16 Months On Steemit - My Growth on Steemit & The Reasons Why I Find Steemit To Be Beneficial

Good morning, Steem community, I wanted to write a post today to celebrate the 16 months that I have been a writer on Steemit. I'll go on to talk about my growth on Steemit and the reasons why I find Steemit to be beneficial.

I started blogging on Steemit since February of last year (2021) in order to earn some money to pay for my school fees and other personal expenses since my parents aren't stable financially.

Finance, crypto related articles, and my daily activities in general are the main topics I enjoy writing about. I also partake in different initiative and contest that aim to promote and grow my Steemit account and the Steem blockchain in general.

One of the things I appreciate most about Steem is the freedom of expression, but this goes hand in hand with learning. It is wonderful to see how users on the platform work to uphold devotion by writing posts that benefit readers and the blockchain, interacting with others, and generally correcting other users when they make mistakes in a gracious and respectful manner. The system is doing a fantastic job of handling copywriters and plagiarism. It's also amazing to observe numerous communities that support different topics and articles from which one can learn, such as the business activity where one can learn about finance and business, the crypto academy this community is generally for learning about crypto and the blockchain technology, the skillshare where one can learn various skills and crafts, and campus connect where one can learn about students lifestyle and activities all over the world... There are other communities, these are just the ones I do interact with the most.

I've learned a lot about life thanks to Steemit, and reading a lot of articles here has given me access to many different viewpoints and ideas. Financially I've been able to find my school expenses without involving my parents through the reward I earn on Steemit, I've done a lot of things, for example, I bought my laptop, mobile phone and rent an apartment with a new generator since we have been struggling with power issue here.

Steem has helped me grow individually, with the crypto academy and the crytpo related articles I have read on the platform, I've been able to grow my trading account as well. I can call myself a trader as my portfolio has been doing great irrespective of the bear market thanks to what I have learnt here.

Regarding my Steemit account, I've been able to increase my stake and make both online and offline friends. I set a goal to reach 10,000 SP at the start of this year, and I've been working toward it, but I also need money to fix some problems, so I've had to take some of my earnings out to cover expenses. I hit my year's halfway target last month, turning into a dolphin (5,000 Steem Power). After powering up 26.542 liquid Steem today, I reached 5,413 SP that's 54.13% of my yearly target.

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• My Power Up Process

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Before PowerUp	During PowerUp	After PowerUp

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Why I find Steemit to be beneficial

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I want to share with you guys why I find Steemit beneficial after blogging frequently on the platform for more than 16 months.

Since we are familiar with the idea of creating content and receiving credit for it (in essence, we do the same in any other social network), the way the Steem platform's system operates by using the blockchain technology takes everything to another level, we now earn rewards for content creating.

Personal experience has shown me that the secret to success on Steemit is our abilities to enjoy the system, participate in communities initiative that interest us, and let the rewards flow to us naturally without overthinking it... How do we achieve all this?

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• Follow The Rules/Guidelines

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This is the first thing to take into account. You must adhere to any rules or guidelines that are set forth after a community initiative or contest. Some communities may ask you to share your post on social media platforms; you must do so and ensure you don't miss anything as doing so will increase your chances of winning.

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• Club Status & Powering Up

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Another important thing to keep in mind is that, as we all know, in order to receive support from the Steemit team or any curation team, you must be a member of at least #club5050, which denotes that your total power up should be equal to or greater than your total cash out in the most recent month. Club75 denotes that you should power up three times as much as your total cash out in the most last two months, while club100 denotes that you should power up all of your earnings in the last 3 months. Power Up is also very important because it benefits both you (the user) and the platform (Steemit). How does it benefit the user and the platform?

When a user powers up, they increase their stake and influence on the system. For example, the more influence a user has over a post, the more curation rewards they will receive. Let me explain. When you power up your liquid Steem, you increase your Steem power, which automatically increases your influence or voting power. As a result, every time you curate or upvote a post, you can add more value or power to it, and as a result, you'll receive high rewards.

Now let's look at how this benefits the platform. Powering up implies staking, or better yet, locking our Steem, which will make the token more scarce and increase demand, thus increasing the value of Steem.

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• Plagiarism & Copyright Free

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The Steemit platform has zero tolerance for plagiarism and copyright images, so in order to be rewarded or supported you must produce content that is original. If you do plan to use someone else's text or phrase, it is strongly advised that you properly reference the source. Furthermore, you can check for plagiarism using a few tools. Making a post won't be complete without an image or pictures, which will make the post appealing and interesting to read. However, you should keep in mind that you can't use just any images; they must be well sourced, copyright-free, and without any infringements. You can find copyright-free images on websites like Pixabay, Freepik, or you can make your own using a graphic design software.

Canva is one of the graphic design apps I've been using to make my images because it lets me modify vectors according to my ideas or thoughts, giving me the right cover image for my posts.

Are you a newbie? Or you haven't been getting support, it's time to look for communities that deal with topics you enjoy, connect with people whose content you enjoy, and engage with them. You should also follow the rules and guidelines of each community, maintain at least club5050 status, and make sure your content is original and your images are licensed properly.

I observe new and departing users every day, the majority of whom don't stay more than a few days on the platform. Many are drawn to the prospect of making money by posting whatever they want, but they fall short when it comes to valuing their own works.

Although I don't always get the outcomes I would like, I try to take all of my victories and losses as indicators of what am I doing right and what am I doing wrong. Steem gave me the chance to develop one of the things in life that I enjoy the most: talking about cryptocurrencies, businesses, and way of life in general.

Of course, it's crucial to abide by each community's rules, and we should be careful to avoid plagiarism, spell mistakes, and spam. However, in my opinion, the majority of the issues that could arise with our experiences are actually due to our own attitudes. These past 16 months have been incredibly fulfilling for me; in addition to the rewards and financial assistance that writing on Steemit has provided, it has also led to the development of new friendships that have, in some little way, improved the quality of my life. Since being here inspires me, offers joy, enjoyment, and rewards overall. I appreciate all this that this wonderful platform (Steemit) offers its users because it has helped us grow alot and I'm personally grateful for it.