Welcome to the Steemit community @stantlander!

For many new people, the voting and points system seems complicated at first. Here is an excellent post and entertaining video about how it all works.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@sethlinson/announcing-steemit-explained-a-new-animated-series

Be patient with building an audience. Steemit is not get rich quick scheme. It is about the people the relationships you build here.

We love original content! Many other newcomers try to cheat with copy and paste from other websites.

Ignore the automated bots, they do nothing for you and just earn from your votes.

Welcome aboard and full Steem ahead! =)