WAYS YOU WOULD ENJOY STEEMIT, AS A ‘MINNOW’ OR ‘WHALE’

Each person has their own ways to success. As much as I would love to see everyone succeed on Steemit, unfortunately there's no magic recipe. But I can give you a few pointers on things to do, and things to avoid.

"I can only show you the door.
You're the one that has to walk through it."
-- Morpheus

Focus on Your Skills
I have a background in science, I am proficient in programming and computers, I am this and that. You on the other hand, do not necessarily possess the skills that I have. But, you have your own skill set and things that YOU love to do. It could be art, camping, politics, religion, teaching, charity, trading, investing, etc. Whatever you know or do, write about it. Steemit is a very broad community with a wide range of cultures and people from around your world. Find your way to people who share your own interests. Don't try to be someone else, because it's a ticket to failure.

Forget the Whales
I would LOVE to be a whale, but I don't have the money to be one. There are two types of whales on Steemit, the genuine investors who put out money from their own pockets, and those who controversially premined STEEM. I don't want to get into that, but the point is, if you have a load of cash, you can become a whale by buying STEEM. If not, you're in the same league as I am. In other words, stop dreaming of becoming a whale, stay realistic, and work hard to earn rewards.

Forget the Trending Page
This page is a scourge. It's very misleading and doesn't represent the platform at all. Just because there's a few $1000 posts on it, that doesn't mean that you will get such posts anytime soon. The allure of money can be enthralling, so don't fall for it. Ground yourself or you will be frustrated by thoughts like: Why can't I make $1000 like them. Well, some of them have politics behind them or are abusers of the system. Believe me, you don't want to be like them. Ignore that page, that's what I do.

Free Your Mind

Connect with People
Networking is a word you should remember all the time. What does it mean? It means to connect with people, which can be achieved in different ways.

Chatting
Steemit.Chat is a good starting place, it's open for all and easily accessible. That's where I started myself. You can meet new friends in the #general channel or other specific ones. And from there, you can reach other chat servers on Discord, which is another popular chat platform.
Communities
There's no shortage of communities on Steemit. They tend to use Discord. I have listed a few on https://steemian.info but there's more you can find around. Again, there's not magic community here, join whichever ones that your needs and interests.
Tags
There's a ton of posts everyday on Steemit, and you'll find that yours will go unnoticed. It's frustrating. However, use the tags to your advantage. You can use up to 5 tags when you post, and use them wisely. Use relevant tags to your subject. Adding a kr tag will get you some angry Koreans on your back if it's not posted in the Korean language. The most popular tags are listed here https://steemit.com/tags, but you can create your own tags if you like, with the caveat of less visibility. For example, if you use "ilovefeathers", you might not find a big audience for it.
Commenting
Commenting on other's posts is the most powerful way to connect, in my opinion. You know that Facebook Like button that glues the users to their screen? There's a reason for it. People are social creatures who yearn for recognition and seek approval from others. So, when you comment on someone else's post (after reading it, of course), you're acknowledging their work and expressing your opinion about it. And most importantly, when you comment, you show your interest. Take your time and write something meaningful, and I guarantee you a follow, a comment back, and eventually upvotes.
Avoid the Facebook Mentality
The dreaded follow for follow, upvote for upvote. Do not do that. Begging won't work and people will not be interested in you very quickly, even flag you if you annoy them too much. Besides, even if they follow you, it's not a guarantee they will READ your content and upvote it, unless it's interesting to them. So asking for a follow4follow is futile and a waste of time. Let the users have the choice of following and upvoting you, instead of imposing it on them.

Watch your Reputation
Reputation is key, no matter where you are. If you act nice, people will like you. If you act like an ass, they won't respect you, ignore you or flag you. As simple as that. Speaking of reputation, someone with a higher reputation than yourself can hurt you with a downvote, so avoid getting in fights with certain whales. Unfortunately, we have bad whales on Steemit. That's how the world is, it's not always a rosy Utopian place.