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"Juan", or Juan Dela Cruz, is the Philippines and every Filipino personified. This is an English version of my previous post- Ang Starter Pack ni Juan Steemian

Hi there! Are you new here? Yay, this is fun, everyone is very welcome here. I wouldn't go into asking how you learned of Steemit. No wonder there, as us Pinoys love our social media sites. be honest, how many apps for this are installed in your phone? Let me guess, there's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and many many more. Too many to mention more likely. This is why we are called the Social Media Capital of the World. We spend so much time in social media.

Or maybe we spend x hours online because of the slow internet speed. Haha!

Let me tell you this- Steemit is different than the rest of the sites you already know of. You might say I'm exaggerating things, but 'tis the truth I speak.

Steemit is the fastest-growing neighborhood in the social-media block. It is NOT Facebook, and will never be Facebook. It has an identity of its own- unique.

I have made the same comparison before when encouraging my friends and relatives to join Steemit, saying that it is a social media site just like Facebook, with the opportunity to get rewarded for your posts. I even went as far as saying that you can do in Steemit basically the same things done on Facebook.

I realized that I may be setting the wrong expectation by doing so.

Steemit is not Facebook, the same way it isn't Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat. Collectively, they are social media sites though where people spend their precious time to find enjoyment, entertainment, and now even as a source of knowledge.

Just like a person packing his/her bags and moving to a different neighborhood, new users may choose to observe first the ways of this new society, regardless if looking into moving in permanently or finding a temporary 'work' home perhaps. It will not be to ones' advantage to have an expectation that the two communities will be exactly the same. Some level of adaptability is needed to thrive and grow within any new society.

Allow me to summarize what Steemit is for me and tell you of the basics that I've learned so far in my journey, hopefully this helps with you too!

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Starter Pack Item 1: Understanding Steem Basics

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STEEMIT

You might already know this, but for the benefit of those just getting started, Steemit is a social-media platform in the blockchain that values quality work. Your posts may earn, depending on the upvotes it receives. You can post anything that takes to your fancy- music, arts, food, travel, poetry or stories, these are but some samples but you can basically post anything. If you can think it, then you can post it!

Steem, Steem Dollars at Steem Power (SP)

Where does the earning come from? Do we need to pay everytime we upvote a post?

For the second question, that's a definite no, we don't pay for the upvotes we give out.

The beauty of the steem blockchain is that, 75% of the "mined" steem goes to the active contributors of the platform, may it be via authoring or curation. The weekly reward pool comes from this, and the reward is distributed based on upvotes for authoring, and stake (plus timings) on curation.

How much is the "budget" weekly? This depend on the steem price. The higher the price of steem is, the higher the reward pool goes.

Your work has 7 days to earn, so a user basically has 7 days to promote their work, or pray sincerely that others wouold vote for it. Haha kidding. Truth is, quality work will most definitely be noticed. We can talk about "quality" or we can talk about earnings first, as I am pretty sure this is comething that has captured your attention.

Every blog post can earn Steem Dollars (SBD) or Steem, in the form of Steem Power (SP).

Both Steem and SBD are liquid currencies in the platform. These can be traded in exchange of the other in the internal market. these can also be traded for other currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

The difference between the two is how their value on the platform. Steem price is within the range of the market price, while SBD is always pegged at a dollar in the platform.

Steem Power is the measure of a user's stake in the steem blockchain. It is also Steem, except that it is "locked in" for 13 weeks, meaning it is not liquid and cannot be instantly exchanged for other cryptocurrencies. If you have say 130 SP that want to be able to trade, you would need to start the power-down process and this takes 13 weeks to complete, with you receiving 10 Steem every week, until the whole 130 SP has been converted to Steem.

It is also the measure of a user's influence in the platform- higher steem power means more influence in the upvote value of posts, and more stake on the curation rewards.

So, if you're looking at earning rewards through blogging, and if you had created one, you may have noticed this:

Oh, let me rephrase that- I'm sure you have noticed this, after all, it does say REWARDS. When I first saw this I thought, "Hey, why is the Default saying (50%-50%)? does this mean I'm sharing this with someone (who???) or I'm being taxed perhaps?!!? Haha kidding again!

Ok, on a serious note, in every blog submitted, you will have an option on the reward structure you would prefer.

