In my initial introduction post to Steemit did a little account verification by posting the intro post to my Facebook page as you can see here: I have just joined Steemit.

However, because the verification step is an important thing for the community, I wanted to make it even clearer by doing more.

Why is it important to verify your account on Steemit?

Steemit is a platform that rewards content creators (authors of blog posts and comments) and content curators (members who upvote quality content) with money. Where there is money to be made, there will be people who will try to trick the system. The most common way to trick the system is creating fake accounts especially by stealing the identity of another person. So, in order for the Steemit community to trust you, it is always recommended to verify that you are who you claim to be either by taking a photo of yourself holding a paper on which you write your Steemit username and the current date and also the word "Steemit" on it. You can, of course, be creative. Another way is to post a message on your official website or Facebook page with a link back to your Steemit profile.

Verifying your account also helps Steemit Whales (highly influential members) decide whether or not to upvote your posts. Why would you care? Because not only each of their vote will give your posts a higher value (you get more $$$) but it will also boost your own reputation on the network. On my initial introduction post for example, I received an upvote from @teamsteem (Guillaume Cardinal) which boosted my post value from less than $1 to more than $25, it also boosted my reputation level from 25 to 41 right on my first blog post. Merci mille fois Guillaume!

Your reputation not only shows how trusty you are, but it also opens doors to other things on the Steemit world, for example, @curie will only accept posts from authors with a reputation level of at least 27. Curie is a project that aims at "Bringing Rewards and Recognition to Steemit’s Undiscovered and Emerging Authors". There is an army of Curie's curators browsing Steemit and proposing posts they think is adding value to the platform. Upon approval, the proposed posts will get a very generous upvote from the @curie account which is usually followed by many followers. My post Growing Rice Paddy Herb by the kitchen window got an upvote from @curie and its army (which seems to include @hendrikdegrote, thank you!) and jumped from less than $1 (if memory serves) to $89 and its visibility got improved on the Steemit homepage which brought more upvotes.

So today, I launched Apple Pages app on my Macbook and printed out a Steemit Verification Certificate (hahaha) and went take a shot with my iPhone in the garden.

Here are additional verification posts on my various social profiles:

• TheLittleWormFarm.com, my website
• @thelittlewormfarmer on Instagram
• @quochuync on Twitter
• @lilwormfarmer on Twitter

To make it easier for my future new followers, I have created a banner with my verification photo on it. I will try to remember to include it at the bottom of each of my posts:

Have you verified your identity?

If not, do it ASAP, it is not too late. You can do it at any time. Maybe you can take the opportunity to rewrite your introduction post to go more in-depth about yourself and what you are planning to do on Steemit. If your introduction post only brought you less than $1, then you definitely can do better.