How to maximize your potential on steemit (a beginners guide)

Hey Steemians!

I'm fairly new to the platform myself, however in my time here I have learned some valuable lessons, be it from from senior members of our community giving me advice, through trial and error, or from doing my own research. I figured i'd take some time to share with you all what I've learned, with the hope that some of you can avoid the same mistakes I did. Thanks to everyone who took time out to give me great advice! @acidyo @jphenderson @akrid to name a few

POSTING
One of the best ways to get some funds in the beginning is to create your own original content and put as much effort into it as you can. This advice follows the quality over quantity rule. The more time and effort you put into your posts, the better chance you have of attracting attention to them. Making sure this content is original is also very important. People may actually downvote your post if they suspect you are stealing content from other users or copy/pasting from internet articles. This could hurt your reputation score.

COMMENTING
In the early stages, it's easier to get SP by commenting on posts than it is to make your own post. Actually read the article, and some up with something funny or insightful to say. This has by far been my biggest earner so far!

STICK WITH IT!
I for one can say I was starting to get extremely discouraged by the lack of attention my posts were getting. I am still not making a million dollars per post, but I am doing better than I was. From what I have been told as soon as you are able to gain some momentum the pace will steadily increase from there.

JOIN THE #WHALESHARES COMMUNITY
Although I have only been a member for a short time, the #whaleshares community welcomed me with open arms, and has answered literally any question I had. If you join, you will also have the opportunity to earn WHALESHARES, a unique currency that will allow you to direct a WHALE (person with a great deal of influence) to upvote any post of your choosing. Join here: https://discord.gg/RRDzn6c

HELP YOUR FELLOW STEEMIANS
More important than SP or any other kind of currency is to get to know some of the members of our community! After all you could have a million STEEM and they would be worth nothing if the community didn't exist. Make an effort to help your fellow steemians when you can, get to know some people you share common interests with, and above all ENJOY YOURSELF! If STEEM is your only reason for being here, you probably won't make much. #whaleshares is a great way to do this, and or you can join https://steemit.chat - another great way to meet fellow steemians.

I hope I was able to impart some wisdom. Don't forget to upvote and follow if you enjoyed my post!
Here are some links that may also be helpful:

A very informative site that displays all of your steem stats, or the stats of any user. Just put their username in and voila!
https://steemd.com/@chivesz

Rate limit status - Here is a site that will tell you if you should make another post today, or not. After making a certain number of posts, the STEEM generated from each one will be decreased. This is to encourage quality content. Check below to see if you are good to make another post, or should wait a while.
http://www.steemdollar.com/limitstatus.php?name=%40chivesz

Check voting power with this site. Also tells you how much your vote is worth at a given percentage.
https://www.steemnow.com

hardfork 19 explained - Still a little confused on this whole situation if I'm being honest, but very informative post nonetheless.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@sidwrites/hardfork19-and-here-s-everything-you-need-to-know