I thought I'd stop writing these guides since last year, but I've noticed there are plenty of newcomers recently to warrant this little write-up. Hopefully this will help any fairly new users get up to speed.

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A) Set up your profile!

Just like any social platforms, even IRL, you'd need something to standout from the crowd, just like how you'd give out a business card. To do this, go to Settings and set up your profile picture, description, and such. Doing this should improve anyone's chances. Take some time figuring this out - it's your brand, your namecard.

_{You can be very descriptive or be as minimal as possible - your choice! I like simple and memorable.}

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B) Be a contributor!

Fun aside, think of Steemit as an open-contribution platform - leave your insights and communicate stuff that benefits the community. You can do this by commenting and posting.

Commenting

Take the time to contribute to discussions. By doing this on popular posts, you'd increase your chances of getting noticed and voted to the top of the comments list for more exposure. But it doesn't matter if you're commenting on popular posts or not, remember that you're on your way to building relationships. I started out one year ago with nothing, but have over time, built relationships mostly with those that started out with nothing as well! There's nothing better than growing together.

_{Please don't comment "nice post", but funny memes are an exception lol.}

Posting

This is the heart of Steemit: Your post's image, title, summary, and actual contents. Luck aside, your posts will work best when all these 4 major elements work in unison - at least they're within your control. Remember if you're fairly new, try not to fill your blogroll with spammy materials. Also, try to re-steem less if you're just starting out because people may check out your blogroll. Having too many re-steems and not-very-relevant stuff may work against your favour as users are unable to decide what your account is about.

Remember to leave your insights while blogging - that's the most important element of all. Here are parts of a post that you should try to get a grasp of and it's within your control to formulate them. Modified from my older material, these are four parts to every post:-

1. Post title

You may try to rely on popular, and tested keywords. But I personally think it's an art more than anything else. If everyone's doing the same thing, then do something different. My rule of thumb: 50% relevant, on topic keywords, 25% uncommon words, and the rest to decide on capital / non-capital letters.

2. Post main image

This can be straight-forward. Go for interesting visuals. Sometimes I do play with colors and image composition to try to invoke something right away. Being a minimalist, my simple rule of thumb for colors: "manly" colors for excitement, "girly" colors for the feels, and "manly-girly" colors for sophistication. For image composition: "even-ness" for conflict (2, 4, 6 elements; us vs them), and "odd-ness" for harmony (1, 3, 5 elements; no clear grouping). Try to credit visuals if possible. People appreciate cool art. Or just source for open-use images from the likes of Pexels and Unsplash.

3. Post summary

The very first one or two sentences of your content. Here you can decide to invoke intrigue, greed, or whatever else that you want to try out. Different topics, different prime triggers.

4. Main content

Do you want to be concise and precise about what you're delivering? Or do you want an exposition to explain things clearly beforehand? Too short, and it may seem spammy. Too long, and people might not be bothered. Formatting? Yes formatting is definitely important. Check these articles out here and here. My rule of thumb is: put your best effort in attracting the most attentive minds. If they can expend their effort to do so by communicating with you, you know you have the right crowd.

Remember to make your title, summary, and content seem personable, unlike what you'll see in a generic content-mill. Well that's just preference, and I'd prefer accounts that are talking out of personal experience. Also, feel free to edit your posts anytime you find there to be errors and such (I tend to edit plenty of times per post).

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C) Improve your home feed!

If you take a look at the New section, you will quickly notice that Steemit looks like a scammy and spammy platform. But take note that New is perfect for finding gold in rough waters - remember that if you manage to find great posts and accounts that are not being given attention, know that your votes and promotion of them could net you good curation / voting rewards!

But that aside, try to follow accounts that matter to you. Also, it's easy to find genuine accounts by browsing through comments in posts - you will know it when you see them! Once followed, they will appear in your Home feed. I tend to have a more diversified feed because I'm looking out for good new accounts to support, but that doesn't have to be your case if you're just starting out, so just fill your feed with stuff that are relevant to you for maximum enjoyment. To begin, here is @teamsteem's recent recommendation in his post.

Top author list:

https://steemwhales.com/?p=1&s=p

Steemit-related:

• steemitblog (Official Steemit blog)
• dantheman (Steem's ex-CTO, Steem main inventor)
• dan (Same as above)
• ned (Steemit' CEO)
• vandeberg (One of the lead developer)
• sneak (One of the lead developer)
• zurvanic (Steemit's marketing guy)
• andrarchy (Steemit's community liaison)
• me-tarzan (Steem Stats)
• elyaque (Steem Stats)

Speaking from experience, moving my daily feed from Facebook / Reddit to Steemit seems to be the best decision ever. I feel like I'm part of a community, and it really is! It also helps that people are putting out their best stuff for different niches. By improving your home feed, you get a place to conveniently cast your vote on posts and accounts that you want to support.

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Conclusion

Forget about the money first, and just try to do whatever's within your control. Do not be held back when there are little to no returns. There are many elements involved, including luck and discovery. Just know there are community members always looking out for good stuff to support - check out @curie for example. Avoiding filling up your blogroll with short spammy stuff - that's the number one killer of blogs! Your blog is your domain, your insights, your stories, your research, etc. You will be building a following and doesn't matter if its made of whales or smaller fishes. Little by little becomes mountainous as time goes by. Stay in the game, and Steem on!

_{Update: here's an older post that could be useful for newbies: Screenshot Tips To Quickly Include Images As Part of Your Steemit Post / Comment}