How I'm giving back to Steemit: Mountain's Minnow Guide and New User Support

Considering how much Steemit has done for me, I like to do something to give back to the community whenever I can. My favorite way of doing so is by hopping into the introduceyourself tag every couple of days and sharing my minnow guide with new users, as well answering any questions they might have. Retaining new users is one of the bigger challenges that this platform has- it can certainly be intimidating, to say the least. Not to mention the tiny payouts new users tend to get have a tendency to make them lose enthusiasm quickly. So I figure that even a little bit of help can go a long way.

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On top of sharing my minnow guide, I've been selecting a number of promising new users to buy @steemitbasicincome memberships for. For anyone looking for a quick way to improve a minnow's experience, this is a great choice- each share you buy someone else also gains you a share, and you both start getting permanent upvotes.

I've also been introducing a few of my friends to steemit- in fact, my college buddy @justinlev7 just joined after I introduced him to the platform. Check out his intro post and say hello! Expect to see more of my friends joining the platform soon.

I like to think that I've given at least a few new users the help they need to succeed on here- I know I never would have succeeded on this platform if it hadn't been for the excellent advice of @kennyskitchen, who introduced me to Steemit.

Attached below is my guide for new users- I like to put it in a post like this once a month or so people can give me feedback and let me know about any services that should be added to the list.

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@Mountainwashere's Guide for New Users:

Welcome to Steemit! It's got a steep learning curve, but it's worth it in the long run if you keep putting in the time! Just know that it will take quite a while before you start getting attention and followers. The biggest secret to success? Keep posting high quality content regularly, and make sure to search out other people's posts, read them, and give relevant comments.

Tagging is extremely important. Always make sure to use all five possible tags, and to keep them relevant. You can always just tag something "blog" or "photography" or something else really general (so long as it's still relevant) to fill the quota if you need to- most of your tags should be established ones, though one or two less used ones are fine.

Posting more than four times a day can reduce your potential rewards, as well as turning off potential users. (I aim for one post per day most of the time.) Consistency is important, though, so try to have a regular posting schedule. You should also be sparing with resteems- only do it for really important posts. (I resteem a post once a month or less, generally.)

Always make sure to attach a photo to your posts! You should also have a finished profile: Write a description, add a profile picture and a banner- neither needs to be a photo of you, necessarily, but you should have something- and set a website.

There are a lot of really good resources out there for plankton and minnows (new users). You should check out the following groups and services, they offer a lot of valuable resources:

@thesteemengine (Check this one out first- they're an extremely supportive group that can help out in a lot of ways.)
@qurator (These guys offer an excellent liftime upvote to accounts that post consistent quality content.)
@steembasicincome (Another lifetime upvote option.)
@steemstem (The biggest and best STEM curation group in the game. If you're interested in writing or reading about science, check these guys out!)
@geopolis (A fairly new science curation group, this one's dedicated to the study of the Earth.)
@ocd (A curation group that seeks out undervalued new writers.)
@photocontests (Runs contests and provides other support for photographers.)

Much of the activity on steemit actually takes place off Steemit, on places like steemit.chat and discord. Learning to use them is a great idea.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out the official Steemit FAQ.

And, again, the biggest thing is just patience. Breakout successes are incredibly rare on Steemit- you've got to find your way to success through perseverance and hard work. It takes time, but you'll eventually succeed if you put in the work.

Please feel free to repost this guide on the posts of other plankton & minnows you run into (though I'd appreciate it if you credit me.) If it was useful to you, feel free to check out my posts and give me a follow!