I'm closing in on a year on Steemit in a week or so and I wanted to share my experience with new people and minnows. I began this journey after watching a video on High Impact Flix (I encourage you to check them out either on YouTube or here on Steemit at 
Last November, when I began, the price of Steem was way down- not that it mattered... I had no idea what cryptocurrency was anyway- although I had heard of Bitcoin. To me it was just play money, like you use in Monopoly. I wrote article after article, spending hours at my computer. About a month or so in I figured I was making about 15 cents an hour... Not much, but it was imaginary money anyways and it was 15 cents more than I was making on Blogspot.
Then a miracle happened, I made $5.00 for one post. Little by little, my account began to grow- by April it hit $500! All along I saw posts from people that were in trouble of one sort or another and needed money- so I gave. Out of my first $200, I probably gave half of it away... One group, for example, fed the homeless and needed a new refrigerator- so I sent half of what I had... It wasn't like real money. I still help- there are several worthy people on Steemit that need help and I give what I can. This is something that I can't stress enough- Steemit is more than just a social media platform, it's a community... or perhaps I should say that there's a community within Steemit. My advice is become part of it- if you're on here only for yourself, you'll miss out on an incredible experience, you're only cheating yourself.
One day I wrote a post called Smedley D. Butler: The Man That Saved America- I made $25.00- I had arrived. It had taken 5 or 6 months, but things were looking up. It's easy to become discouraged- I know, believe me, I still get discouraged... It tells me I'm not working hard enough. But, if you work hard and have patience, you too can succeed. The problem is everybody wants instant gratification- the "quick buck." If you're one of those, save yourself some time and effort and go back to Fakebook- there's nothing here but disappointment. I see too many people on here begging for upvotes and followers- that's the wrong way to get ahead. If you consistently create content with at least a modicum of quality, the followers will come. When I began I posted 4 or 5 times a day.
Now after nearly a year I have over 1880 followers- I don't put a lot of stock in that- followers come and go. What I do put stock in is the reputation number and I'm finally closing in on 70. Now I'm able to pay my rent ($400 a month), feed myself and my dog and have a buck or two in my pocket... I started with nothing. I'm not saying any of this to blow my own horn, only to give new people hope. I'm not that good of a writer yet, but I'm able to make a living. You can do it too... but only if you're willing to work hard for it.
