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Steemians,

This is my ultimate Steemit 101 Crash Course Collection. Five different crash courses gathered in one single article. - This is my own personal experience, thoughts, ideas and ways I've been doing things. - This is not an article were I claim to share the best options, but I've managed to build myself a nice following of 1300+ followers, reached a reputation score of 65.8 and made a bunch of friends during my 15 months long Steemit career, so these things have definitely worked out great for me.

Feel free to implement these things and use them as you see fit.
May Steem always be in your favor and I wish you the best of luck!

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Article Writing.

You've just signed up to Steemit and you've seen some amazing rewards. You've seen thousand dollar posts and I'm sure you're eager to get one of those posts yourself. - You want a big piece of the pie.

I understand where you're coming from. I've been there myself too. - When I first signed up, almost 1 year ago, I saw insane payouts and truth to be told, that's the reason I signed up in the first place. - I just had to see if it was possible and if it was true.

• I did what so many others are doing.

I published my first article literally minutes after my registration. I made $0,18 on my introduction post. - And truth to be told, I saw introduction posts with hundreds or even thousands of dollars in reward... - So that was a huge blow.

However, I couldn't just stop there so I spent some time analyzing other people's articles. As I'm not native in English I figured that this would be almost impossible for me.. - But I was definitely not willing to give up so easy.

My second post earned $39,89.. And that was truly amazing!

With that in mind..

I am a living proof that Steemit works for everyone. No matter your native language, gender or age. - Another cool fact, is that I've never seen myself as an author, even though I've published internet marketing guides and things like that. - I've never seen myself as a "blogger".

However, I can relate to people who's anxious or afraid to publish articles. - And I can relate to people who hesitates. - But there's nothing to worry about, as long as you are true to yourself and publish quality content.

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Let's get this party started!

When you feel ready to write your post, click on "submit a story" in the upper right and you'll see this:

You'll have three different fields. Title, the actual text you want to write and the tags.

• You will also be able to change the rewards but I will explain that in another article.

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The Different Fields..

The title is your headline. It will be the very first couple of words people will read, before, they read your content. - I will not go into any major details about different titles, but you should always try to be as accurate as possible. - Describe what you write about, or the problem you face.

The field where you'll enter you text is obviously your entire article. Make sure to write as good as possible and have in mind that a good quality content often contains 400-500 words.

If you want to know how many words you've written you can easily do that by using: "https://wordcounter.net/".

Tags.

This is easy to understand for most people but I've seen tons of people using wrong tags or used tags that doesn't really realate to their articles. - Make sure to use accurate tags at all times as this will have a huge impact on your results.

Not only will proper tags increase your chances of exposure, but if you're using incorrect tags, you'll also face the risk of being flagged. - And that's a bad thing!

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What to write about?

That's basically the best part of Steemit. You can write about whatever you want. If you're looking for ideas, I'd recommend looking at other people's posts. Look at the trending page. Look at the hot page and check what other users are writing about. - It's easy and you'll often get inspiration by doing that.

However, I do recommend that you write about something you know. Something you have experienced or something about yourself. - Don't write about things you don't know anything about. - Be true to yourself and don't try to be someone you're not. - That will not work.

That being said, you can write about things you know nothing about, as long as you write that as a question. - Questions are always appreciated and there's thousands of helpful Steemians all over this place eager to help you. - What I mean by not writing things you don't know anything about, is that you should never try to be someone you're not.

If you've never played football. Don't claim to be a professional football player.

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Expect Nothing.

When you write your post, make sure you don't expect anything from it. Don't think of rewards. The only thing that will happen if you do, and if you end up with poor results, is that you'll feel miserable. - You'll feel sad and you'll lose motivation.

And even if you're lucky enough to receive hundreds or even thousands of dollars in rewards.. - Don't expect to reach the same results on your next post!

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Be Consistent.

Don't write one post and expect the world. Don't write one post and wait for several days or weeks before you publish your next article. - I recommend publishing articles every day. - That's literally the best way to get most exposure, but I will go in to more details about that in an upcoming 101-post in the near future.

I understand that you might lose confidence, motivation and inspiration.. And you'll even lose hope if your hard work leads to a big fat zero.. - But that doesn't matter. It's not you. - It's due to several reasons. - Just keep at it!

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How Many Articles Per Day Is Enough?

I'll shed some light upon this whole "how many articles can I publish?"-thing. The truth is, that some people publish an average of 8 posts per day, meanwhile others have an average of only 2 or 3 articles per week.

• Is there any difference between these authors?

Let's face it, the people posting 8 articles per day, or per 24 hour that is, will obviously reap more rewards and have a much higher chance of getting exposure and rewards compared to these other people who doesn't post the same amount of articles.

