500+ Followers/Supporters!!! Thank You!!! My Tips for Newcomers...

Once again I am honored to have reached another milestone. When I reached 100 followers back in July I said to myself,

Wow it would be really amazing if I reached 500!

So here we are today and I have many more supporters. I know we say followers here on Steemit but I see you all as supporters. Without you reading my content, upvoting, resteeming and commenting on my posts I wouldn't have the privilege to write this post today. It means the world to me that you would take time out of your day to stop by and give my post a view. It is so encouraging knowing that I have several supporters that are also homeschoolers, crafters, DIYers, fashion lovers, homesteaders, photographers, essential oilers and organic lovers! I have been having a ball meeting you all and learning new things from your posts. Thank you greatly!

In my first milestone post I gave some tips for newcomers of what I had learned so far. Again, I want to share some tips and helpful tools with those of you that may be just starting out here on Steemit. There is a learning curve here but if you stick with it, research and learn this platform you will get the hang of it!

To start off let me share a quote with you that I created for motivation…

Minnows, if you could make lots of little ripples in this ocean full of dolphins and whales, imagine what big waves those little ripples would make over time.

It’s a process. It starts out small but if you work hard at creating original and quality content, mingling, curating other great content and encouraging others along the way you’d be amazed how fast you will gain supporters and your reputation grows.

Organic Following

You are going to see the phrase “follow for follow” a lot here on Steemit. When you are just starting out you look for ways to gain followers/supporters of your blog. One of the ways that is accomplished is by letting people know if they follow you, you will follow them back. Another way this could be achieved are by “following chains”. If you join a following chain you are committing to follow everyone in the chain and they follow you in return.

If you feel these ways would work for you, great, go for it! But don’t feel bad if you choose not to do things this way. Over time I have realized the best type of follows are organic follows. What this means is you follow someone because of like interests and/or because you like their content. Vise versa others follow you because they have an interest in what you post. Think of it as you are building a solid foundation of supporters. I believe the ones that follow me organically will be my long term supporters. They didn’t follow me because of a follow for follow agreement or because they had to due to the guidelines in a following chain. They will visit my blog because they are interested in what I post. I won’t be some distant Steemican that is sitting on the sidelines for years never to be upvoted by them again. They actually look forward to hearing from me week to week to see what I’m posting. I do the same for those I follow. If I follow you, I do so because I want to hear more from you and I want to support your voice, your originality and your efforts.

Yes it is definitely a slower process doing it the organic way but it will benefit you more in the long run. I know this for a fact, most people that followed me because they were “expecting” a follow back have already unfollowed me. So I am saying this now in a very sweet and gentle but serious voice, please do not follow me “just” for a follow back. You may be very disappointed if you follow me for this reason. But please do follow me if you are interested in the content that I post and want to support me in my efforts. I will visit your blog to see what type of content you create. If we share like interests and/or you create original quality material then I will follow you. I love knowing that my home feed is full of posts that are of good quality content from friends that work hard to create them.

Don’t Get Discouraged When You Are Unfollowed

It happens. You go to the Steem Followers site created by @shaunmza and notice you have been unfollowed 😱😨😰😳😲😵!!! As mentioned before most of my unfollowers have unfollowed me because I never followed them back. It doesn't bother me because I know that if I am followed by someone just for a follow back, they most likely won’t be supporting my blog anyway. Some people choose the number game (gaining as many followers as possible) over the quality game (following people for their good quality posts). There are several I am following that are not following me back. That's okay because I chose to follow them for their value, and because I enjoy and learn from what they post. Unfollows happens to everyone no matter the rep score. There may be some unfollows you don’t understand and wonder why would they make that decision but please don’t stress over it or get anxiety trying to find the answer. Just continue to focus on creating original quality work and you will gain those followers that will support you for the long haul.

