If you are new to Steemit, it can be a bit overwhelming.  I know I felt like a fish out of water, pun intended.  I say that because new users to the platform are called 'Plankton' and there are a lot of bigger fish out there!  But I had help and a lot of great content, which also really helps catch the eye of a dolphin, orca or even the odd whale.  These are just terms of people who have a lot of influence on the system and can create a lot of value with their upvotes.  My participation with this platform is the creation of high quality written content.  There are other roles, but I don't participate much in those roles due to how much time and effort is required to write the content I share.

As a result of the help I received, I have increased by reputation score to 63.2 which is great as it helps people 'trust' my content and helps increase their willingness to upvote my work.  I also graduated from being a plankton and I'm now a 'minnow', now over half way to being a Dolphin with 5.5 million vesting shares.    The more shares the higher our influence is on the system.  As a result, the Steem is flowing into my wallet nicely and I've even been delegated some steem from an orca that goes by the avatar name of @FullTimeGeek.  I've decided to help others, so I started my own group called 'Stewards of Terra Mater' and I have three people with whom I have also delegated some steem.  They are plankton users and I am doing what I can to help them become minnows.  https://steemit.com/ungrip/@wwf/stewards-of-terra-mater-mother-earth

I've also started a Debate Forum to help engage people with pressing issues.  It has been going very well and this weeks forum is about to close and we need voters to help upvote there favorite arguments.  The intent is to also help new users with the rewards and the upvotes!  https://steemit.com/ungrip/@wwf/debate-forum-week-3-sponsored-in-part-by-fulltimegeek

If I had to start over, here are some author strategies I would implement:

• Participate with the intent to make friends, not money.  I've made many new friends here and I am enriched by that experience.
• Allocate at least a year or more to get going on this platform.  I'm only 70 days in and have dedicated myself to at least 365 days!  So far it has been beyond my wildest expectations.  
• I would make sure I write at least 1 - 2 posts a day and keep it consistent.  It seems that people like to see something from those who they follow.  Having huge gaps between posts results in a decrease in traffic to the post and can impact upvotes.
• Spend time and create a post with lots of high quality content.  It does not matter of you are a writer, photographer, musician or some other artist.  If the post has little or poor content, people will keep on going.  But if you can entice them with value, then the upvotes will come and that is what the more influential people on Steemit are looking for.  
• Reply to comments and engage other people.  Write, talk, discuss and engage.  None of this small talk stuff.  Get the conversations going and be memorable.  Entice people so that they keep coming back for more!  They will then upvote you and even resteem (share) your posts.  This requires healthy social media skills, so don't be afraid to engage.
• Be polite, honourable and peaceful.  It is okay to disagree, but it is not okay to beg, be rude or down right aggressive or violent.  That kind of behaviour will get you drummed out of the system.  A single whale down voting your post can ruin your day.  But I've also seen groups of people gang up on violent abusers and shut them down.  This is community policing, whether you agree with it or not, it is at play here and needs to be respected.  With great power comes great responsibility.
• This platform is an example of anarchy at work.  There is little governance here, so an individual needs to be aware, respectful and self-governing.  If we can do it here, then we can do it out in the real world as well.  So let's make it work.

Some of the tools that I found really valuable during my first 70 days:

• Steemnow.com
• Steemd.com
• https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/steem/
• Currency Markets (found in the menu pull down beside your picture)
• Steemitboard.com
• imgsafe.org (for getting images on line that you can link to).  New editor now allows for drag and drop.

I've not pulled anything out of steem yet as I've dedicated all that I have earned and put it back into the platform.  I could easily support my family with what I am doing here and that is amazing.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get more people to follow me, so I will do more research and reading.  It is tough considering how much time I spend writing content.  So perhaps I may need to engage in more social interactions to balance it out.  

I do know this:  The platform was rather buggy when I started and has really settled down and works well in the last few months.  There is a lot of work being done and that is exciting to me.  Be patient.  It will all some.  I like it so much that I walked away from Facebook.  I could no longer support a platform that was filtering and censoring who sees my posts or what I see.  Facebook is big brother and as a result, I have noticed that I get more interactions here with 200 people than I did there with over 2000!  

I will be forever vigilant to make sure my freedom of speech is being respected by the system and those who participate with my blog.  In the end, this is just a tool to help us interact and form new friendships.  I see it as that and I work hard to use this tool as an extension of the intent of my Spirit.  May this tool reflect your spirit as well and may Creator bless you with peace, freedom, prosperity, joy and love.

I have a lot to learn yet, but I am able and willing!  

Steemit Review

I love the platform, the model and the people.  I love it so much that I've left Facebook and have no intentions of returning to big brother.  I feel more free here and as such, I will continue to invest my time for the betterment of the community that is quickly growing here.  <3  It is with this intent that I share my knowledge openly with people who are interested in the research, testing and life style over the last 16 years.  So far I feel welcomed, valued and respected.  What more can anybody ask for?