I have published an average of 4 or 5 posts per day for a long period of time, but have decreased my average and post about 2 or 3 per 24 hour. However, I've been slacking for a couple of weeks now due to things in my personal life. - I do this due to a handful of different reasons.

First of all, I don't want to rape the rewardpool by posting tons of articles per day, so that's why I've always had a limit. - However, my earnings are extremely low compared to some other established authors, so I know that my earnings would'nt be much of a "rape"... - But, I figured that the earnings I get, is actually something I personally would call "minnow-rewards".

And if I limit the amount of posts I publish, other minnows might be able to reap a little bit more on their articles.

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How Many Articles Per Day Is Enough?

I would say that it depends on what you mean by "enough". - If you're asking how many posts you should publish to yield the best results or if you're asking how many articles others will read before they're getting tired of your posts...

The thing is, that it all depends on your audience.

Also, it might seem a bit unfair to some people, when they see all these established authors who publish 8 posts per day, with earnings of $100+ on all of them... Meanwhile they struggle to publish only 2 posts per day, as they're doing something completely different.

In all honesty...

I'm actually a decent artist so I could probably post about 10 different things per day, if I tried. - However, I haven't shared any art at all.

Instead, I am writing articles that takes me several hours to write. - Which also leads to less published articles per 24 hours.

I could easily create some fancy Steemit logo, or write Steemit in a fancy handwritten font and whatever.. - And publish those multiple times per day to increase my chances for exposure, followers and rewards... - But I like to pave the way for others, so I strive to publish articles that will help others.

And don't take me wrong. - There's nothing wrong about publishing multiple articles per day. - But to me, it could potentially seem a bit greedy at times. Especially when well-known authors are doing this to reap rewards. - It's also pretty easy to spot.

That being said, people see value differently. Some people will love to see 10+ per day from the same author meanwhile others will be tired after reading only 2.

I personally, am also a bit afraid of posting multiple articles per day, as I don't want to lose the support I've managed to get. - I don't want to be seen as someone who's greedy and publish articles for money. - I'm not that person.

I strongly recommend to all of my readers, minnow or dolphin+, to post an average of 2 articles per day. However, I recommend 4 per day, in the beginning, so everyone can find out the best time to publish their articles.

Also, more than 2 articles per day is hard to publish without starting to affect the quality of the articles. - It's obviously different if you publish art. - Your art could be of high quality even if you publish 1 or 15 posts.

The same goes for photographs. When I share photos, I usually share multiple photos in the same post, meanwhile other authors are sharing only 1 or 2.. - And they do this to maximize their chances for exposure and rewards. - Which is obvious but there's nothing wrong with that.

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What To Do?

Like I've already stated, I publish anything between 2 and 4 articles per day. - And I will not publish more than that. At least not regularly.

Whenever I find an established Steemian publishing 6-7-8+ posts per day, I usually ignore to vote on the content and I unfollow these people from time to time, as I can't support reward pool rape. - I can't support greed like that. - I believe it's wrong to take advantage of your support to gain as much rewards as possible by posting as many articles you can per day, and it usually affects the quality of the articles too... - And there's no reason to publish poor quality to reap good rewards.

The sad part is, that these people usually don't see it like this at all.. And they continue to publish their content because they truly love the support they get... - But meanwhile they appreciate their support, they end up hurting others too. And in worst case, they could end up hurting themselves too... - As I'm not the only one seeing this behaviour.

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What Can I Do?

I am a decent artist and I love to play around with Sony Video Vegas, (You might have seen some of my Steemit-intros earlier). And these things is much easier for me to do, than to write full lenght articles of good quality. Especially as I'm not native in English.

So, I could potentially do an experiment.

I could publish, let's say 8 articles per day too... If I publish:

• 3 videos (Sony Video Vegas).
• 3 Steemit-Logos/Designs or whatever. (Art).
• 2 Articles.

That could work... But it could also hurt myself if the support I have today decides to not support me anymore due to this behaviour.. - And I don't want to risk that.

• And that's why I don't to it. - I don't earn much but I am to afraid of losing the support I've got, so I can't risk that by being greedy. Or by showing a greedy-behaviour.

Note that these aren't facts. I don't know if I would lose my support. I could actually get even more support by posting even more... - As I reach out to more people and all that.. And some people might see me as even more dedicated if I share 10 posts per day instead of 2 or 3.

However, I don't feel good enough or secure enough to gamble with the support I have, so I can't allow myself to risk it. - I'd rather stick to my plan and publish few articles and hope, for each article I publish, that the support will still be there.

Sooner or later, I'll have to decide if I should up my game and publish even more things or if I should take this slow approach I do today.. - The question is, when to do it.