Post Photos

The first picture or image you upload when submitting a story, is the picture that everyone will see on their feed. It gives them a preview of what your post is about. Pick your best photos! It is so important to use clear, crisp, bright images. It would help if you can invest in a professional DSLR but you don’t have to. If you are using a smart phone, you can simply make sure the camera lens is cleaned off first before taking your picture. I know this may sound elementary but I have seen so many blurred pictures because a camera lens is smeared. You can also use one of the editing apps available to help make your pictures more vibrant. A photo speaks a million words. If your photos are not appealing, intriguing or of good quality, your post could get over looked and your photos never given a chance to speak.

Clever Title and Smart Tagging

Just a title alone may determine how many views your post gets. I have come across several clever titles where it either makes you ask a question, gets you curious and want to dig deeper, makes you laugh, shocks you or has you puzzled where you have no choice but to open it to find answers. These are the titles that attract viewers. Don’t be afraid to get creative and have fun with the titles of your posts.

We can use up to 5 tags when submitting a post. The first tag you use will be the one everyone sees when they come across your post on their feed. Use the best tags possible that will fit the subject of your post. As of right now I know that photography, life, art, Steemit, crypto currency, bitcoin, and blog are some of the top post tags.

Proof Read You Posts Before Posting

If you were reading a book and every other word were misspelled would you continue to read it? Honestly I would be frustrated with it and probably put it down and never pick it up again. You have to think of blogging as you are writing a book. You have readers that want to hear what you have to say and you want them to enjoy reading it. This can be achieved with proper spelling and punctuation. Proof read your work at least 3 times before submitting. You can usually point out the bloggers that take their time and make sure their posts are at it’s best rather than just rushing and putting something together quickly. Forgive me in advance if I have multiple mistakes in this post but I can assure you I have reread it at least 5 times :) I believe Steemicans whose first language is not English should have an exception to this. I commend you all that write your post twice, once in your native language and another in English. Thank you for doing this so that we can also enjoy your writing. 😊

Find the Best Time to Post and Stick to It

So when is the Best time to post? That’s a great question but I can’t give you an answer. This is something that you will have to figure out as you are testing the waters here on Steemit. The time I post depends on the subject I am writing about. I post some topics in the mornings when I know interested readers will be logged on whereas the majority of what I post is done in the afternoons around lunchtime when lots of Steemicans are taking their breaks and reading. If you post regularly you will be able to determine what time is best for you as you will start to see when traffic on Steemit is hott or not. It also depends on which country you live in keeping in mind the different time zones. Some people may not even read your post until you are sleeping. 😴

Join Challenges and Contests

I have met some of the coolest, unique people from participating in challenges and contests here on Steemit. Joining in on these has allowed me to interact with people I might not have ran into otherwise. It’s such a great way to meet new people and show off your mad skills and talents with others that haven't had the chance to see. You could make new connections and learn of similar interests just by joining in on some fun. Challenges and contests also helps with ideas for your posts. For instance, I participate in the ColorChallenge by @kalemandra at least once a week. This helps me challenge myself to get creative and also helps me plan ahead on what days to post on. Join in and get acquainted! I include a list of challenges and contests at the end of various posts.

Post Nominations

One of the great things about Steemit is there is always someone or a group of people that are looking to reward quality content and help it to be seen. This is a positive community that wants to help creative blog writers get their chance to take stage. This is why it is important to always submit great quality posts because YOU just might be the next one to get noticed and get your post nominated to be in the spotlight. I want to give a shoutout to the ones that have noticed my work and have given me a chance to shine more.

• Weekly Homesteading Newsletter (WHN) by @kiraantonoviche! She chose my diy chemical free household cleaner and plant care spray tutorial to be featured in Issue #3 (view here)and my pretty moon and sky photo as the featured photo for Issue #6 (view here). If you are a homesteader or interested in learning about them you really should check out her newsletter. It is full of great authors and informative content that you don’t want to miss. Check it out every Sunday!

• Best Photos Trail by @mycamerashots! This blog will sure lead you to some awesome photos being submitted by other Steemicans. If you love great photography you should check out this blog to help lead you to them. My moon and sky photo was also chosen for this trail here.

