I'm also new to steemit and like you, I have been playing around with the timing, proper tagging, topics, everything lol. But what's important is that we write what we know and we enjoy doing it. I wrote long posts with just $1 lol and short posts with more $$$, I felt like it was a hit or miss. But it also depends on the topic, how it was written and of course the quality. Most of the time I write from experience and what I really feel at the moment. Reading comments from my followers just makes me happy enough.

Since you've worked in social media account management, you already know the rules and stuff. It's always about the quality. Those "whales" they all talk about, they know how to recognize quality posts, and when they spot yours even just for a fraction of a second at the top, there will be a chance they will upvote your post and even follow you. It's nice to be followed by them, they bring us money hahaha. It's nice to be rewarded too!

Thanks for sharing the information, I hope more new steemians will get to read this. I look foward to your new posts. :)