgU8Dv. This is a community I help administrate which offers writing support, advice, editing services and networking.
Consider becoming an active part of a community, helping others. This will help to get you on the map and noticed through your interactions.
Like what I do? Vote for my witness https://steemit.com/~witnesses - scroll below top the 50 witnesses and enter my name in the text box, then click vote. Thanks for your support.
