Hello Steemit,

I am @theessential

Did you recently join Steemit?

Do you feel like your posts are being underrated?

Are you struggling to build followers?

Let’s talk about this...

Steemit is a very desirable platform for those who are interested in blogging. Quite honestly, it’s a fairly desirable platform for just about anyone.

WHY?

Well that is the obvious answer here. Steemit rewards it’s users. More accurately, the people of Steemit reward you for your contribution. Very simply- From day one, you can start earning money on Steemit

Did someone say money?

Ah yes, money. I’m sure you didn’t need me to tell you that you can earn money here on Steemit. This is one of the biggest reasons people decide to join Steemit.

Unfortunately, due to that reason- people often join Steemit hoping to “get rich quick”. This mentality can lead to a quick downfall.

Here on Steemit it is very important to prioritize our time

Steemit is obviously a blogging platform. It’s got quite a bit of freedom to product the content that a person desires but it’s easy to focus our time in the wrong areas- especially when you first get here.

Let’s talk about one of the things we can do to dramatically help us become successful here on Steemit.

Making Posts vs Making Comments

Steemit is about blogging right? Well yes, it’s definitely about blogging but more importantly-

It’s about Networking

Lots of us come to Steemit ready to pump out lots and lots of content. One might think that if we make enough content, we will eventually attract the attention of other Steemit users...

This isn’t exactly wrong...

If we can produce consistent quality content, we will attract the attention of people who are interested in your content. <——MORE ON THAT LATER

Here on Steemit, success is made by attracting others in the community. This is accomplished most easily by commenting on posts.

Not just a couple posts...

Spend as much time reading and commenting on posts as you would making a really high quality post.

Oh and about reading posts....

Lots of those who come in to Steemit aren’t accustomed to reading lengthy posts.

YOU MUST READ THE POSTS IN THEIR ENTIRETY!

This so damn important. It’s very obvious to an author when you comment without dignifying their work by reading their entire posts.

Let’s look at some “Bad” examples

All comments and posts on the Steem Blockchain are public and can be read by anyone. I chose to cross out the names in these pictures- as to not draw attention to anyone.

All of the comments you see above are what I would consider spam. Let’s focus on the first comment here at the top.

“Nice Post”

This is the epitome of what you want to avoid when commenting on someone’s post. As you can see, after several hours, none of these posts had a single upvote.

It is okay to post a short comment. Sometimes short and sweet makes a point. The second comment in the photo above is what I would call a “phony” comment.

This is a short comment that has something about the article within it, but has no substance. This person could have easily skimmed the comments, saw that it had something to do with globalization and made a quick, thoughtless comment.

The third comment in the photo uses flattery to phish for upvotes. If the person making the comment truly values the persons post and wants to give them a witness vote, they should take the time to make a more thought provoking comment.

Keep in my that these are just my opinions. I don’t assume to know they thought processes behind the persons making these comments- I’m just using them to make a point for the reader to understand.

Okay let’s look at some decent comment examples

Both of these comments above come from users that clearly read the article. They make thought provoking comments and received very decent upvotes.

Since I did not include names in these photos, I also did not show who upvoted these comments. Take my word that both of these comments were upvoted by the author of the original post.

This is a good sign that your comment succeeded in its attempt to be thoughtful. Having an upvote from the author shows that out of all the comments that they read, yours was worth the vote.

Remember that some of the users on Steemit have very large amounts of Steem Power. Their upvotes can be worth a lot. I recently received an upvote on a comment that I made that was worth almost $20.00. This is potentially a greater amount that I will recieve while making blog posts.

Let’s look at this a little deeper

If you don’t know what a whale is... in regards to Steemit, it refers to a person who holds a lot of Steem Power. These are the people that most people are trying to get the attention of in their blogs. Well, what if there was an easier way to get their attention.

Let’s say your looking at your feed. One of the people you follow consistently makes hundreds on every single posts. Odds are, this person holds a large amount of Steem Power. It would be great to get this person attention because their upvotes could drastic improve your post rewards.