• OCD led by @acidyo! This is a Curation Guild for undervalued, quality posts by newcomers. My Meet the Morphals post (view here) was noticed by @ma1neevent. He submitted my post and it was chosen to be featured by the OCD team. If you want to support what they are doing visit their blog and check out some awesome gems of posts.

Thank you to each of you for what you do!

If You Have An Idea Go For It!

I want to encourage you if you have an idea that will bring Value or Fun to Steemit go for it! All of these talented people that are creating helpful resources for us started their plans with an idea. The challenges I just mentioned started from an idea and now everyone is enjoying them. I am a Crocheter and I am passionate about the art of needlework of all types. When I was posting my crochet work I felt it really didn't have it’s own place and I knew this type of work deserved a spot of it’s own. This type of work is unique, creative and very time consuming. So I thought,

What if I reached out to other needlework crafters so we can come together to inspire others while supporting each other's work? 🤔 We could share our creations, share ideas and exchange resources like patterns, yarn intel and techniques AND my feed would be full of awesome crafts every week…

Just like that NeedleworkMonday was born! I spent about 2 weeks the first round, searching for other crafters and reaching out to them inviting them to join me on Mondays. After a few started participating I reached out for another 2 weeks and found more crafters who were eager to join in! Till this day when I find time I am still reaching out and inviting others. Now, every Monday we all look forward to hearing from each other and seeing needlework art come alive again! I feel that this could really be a start to getting artwork like this supported, popular here on Steemit and get more people involved with sharing. If you're interested you can read my first initial post inviting everyone to join me here. Oh and yes if this is something you would like to be apart of you are invited as well. 🤗 So do not be afraid to submit an idea, you never know where it will go!

Valuable Tools You Want to Know About

There are some tools I use everyday. When I am logged onto Steemit I am logged on to these as well…

• Created by @penguinpablo, steemnow.com is a tool that allows you to view your rep score, SBD (steem dollars), SP (steem power), what your vote is worth at different percentages, your daily rewards (curation and author), voting power and latest upvotes.
• Created by @shaunmza, steem.makerwannabe.com (Steem Follower) is a resource that allows you to keep track of who your followers are and also the ones that unfollow you. You can view data within the last 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or data for All time (from the day you first joined Steemit to present). You can also see who another user follows as well.
• Created by @furion, mentions.steemdata.com is a site that allows you to search posts that mention your username. You may not be aware if someone has tagged you or mentioned your name in their post. With this tool you will be able to see that and respond to that mention. You can also search for posts that contain keywords and phrases.
• Created by @jeongmincha, steemfriend.com is a utility site that allows you to know who your best friends are on Steemit. It calculates who has been communicating with you a lot and upvoting your comments and posts. I think it is a fun and very informative tool to help you keep up with and return the love and support of your consistent supporters.

To find these and more great tools go to steemtools.com created by @roelandp and maintained by @transisto! You will find loads of helpful resources, links, services, apps, chats and stats created by other Steemicans. There are so many talented developers among us that are constantly working to bring more value to Steemit. I appreciate their hard work and have sent several of them a tip just to say thank you. Take the time to stop by their blog, upvote, follow and support them.

What You Can Expect From Me If You Choose To Support My Work

I tend to stick to the topics I know best and are most passionate about. Here is a brief list of what to mainly expect from my blogs if you choose to follow along with me on this Steemit journey:

• Photography
• Health Awareness
• Fashion
• Homeschool Thought of the Week
• His Beauty His Word Inspiration
• Needlework Monday & Crochet Tutorials
• DIY Natural Home Remedies Page
• Love and Dating my Husband
• Parenting Funny
• Recipes
• Model Life
• Poetry
• Homeschool Chronicles Edition
• Weekly Challenges and Contest Entries
• Followers Milestones and Tips for Newcomers

Stay Tuned

My hope is that I will be making another milestone post for reaching 1,000 supporters. I am really enjoying being apart of such a positive and encouraging community. I have a few ladies preparing to join me on here and I am excited they too will be apart of such a great experience. I am committed to creating original and quality content. I hope you’ll stick with me. I am so grateful for your support.

All photos by @crosheille

Thank You Loves ❤️!!!