Until I decide, I'll stick to 2, 3 or 4 post per 24 hour. It seems fair and it yield decent rewards. - And that won't seem greedy.

We all have different approaches and some will do something entirely different compared to me, and that's okay. You'll need to come up with your own thing. What works best for you, and how much of a risk you're willing to take.

I play it "safe" so to speak. At least for now.

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How To Build Your Audience?

There are many names for this. You can call it build your following, grow your following, build your audience and many things. - It might have many names but it means the exact same thing.

• You want to gain more followers.
• You want to get more eyeballs on your content.

And you want that, because that's how you'll manage to reap more rewards. - It's vital for success on Steemit. You can see the most established users on Steemit having thousands of followers. - That's the reason they reap the rewards they do.

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Followers:

The truth is, that you can build your audience in different ways. - I will name what I do myself and what I recommend others to do.

Never, and I mean NEVER spam people. Not on Discord or in the Steemit Chat.

• Do Not beg for followers!

I guess you've seen hundreds of people doing exactly that.. - But don't be one of them!

Follow for follow and to beg for followers are first of all, disgusting, but it's also more or less totally worthless. - How come so many people are doing it then?

Because they live in denial and they believe that the "Instagram technique" will be sufficient on Steemit too. - And it's wrong!

On Instagram, you can easily get hundreds of followers in a day. In less than a few hours actually. - The same goes for Facebook. - A quick "Follow me and I will follow you!" is enough to get followers... - And it works on Steemit too.

However, it's a bad thing to do on Steemit.

Let me explain why:

First of all, your entire feed page will be filled with content from people you don't really care about. - Because you had to follow them to get them to follow you.

Secondly, if you have a feed page filled with hundreds of new articles, you'll most likely miss the good ones. - Which in the long run, hurts both the author but also you, as you'll miss out on Curator rewards.

Another reason for the "follow for follow" technique being bad, useless or worthless, is because people don't upvote your content. They don't interact with your content or with you. They don't comment your content.. - So why would you like to have them as followers?

Frankly speaking.. Even if they truly want to upvote your content, they'll most likely miss your content among all the other hundreds of articles from the other authors they follow.

Just like you'll most likely miss out on their content.

• That's why it's BAD!

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Promote Your Content.

Just like you can promote your content on Discord and in the Steemit Chat.. You should promote your content outside of Steemit too, if you can.

I won't say that you have to do it, but it will most certainly help you to get more exposure. - However, in the Chat and on Discord, you'll have different channels where you can promote your content. - Don't expect any major results though.

You should obviously promote your content within the channels, but in all honesty, you'll get 2 or 3 upvotes for doing that. - And how can I be certain of that?

First of all, I've been doing that since I first arrived on Steemit. - More than 1 year ago.

Secondly, because all the people within those channels, are doing exactly what you are doing...

• They promote their content because they want upvotes.
  Most people doesn't care about reading a single article in those channels.

And meanwhile you promote your article, you can get lucky and score an upvote or two if you promote your article in the exact right time. - At the time when someone is kind enough to upvote your content before they promote their own.

You'll also see people writing:

@hitmeasap I just upvoted! - Please upvote mine.

And they'll promote their article. - Truth to be told, I've seen this happen HUNDREDS of times. - And even when they say that they've upvoted my content, I can clearly see that they haven't.

Why would I bother to upvote their content if they can't even be honest about upvoting my article?
The sad part is, that even dolphins are doing this. - Just go to https://steemd.com/@yourusername and see for yourself. - Keep track of who you get upvotes from when you promote your content and others claims to have upvoted yours.

• It's the perfect way to see who you can trust.

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How Do I Get Followers Then?

First of all, talk with the people who reads your content. If they leave a comment on your article, make sure to reply! - That's the easiest way to maintain a good relationship and to show that you're serious. - That attracts people.

Secondly, make sure to comment on other people's content too. - As people tend to follow you if they like your content. No matter if it's a reply or your own articles.

Another thing you could do, is to have an image or a text at the bottom of your article. Just as a reminder. "Follow me if you liked this article" or whatever. - A friendly reminder is much more efficient than begging people to follow you.

And you should obviously be consistent. - Make sure to comment and/or publish articles multiple times per day. - Make sure to leave a few comments each day and to publish at least one article per day. If you can.

As long as you show dedication and put in the necessary time and effort, you'll be rewarded.

To build you following or audience takes time. - Don't expect the world for nothing. - You'll have to work hard, but in the end, you'll get some pretty amazing results. - I promise you!

Make friends. - That's a golden rule. You don't have to become best friends with everyone... But you'll have to set your mark. - You need to build your own brand. On Steemit, your brand is obviously your username.

