Beginnings of a New Beginning, #1

Hello Steem Friends!
This is my first post to steem, and I am excited to be a part of this community! I thought it would be best to spend some time explaining some rules that I have followed that might be beneficial to our new Cryptocurrency friends. Cryptocurrency has exploded in the recent years, and with that so have scams. There have been several communities which have been so helpful to growing my portfolio, and with some smart decision making, you can grow yours too.

First off, I should introduce myself. I have worked customer service oriented jobs much like many of you, climbing the corporate latter to managing a multi-million dollar account at my now day job. During the week and on Sunday, I volunteer at a church, working with the youth and the music team, and recently became engaged to my Future Wife, with a wedding expected in June. In every way, I am not an different than many of you - I am a normal every day person. But, by wise decisions, I have grown my portfolio to significantly, all with minimal effort, to the point that while my day job is great at making it so I can keep money into cryptocurrency, at times can result in missed opportunity exceeding 1/2 my annual income.

Now, there are two main types of cryptocurrency traders. The Day Trader, and the Investor. The day trader is one who seeks to take a percentage of profit away from a currency, trading between different currencies to achieve profit. If done wisely, this can minimize risk, maximize short term profits, but often has the down side of missed opportunity through long term profits, and depending on local tax laws, may increase the amount of taxes that you end up paying. Investors tend to take a longer approach, which in the cryptocurrency world may be a year, or may be less - however, is generally at least a year. This increases risk, results in missed opportunity of other growth, but can maximize long term profits, which may be more than what could be earned through day trading. I am an investor. I believe that we should invest in the technology of the future, and this philosophy has not done me wrong. I think that the best way to do so is to long term "hodl", and only short term/day trade when beneficial to grow your long term investments. A mix of short term and long term investments is good in my opinion.

Now, on to the rules that I have followed to help me grow my portfolio.

1. Find technology that you believe in. Seriously, think about how it can change the world. Think about what it can do in banking, in social media, in data migration, networking, medical, science, everything! A good technology, if developed and executed right, has the potential to grow with the right backing. Stay away from copy cat technology with no true advancement. It's great to invest in the next Cable company when everyone is on Dial Up, but stupid to invest in another Dial Up company when Cable is coming out. Also, investigate to make sure their claims are true. Don't believe that a cryptocurrency will do what they say it will without proof. That's speculation, and a big risk.
2. Look at who the developers are. People will tell you a coin is stupid, bad, etc, but never look into who is developing it. This results in one of those "well duh" that was a good investment when the price increases and the technology grows in usage.
3. Look at who the financial backers/sponsors are! So many good coins have backing from companies such as Google, Microsoft, even the Department of Homeland Security, and these coins have grown, and with the their usage. I follow the rhyme/reason that if a company like Google is investing in the technology, why shouldn't I?!
4. Don't believe everything you hear/see. People will spread incorrect information, faked screenshots, etc to get you to act according to their intentions. For example, a screenshot has been going around of Coinbase adding certain coins, and includes a picture with the coin's name. This is fake, and as Coinbase has stated, they have made no decisions as of yet on which coins to add, and have a very specific and clear process for adding coins.
5. Control your emotions. You might feel like you are missing out and want to invest quickly, and this might result in you regretting your decision. Make calculated assessments of where you believe a currency will go. Invest wisely, learn to read graphs. Make your decisions on fact, not the fear of missing out.
6. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose. Seriously, there's no reason to lose your car, home, and even family over cryptocurrency. Only invest what you can afford to lose comfortably.
7. Know when it's time to take your profits. You might have a different idea of when this is than someone else, and that is okay! You do not need to re-invest all of your money once taking your profits from a coin, you can take it and convert it into FIAT if you want, and that is okay! Yes, you might miss out on growing your portfolio in cryptocurrency, but if you put money into this and expect money in return, you're eventually going to need to pull out...find out when that time is!
8. Get sleep, enjoy your life. Without sleep and without enjoying life, I personally start making bad decisions. If you are afraid of losing investments/etc, setup alerts to wake you up in the event of an issue.
9. Find other cryptocurrency investors, and talk with them! You don't have to take their advice, but getting another perspective might be beneficial. Do it in person, find social media groups such as the Cryptocurrency Collectors Group, etc.
10. Once you've got the hang of this, don't be afraid to tell your friends about cryptocurrency and get them involved! I've gotten family and friends involved, and each of them has seen great profits from it. Way more than savings!

I am not a financial adviser and the above information should only be taken as my opinion based upon my personal experience. Others might have a different opinion or words of advise. Invest wisely and at your own risk and consult a financial adviser for any questions you may have.

If you have found this helpful and do not use Coinbase or Binance as of yet, consider using my referral link below as I earn a little bit of money from it. If you use the coinbase referral, you get $10 free in Cryptocurrency on your first $100, and I get $10 too!

Coinbase:
https://www.coinbase.com/join/5822a898adaf56014a46493e

Binance (currently not accepting new users):
https://www.binance.com/?ref=13296965