So I decided to take a break from posting about the NBA Finals and recap my initial impressions of Steemit after having blogged, upvoted and commented on scores of awesome and insightful posts all week.

It is said that the first impression is always the most lasting – that couldn’t be more true for Steemit. When I first came to Steemit, I admit that I was looking to make some extra money – just enough for grocery shopping and maybe even to reinvest in BTC and Siacoin, which is the token for a Decentralized Cloud Storage platform on the Blockchain. After just a single day of reading other posts and commenting, I was completely floored by the types of information, advice and stories that were being exchanged every few seconds. I hadn’t just found an alternative source of income…I had found a new world!

In no particular order, here are some of my initial impressions of Steemit that I feel are most useful for all newcomers:

Steemit is not a “Get Rich” Scheme; it’s an “Earn Well with Experience” program

Don’t expect to be raking in the moolah within your first few hours of posting on Steemit. Heck, don’t even expect to earn even a penny on your first post or comment. Earning money on Steemit takes earnest devotion and consistent participation. You must be willing to contribute regularly by commenting, upvoting and of course blogging. STEEM and SBD are not earned overnight here in Steemit Land – it comes through hard work, perseverance and great dedication to creating awesome content. That makes sense – only the best things in life are attained through patience and hard work!

Don’t come to Steemit chasing money; come for the relationships

Here’s a HUGE nugget of advice to not only the newcomers, but to every person reading this post: don’t zoom through life chasing money, but rather if you concentrate on changing the world, the money will chase after you! That very same mantra is bang on when it comes to earning money on Steemit – it is a better investment of your time to actively participate in the Steemit community and forge long-lasting relationships with your fellow Steemians. That will not only make you a more compassionate person, but may very well fill your pockets automatically if you continue to surround yourself with like-minded successful individuals!

Steemians have embraced the spirit of uncensorship

I remember becoming shocked to my core when I saw the sheer number of nsfw posts in my first week on Steemit. In fact, one of the first nsfw posts that I cautiously clicked on turned out to be an article called “Heavenly Bodies,” which simply had a picture of a smiling girl exposing her breasts. That experience only reinforced the fact that anything is pretty much fair game on Steemit; since we’re all posting to the Blockchain, everything is hereby permanent and there is no such thing as censorship. Eat your heart out Censor Board – Steemit is raw, uncut and in your face 24/7!

Steemians are the most helpful and nicest people on the Internet

It is a breath of fresh air to see Steemians contributing to positive and helpful discussions across all posts and comments on a daily basis. I have yet to witness a troll attack or a flame war along the likes of the travesties usually seen on the comment sections of sites like Yahoo, ESPN, etc. This feeling of positivity and openness has only inspired many Steemians to share their personal stories with the rest of the community, a few of which have truly moved me.

Steeming is downright addictive!

I have blogged every day over the past week and I’m already close to 200 posts. I have even set Steemit as my default home page and have pretty much ostracized every other website, except for Twitter, which I use to showcase my Steemit blogs and recruit even more friends and family to Steemit. Give it a few days and you’ll get hooked too!

Since a majority of Steemians live in the U.S. and Western Europe, avoid posting blogs too late at night (e.g. after 10 pm EST)

I have been guilty of this several times, posting a few of my blogs after hours in Steemit Land, and have immediately noticed that all of these late-night blogs have grossed the least amount of STEEM and SBD. Of course, if you live elsewhere in the world, by all means post during the day in your countries in order for more of your countrymen to read your masterpieces. This is especially helpful advice for newcomers, since established veterans will always have tons of upvotes and comments on every post due to seniority. Experience matters!

We are the New World Order, changing the world for the better, one Upvote at a time!

We are an ever-expanding community that is growing by the day due to Steemit’s virtues of openness, uncensorship and equality for all. Not only do I predict that STEEM will skyrocket in value over the rest of the year, but in the very near future, say hello to the NEW Social Network – a amalgation of the best facets of Facebook, Medium and Twitter. And once Steemit goes mainstream, watch out world – we’re gonna wow ya!

Until next time, keep acing life!