Make sure that people remember you. - Write good quality articles and put in the extra few seconds to write a superb comment on articles you read instead of "thank you's". - Build your brand - Build yourself!

That's how winning is done!

That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody.

• Rocky Balboa.

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How To Interact?

We all know how to type and how to talk. However we don't always do it properly and we often use bad or inappropriate words when we write or discuss things. - In this article, I'll go to the bottom of this, so you don't do things wrong.

As I've already told you how to grow your audience and things like that, I won't go into any details regarding that subject. There's a fine line between being a spammy douchebag and a polite, serious person who wants some attention. Well, there's no line at all actually, but some people like to see it like that, so I'll play along for now.

Let me give you two examples:

Thank you. Please follow me and upvote my content! - www.your-article.url.com

This was a refreshing read. I really love the comparison of "this and that, then that and if and when". I wrote a similar article myself just a few hours/days ago, but I actually missed the part you mentioned about "----------------". I must say that I agree with you to some extent but I truly believe that you could benefit from hearing my perspective. - www.your-article.url.com. - Thank you very much!

I bet you agree that the first alternative is a very bad thing to do.

• *Yet, so many people are doing exactly that!'

When you decide to talk with others.

Make sure that you set aside enough time to do it properly. - If you respond to something with an half-assed reply, you'll miss out on chances of both rewards but also followers. - Which is why this goes hand in hand with my other two Steemit 101's I've already published.

I've seen replies with hundreds of dollars in rewards, meanwhile the article had a fraction of that. - And why is that? - Because these people know how to write.

You don't have to be polite in every single comment you write. You can and should respond to something even if you strongly disagree with the content. - However, don't do it by saying stupid things like: "Go to hell! - Your article sucks, that's wrong blah blah blah"

What you should do, is to point out the reason for you to not agree with the author. Highlight some of his errors or some of the flaws in his articles or ideas. - Interact, in a professional way, without being super polite. - By doing that, you'll start a debate. - And how cool would it be to start a discussion with an author on his article, instead of your own? - That's what your end game is here.

You spread your word across multiple authors content and get exposure while you're doing that. - Even without links to your own content.

Also, you don't always have to thank people for their articles. - Especially not by simply saying "Thank you!". - That's boring and honestly speaking, people are getting tired of such comments.

Agree to disagree. - There's nothing wrong with that, and truth to be told, other people who's reading your replies might actually agree with you and not the author of the article, so based on your replies, they might follow you. - Or both of you.

• Either way, it's a win for you.

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Encourage people!

Use your words to encourage, motivate and inspire others. Not by boring replies like: "Thank you.", "Well done." or "Great article!". - Tell them why you liked their articles or why you didn't. Tell them why you loved to read their articles but also why you didn't upvote it for instance. You can even got that extra mile and give them feedback right away. - Tell them what they should think about in the future. Be honest about their work. - Explain what they should've focused on and things like that. - That will not only give you great exposure it will also help the entire community to grow.

You can always add more to your reply than just a simple "Thank you!".

Last but not least..

• Use the different channels to interact with people.

We have discord and we have the steem chat. - Don't just use these channels to promote your articles. Use them to discuss things. To interact with people and to make friends. - That should be your priority while you're there. Not to promote your own articles.

Read, learn and implement the things I've mentioned in this collection so far, and use them as your own shortcut to success on Steemit. - I've often said that there are no shortcuts but in all honesty, this 101 collection is pretty close. - At least, this should be a huge help on your way.

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Payment Options. Power Up 100% or Default 50/50?

STEEM or SBD Rewards.

• What will benefit you the most?

This last step is very easy, short and straight to the point!

The best choice is based upon the current values.

You can check the current values here: https://coinmarketcap.com/

And you could obviously use this too: http://www.steemdollar.com/

• At the top right, just use the search field and enter "Steem" or "Steem Dollars".

As you can see, STEEM is higher than Steem Dollars right now, which means it's worth more. If these numbers were to be consistent and if STEEM was valued more than Steem Dollars for several days, your best option would be: STEEM!

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How To Change The Payout Option?

When you're ready to publish your post, you'll see this in the bottom right:

Make sure to change to "POWER UP 100%" if you want STEEM POWER or use the standard "Default 50/50". - Also note, that the option you use when you publish a post, will be auto-enabled when you're about to publish your next article, so make sure to change it back in case the prices have changed.

If you use the "Power Up 100%" option your post will have a "Steemit" icon next to it, like this:

One last thing.

Make sure to read this post.

PSA: Don't Select 100% SP Rewards!.

With that being said, if the values were the opposite. If SBD were worth more than STEEM, the best choice would obviously be to use the "Default 50/50" option and then buy STEEM using your SBD on the internal market, if you're looking to build up your STEEM POWER.

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That's all folks!