I've decided to write this comprehensive guide for newbies on hive. It is equally valuable to me since I've found myself repeating the same words to each person I have introduced to the blockchain. So, I feel it would help greatly for me to have something I could share and save myself so much talk.
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
So far, I have introduced seven people to hive and out of this number, five of them have successfully written their first introductory posts, and even though I'm yet to see a level of consistency that leads to great results for these content creators on hive, I'm hopeful that they will be able to get back their initial excitement after their first post with high upvotes and put in the work to succeed here.
This post is not about that however, it is more about the newbie who is yet to make that first post. I want to present a hive way of thinking to such a person so that they can be prepared mentally and also learn a bit of the culture around the blockchain.
I have introduced Ecency as the frontend interface for hive because of how convenient it is and also because of the points system. Points are accrued with each action you make here. For posting, you can get about 15 points, for blogging and commenting, it is less but not too negligible. At the moment, if you have 150 points in your wallet, you can promote a post across various communities and get more viewers to see and vote for those posts. You can even boost a post with these posts and the Ecency team will upvote you.
Here are some questions I will now proceed to answer.
Where should I post my first blog post if I have no followers? What should it be about?
Your first blog post must be an introductory post. It does not matter if you have no followers because such posts are curated on the blockchain. On hive, there are people called curators and they are found in various communities who look out for posts with quality content to upvote. Upvotes can be likened to liking a post, but on hive it is not a valueless activity like on web2 social media in terms on monetary value. You will earn when you receive good upvotes and that is probably why you are here in the first place.
Your introductory post must be written in a way that lets your audience know who you are, what you like and do and what you hope to bring to the blockchain. You should include pictures of yourself, your hobbies and other things you feel are relevant to this unveiling. A cryptic message or poem does not cut it for a first post. It is nice and mysterious but that is not the purpose of this post since your audience is yet to know you. Read examples of other posts to get an idea of how things are done. That's why the search field is there :)
Please use the right tags and post in the appropriate community. I have said this many times to those I have introduced but this advice seems to fly out from the ear. Use tags like #introduceyourself, #introductorypost. Why? Because curators look out for such posts! It is not just some boring thing to add. It is a helpful pointer for people actively searching for you. Post in communities like GEMS and OCD which are longstanding for engaging in such posts and retaining users. After this, you can then branch out to other niche communities you align with and engage.
It should be a quality post. At least 500 words or more. A 100 word first post will not get any attention. It just is the truth. Even a 500 word post might struggle, as nothing is guaranteed on the blockchain(another thing your mind should be conditioned to) but all we're doing here is increasing our chances of being noticed.
Another reason why you must write a good introductory post is so that you will get more resource credits after 'cashing out' your first HBD and hive. Many users discover that they get error messages that tell them they cannot post or comment or do anything. Powering up on your HBD solves this problem. There are many good articles on what this is and I have linked them here and here
How often should I upvote and how much?
From my own research and after being around here for a while, I have learnt that voting 100% as a new user is the way to go. And I allow myself at least ten posts so I don't deplete everything. I am more active on 
I no longer get high upvotes on my posts? Should I quit?
We've all thought this one. If I had not thought this, I would have grown this blog above where it currently is. It is not too late though. The crypto space is a volatile one with bear and bull runs so be prepared for the ride. You should let go of the mindset of capitalism, and think of how to create value and enjoy yourself. Be selfish and think of yourself first as the person you wish to educate and impress and write a quality post that you approve of. Write a post you are proud of because of the value and because you want to, so that on days when the upvotes are low, you will still be satisfied with your, time and effort put in. If not, you will be discouraged. You need to persevere and engage with people, not because you are compelled to, but because you care about what they write and you want to chirp in some way in the comment section. In that way, you will find organic growth and build connections. You will definitely see high votes over time. Trust me, a quality content creator cannot not have at least one high upvote in a month, so that should be enough motivation to create.
How often should I post?
You don't want to spam the blockchain. It is not like Twitter where you can tweet all day. Even that can be tiring for your followers. I have found that one post per day is sufficient, however you can write two or three per day but in different communities and this should be spaced out with good time intervals. This is not a written rule but it is what I've seen curators here talk about and other content creators who have been here longer than me. Don't let people think you are greedy and just here for the coins. Be considerate and also do not post the same contents in different communities. I once unfollowed someone who did that because as a follower, it meant I was seeing the same posts on my timeline, even though those different communities were seeing those posts for the first time. This is frowned upon on hive, so please desist from it.
I don't know what a community is about. What should I post?
Each community has an about section where you can read the rules. For some communities, you need to write about certain topics, include certain tags, have a certain word limit and format pictures a certain way. Please don't be lazy and read those things to avoid being muted by them. Be respectful as communities do not just spring up. They are formed by people who have paid to have them and who have a vision for them. Don't go to another man's community to just do your own thing how you want. Read the rules.
The last question is an aside question because if you have made it this far, you are already on the blockchain, but a few of my friends have had problems with creating a hive account via Ecency so I will just answer this question.
I cannot register on Ecency, what next?
A common reason for this is the 'low IP quality score'. I have read some articles that explained this but it doesn't make the problem go away and some of the people do not have or use VPNs, which is what Ecency seems to have an issue with. Nevertheless, there are workarounds. You can try to register via Leofinance, another frontend interface on hive. Then you can switch back to use Ecency or PeakD or whatever frontend you like with the same credentials. It can take a while to wrap your head around, but you should read more about all the apps hive supports in the signup page which you probably did not understand on the first read. I know I didn't. But since you now have more understanding, a second read would not hurt.
Again, remember to follow the rules, read the instructions and be consistent and you will enjoy your experience here.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section and I will answer below.
All content is mine unless stated otherwise
