Hello everyone, i @steemtopus is here again after a while due to the busy shedule of my exams. Since it is weekend, i have got this to do.
I will be participating in this contest by answering the contest tips given by @ngoenyi. Thanks for the opportunity.

Tell me what you know about steemit

Having joined steemit a month ago, i have learnt quite a lot of things thanks to posts from @cryptokannon, @belu and particularly @steemitblog. It was from my passion for learning and consistency that i learnt that i can actually grow at Godspeed. The first thing i was able to do was joining the @newcomerscommunity and reading through their blogs after hich i was able to craft out my own introduction post which was the #achievement1 of the community. I have learnt a lot of things and will try and say as much as possible.

I learnt that the first thing to do on steemit is not to upload profile picture or post your first comment or learn how to earn reward.

The first thing to do is to note down your master/owners keys in a piece of paper and keep the paper in a safe and secure place. or you even safe it on a google drive, flash drive, secure cloud storage or even print it out and safeguide. It is that important. You are entirely responsible for saving password, backing it up and keeping it safe. The password should never be put in a third party website to avoid it being stolen.
The next is your profile image and information. this includes your display name, location, about information and website. it will make your profile more appealng and will get you more engagement.
I also learnt that it is free to post, comment and vote on all other contents. Plagiarism is not allow and i should be sure to cite sources for copyrighted images. This is to ensure originality.

Creating your "introduceyourself" post inorder to let the community know about you, other social media accounts such as facebook, twitter etc can also be verified by sharing your link to your steem account.

Posts and comments can attract votes and it will take over a period of seven days. Payouts will fluctuate and sometimes payouts are not guaranteeed. if a post recieves enough vote for a payout, it will then be splitted between the author and voters or a user can power up for steem power.

Steem, steem power SP and steem dollars SBD are three forms of digital currency used by the steem blockchain.
your can earn steem by posting, commenting or upvoting. it ussually fluctuates with the market

The more steem power, the more voting power which allows you to earn more curation reards and the greater your influence on the platform

The SBD was originally desined to be on parity with the US dollar. But it ussually does flunctuate wih the market and it stays within about 10% of the dollar value.

How can you earn on steemit

There are many ways to earn on steemit which include freelance work, content creation, taking part in challenges, taking part in contests and several other ways.

Is upvotes guaranteed?

The curators haven't visited and voted you for weeks and you are curious and sad, what to do to get voted and seeking advice about improving inorder to get voted on is the situation most newbies are this days. I learnt that it is the relevance of your content topics to the steem platform and for the life of the steemians, frequency of publications and originality of the publication will improve your contents which gives it greater chance of being voted.
Steemians shouldn't also be on steemit only to be voted i think. everyone wants the monetary value. I do too and i am dying to earn for financial reasons too. But the quality of your posts matters the most. the success on steemit is others liking your work, having good reputation and position on the platform, increasing your steempower, winning more followers, running or joining contests and lastly be voted. To do all this you have to be persistent, be constant and continous. Don't be discouraged by the days when there are no votes. Still continue creating because you like and enjoy it. Set your goals, note down your ideas, be original, reply comments, invite more people to the platform. Not getting voted constantly happens to me but i am keeping calm, rest assured that one day i will be big and my posts would be seen all over.
You can also add values to steemit by helping others, creating tutorials, explaining the rules of the steemit ecosystem, guiding other newcomers, joining communities, share contents that add real value to steemit. You don't only need to respect the rules but you also have to promote them. We need to grow on this platform everyday with values such as originality, commitment, honesty, engagement and resposiblity.

Should you stick to one community?

You can have your favorite community but you also need to join several other communities. The steemit space is very large and there are million users. You can connect with anyone around the world and the best way to meet them is through joining communities.
The newcomers community and steem nursery is there for newcomers
steemfood for foods
steemcryptocademy for cryptocurrency learning
campusconnect for students
steemalive for nigerians and growth
steemnigeria for naijans
and a lot others

How do you sign someone up

The steps are easy, i i explain to the best of my ability.

The first step is to go to http://www.steemit.com

Since i wont be able to continue with the screeshot, you can just follow the steps

then click "Sign Up".

Filling out your email address

Click the "I'm not a robot" and click "CONTINUE"

Confirm your email

Confirm your mobile phone number.

Select

• Country Code
• Phone Number
  then click "CONTINUE"

Fill out your confirmation code
Then click "CONTINUE"

Fill out

• "Account Name",
• "Generated password", "Re-enter Generated password".
  Check
• "I understand that Steemit cannot recover lost passwords."
• "I have securely saved my generated password."

Click "CREATE ACCOUNT"

Your account have been successfully created, goodluck

Should you envy others who receive upvotes when you have not received?

No, it is a wrong thing to do. Everyone is here to win and everyone will win. When you are not voted, you should stay calm and keep creating quality contents. Comment and encourage other peoples vote and in no time you will win too.

How can you improve in your writing skills?

I already paid for two classes to improve my writing skills. I also have the plan to write everyday as practice is said make perfection.

What sacrifices are you willing to make to succeed in steemit

Apart from all mentioned above, i am also making provision to promote steemit and my personal growth. I am planning to pay a donation of 5000 naira to receive the training and support needed to grow from the @steemalive community. I learnt that the founder and admins invested 200k back then in july last year in SteemAlive, and everyone that joined contributed towards the growth of the community. Running the classes, meetups, mentorship and supporting newbies take a lot of resources. The little donation helps in taking care of these and i want to play my part.
I also have the plan to power up when i no longer care about what to eat for my squared meal, lol.

What are your plans towards growing your steempower?

As i have said earlier, everyone who joined steemit are eager to earn including me. We want SBD and wants to continue cashing out. It is not a good practice as it doesn't improve the steemit community or yourself. I need financial needs as anyone here, because that's what my situation needs to survive on. i learnt #spud4steem helps improve ones steem power and hopefully one can go somewhere from there.
Powering up is the biggest step to increase your steempower. It is the biggest sacrifice you have to give, nothing is tougher. It simply means earning no monetary value from your voted posts but in turn get every reward in steem power.

Doing so, you can go to the advance setting below your content writing box, go to author rewards then select 100% and click save. This is an investmet for your own better tommorow. You will also earn curation reward which inturn keeps increasing your steempower. There is more voting rewards when you create. With your steem power, you can vote and help others and you know what givers earn right?, yes, they never lack. your followers and post views will increase and you also get more votes yourself.
Powering up can also be in the form of converting liquid steem to steem power. It can be done by going to your wallet, clicking your steeming and clicking power up. Follow the whole process and you are good.

Glory as i have reached the end, thanks to @ngoenyi for the opportunity again