Winning strategies on Steemit

I am very interested in your Steemit experience and in what you do to get ahead here. As a result, I have two questions I want to ask in the hope that you will share your wisdom with me and whoever else is reading here. Things are so new in this space it can be very confusing at times. And then they keep on changing. Whatever you think you know today may be very different tomorrow.

Part of me thinks I should reap great benefits at some stage because I am so early in this space and somewhere down the line others will envy me. Another part looks at the astounding progress some have made and at the heights, the real early adopters have reached and feel somewhat jealous and somewhat left behind.

I want to share with you three things I do. You may want to consider them. Or not. You may have better ideas and I would love to hear them. But first, three of the things I do.

1. Follow and read @taskmaster4450

Every time I'm down about the low price of Steem and wonder whether I am wasting my time, I read @taskmaster4450's blog. This guy is a futurist, something I am decidedly not. And he has the highest expectations of not just the future of the blockchain but specifically of Steem. To this novice, he seems to know what he is talking about and after reading some negative opinions, I am always hopeful again after reading his blog. You should take a look.

2. Upvotes for life

After starting on Steemit, it did not take long before I gave up on some benevolent whale discovering my blog to be blown away by my writing skills and unparalleled wisdom. I seem to have found a shallow part of the ocean and there are no whales swimming around. Those who have reported a sighting seem to think that whales only have eyes for other whales. And since a big payout on one post will not change my life, I have found something that makes a whole lot more sense. Services that will guarantee you an upvote for life!

@steembasicincome, @steemitbuilder and @minnowbuilder all provide a service that will guarantee you at least one upvote per day for a lifetime. The strength of the upvote depends on you and what you pay when you sign up and each service has the own rules and methodology. However, once you have signed up, their upvote will be there every day!

As an added benefit, each of the mentioned services also enables you to help other minnows in one way or another. I do not have many people who have me on autovote, but even if you do, it is not a permanent arrangement. People move on and priorities change. I encourage you to investigate this. Between @steembasicincome, @steemitbuilder, @minnowbuilder, @minnowbuilder2 and @minnowbuilder3, I now have five upvotes guaranteed every time I post!

3. Rewards for comments

I have not been great at responding to comments on my blog posts. In the early days, I fell victim to bots and spam. As a result, I started to avoid the comments. I am in the process of correcting this. One of my favourite authors on Steemit is @fitinfun. She has an amazing ability to have long conversations with just about anyone. Her blog is a hive of activity. Recently, she set an example by offering @steembasicincome shares for the top two comments on some of her posts. I am following that example here and if you comment on this post you may win a share.

Questions to answer in the comments

I want to ask two question for you to answer in the comments. The idea is that we help one another and the two best comments will each receive a share of @steembasicincome. This will either be the comments that evoke the strongest response from myself or from other people commenting on the comment. Comments that cause me to shake my head and sigh or cry out in exasperation will not be winners. However, every comment will receive a response and at least a 50% upvote from me. Answers need not be essays. Here are the questions.