Well, these people usually have a tons of people following them. This means that there are a lot of people who also are trying to get their attention.

One thing you might notice is that there are a lot more short, thoughtless comments made on blog posts than the thought provoking ones we were talking about.

THIS IS HOW YOU GET THEIR ATTENTION

Read every single posts that this person makes. Then, take the time to make a thoughtful post in their comment section. Eventually the author is going to notice your handle. They will notice that you are consistently reading and replying to their blog. This is a valuable asset to them because you are obviously a fan of theirs and they can tell.

Now they might be inclined to check out your blog. Which leads me to my next question...

If one of these whales looked at your blog, would they be impresse or disappointed?

I want to touch on this a little bit because it is also very important when it comes to building your following. Ask yourself the question above. If you have any doubts that your blog posts are going to be overlooked, then you have a problem on your hands.

If a whale isn’t going to find any interest in your blog because it lacks quality, either will anyone else. After all, the whales are just Steemians like everyone else. They want to read content that is well done.

How much should you post though?

When it comes to commenting, as long as the comments are thoughtful and you’ve read the posts, there is no limit- in my opinion.

As far as blog posts go...

If you are relatively new to Steemit and have no had much attention on your blog yet, but you know your making quality posts- you might be wasting precious time.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t continue to make good posts. You should post every day if you can. I wouldn’t suggest suggest posting more than 1 or 2 blog posts a day though.

If you don’t post consistently, your followers won’t get the sense that you are dedicated to your blog- and if there’s no content to read, why would they follow you.

This is because you don’t have a large following yet. If your posts are only getting a couple views after 24 hours, your focus needs to go back into networking and attracting followers.

Don’t get my wrong, you must keep posting. Even if you only get 2 upvotes on a post that took 2.5 hours- it was worth it.

I’ve noticed that every time I make a posts, I earn a few more followers. I’ve also noticed that I get even more followers when I read posts and make comments.

Let’s summarize a bit

Comments are very important in building a following for yourself here on Steemit.

You should always read the posts entirely before commenting.

Your comments should be thoughtful and thought provoking.

It’s a good sign if your consistently getting upvotes for the author of the original post.

Don’t spend too much time pumping out blog posts. Especially if your not getting much attention yet. Build your following and the upvotes and comments will comes.

With that being said, keep posting every single day!!

Perseverance

Being a writer/blogger/vlogger etc. takes dedication. I’ve said plenty of times now that it won’t happen overnight. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. The community will receive you as long as you are genuine and making contributions. Stick with it if you want to be successful.

I am not a Steemit veteran but I’ve learned a lot since joining. Hang in there everybody...

A FEW MORE TIPS!

Learn how to edit and format your posts

Never plagiarize!

Don’t start arguments here on Steemit! You could get flagged by a user who has much more Steem Power than you. This could be devastating to your account.

Be diverse. Mix it up if your not having success with your blog topics.

Build relationships with other Steemians

Give back to community when you have something to offer. (That’s why I’m making this post!)

Set goals for yourself!

Learn about Steemit Witnesses and Vote

Here are some other helpful sites on the Steemit Blockchain

Busy.org- This is another way to post and explore Steemit. There are added features and you can directly control your upvote percentage (this is something that you cannot usually control on Steemit until 500 Steem Power)

Utopian.io- This is a platform that rewards open source contributions to the Blockchain.

Steemd.com- This shows the technical side of Steemit but even if this doesn’t interest you- you will find something here that is useful

There are many more websites connected to Steemit but these are a few to get you started

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below. I will get back to each and every one of you as soon as I can. Your feedback is very important to me!

If you enjoyed my post,

Thanks for stopping by Steemians,

@theessential

If you wanna learn more about my first month and learn some tips for success click here

Click here to learn how to earn free stuff with sweatcoins

click here to download the Sweatcoin app

Interested In purchasing bitcoin but don’t have a wallet? Click here to join Coinbase

Want to support my blog?

Here is my Bitcoin Address: 19QGb9MYmqqECa1fZmkMqBYZEdFNfJLAeB