Power-Up 100% - where all your reward is in SP, with the amount of SP received computed as

Post Dollar Value divided by Steem Price

This is a perfect choice if your goal is to have more stake and influence on the platform. This is a better option also if the SBD market price is below a dollar.

Sample scenario for this:

Post earned $100. 25% goes to the curators and 75% to the author. Steem at $7.5 each.

Your total SP will be: $75 divided by $7.5 = 10 SP

Default 50%- 50% - Half of the reward will be in SP, and the other half in SBD. The amazing thing here is, so long as SBD is over a dollar in the market, better to choose this option as you'd get a greater amount that way.

Sample scenario:

Post earned $200. 25% goes to the curators and 75% to the author, which is $150 in this case. Steem at $7.5 each. SBD at $10 each.

Your total SBD will be: $150 divided by 2 = 75 SBD (at $10 each means $750 already)
Your total SP will be: $150 divided by 2 = $75 SP (at $7.5 each means 10 SP)

So, in cases where SBD is priced over $1, it is best to use this option, as $100 post is really not just $100. Even if you are keen into growing your account SP, you are still better off using 50-50, and use the SBD to buy SP. You'd have more in this case.

Decline Pay-out - If this option was chosen, no matter how popular a post is, it wold not take anything away from the reward pool. This is more commonly used if you feel like having the rest of the community enjoy your supposedly part of the pie.

Your choice on above is dependent to your plans with your Steemit career. Do you want to slowly build your account? Do you want a more SP? would you need some sort of liquidity to cover expenses? Just always think about your plan when choosing a reward model.

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Starter Pack Item 2: Welcoming and Supportive Community

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A personal invite, your interest in cryptocurrency, search for alternative ways to earn, or a google search resulting to a Steemit article may have ultimately brought you to here.

This doesn't matter much when it comes to the support received from everyone.

Yes, knowing someone already in the platform may give you a push in your Steemit journey, but even without this, I'm pretty sure the community will welcome you with open arms.

I'm very impressed in this aspect. When I started in the platform, I know literally only one other user who just started in the platform also. I knew of Steemit platform after I got into cryptocurrency, whilst studying the top coins in the market. Of course I simply had to signup when I learned that it is a social media site. Even more fun after I created y introduceyourself post, a lot of people in the platform would definitely welcome you back then.

I notices this has changed since, probably because of the mass influx in steemit.

Have you done your intro post? If not yet, you may wanna have a look at a couple of examples like How to Make the Most Out of Your Introduction Post and My Introduction: A Bit of Everything in Jeannie's Eyes :).

In my view, a self-intro may not necessarily be your first post. I've mentioned it before in the post [Earn That Follow! Tips for New Steemians](https://steemit.com/howto/@dreamiely/earn-that-follow-tips-for-new-steemians, I think it better if you already have posted a few of your work before doing the intro post as there are others who would visit your page and have a look at your work. In your first few posts, don't expect to be receiving big rewards. Very few has taken this path. But that's ok, just keep on doing quality posts, as these will serve as your "postfolio" in the platform. And yep I spelled it as POSTFOLIO

A self-intro post may just be one of the most important post you'd do in the platform, as this would let te other steemians know more of you, of your interests, what they'd expect from you.

Introducing YOU is simply one end of the stick, the other end of course is for you to get to know the rest of the family here on steemit. Find users whom you share the same interests with and leave thoughtful comments.

Not just any other comment, must be thoughtful and memorable. if you are looking into posting templated, generic responses, it is actually better to not comment at all. This is my humble opinion on that. Maximize the use of this tool in building a network and creating a wider audience.

I'll leave it at that. Again, I'm super glad to see you here and looking-forward to seeing more of you in the community!

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Ang Starter Pack ni Juan Steemian Filipino Version

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Follow @bayanihan to see the amazing work of PH talents!

If you would like to support initiatives on community building and enrichment, kindly check out @steemph, @steemph.cebu, @steemph.iligan, @steemph.davao and @steemph.manila

Consider casting your witness votes for @precise, @steemgigs @cloh76.witness and @ausbitbank who have been adding invaluable contribution to the community.

To cast your votes, just go to
https://steemit.com/~witnesses

Type in the box the witness account, example below for @precise

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