If i were a newbie again I will go straight and join the untalented family which is led by @supassinggoogle I would vote steemgigs (his witness account) as my witness and proxy my witness voting to him. He is a great mentor, he inspires those who inspires. #untalented

Always write things that you know or you know you are good at. Find your niche. If you find writing on something that you really love doing then focus on that. Tendency of newbies is to write things that they think the whales wants them to write about. This is not true. Focus on your strength and excel on it.

Leverage the different front-ends or condensers of steem. We have a Zappl = twitter, Steepshot = instagram, D-tube = Youtube, Dmania = 9gag, ChainBB = Reddit and alternative condenser like esteem for mobile and busy.org that a bit easier to use than the standard condenser steemit.com

Lastly enjoy what you are doing. If you enjoy what you are doing you won't tire doing it. Accept the fact that there will be times that you will not get the reward you think you deserve and there also times that you will be surprised by your reward.