I wrote a little guide for new users that I like to share:

Welcome to Steemit! It's got a steep learning curve, but it's worth it in the long run if you keep putting in the time! Just know that it will take quite a while before you start getting attention and followers. The secret to success? Keep posting high quality content regularly, and make sure to search out other people's posts, read them, and give relevant comments.

Tagging is extremely important. Always make sure to use all five possible tags, and to keep them relevant. You can always just tag something "blog" or "photography" or something else really general (so long as it's still relevant) to fill the quota if you need to- most of your tags should be established ones, though one or two less used ones are fine.

Posting more than four times a day can reduce your potential rewards, as well as turning off potential users. (I aim for one post per day most of the time.) Consistency is important, though, so you should try to post often.

Always make sure to attach a photo to your posts! You should also have a finished profile: Write a description, add a profile picture and a banner- neither needs to be of you, necessarily, but you should have something- and set a website.

There are a lot of really good resources out there for minnows (new users). You should check out the following groups and services, they offer a lot of valuable resources to new users:

Hive account@thesteemengine (Check this one out first- they're an extremely supportive group.)
Hive account@qurator (These guys offer an excellent liftime upvote to accounts that post consistent quality content.)
Hive account@originalworks (Whenever you write an original post, tag this account- they'll verify it's original and upvote you.)
Hive account@steembasicincome (Another lifetime upvote option.)
Hive account@steemstem (The biggest and best STEM curation group in the game. If you're interested in writing or reading about science, check these guys out!)
Hive account@geopolis (A fairly new science curation group, this one's dedicated to the study of the Earth.)

And, again, the biggest thing is just patience. Breakout successes are incredibly rare on Steemit- you've got to find your way there through perseverance and hard work. It takes time, but you'll eventually succeed if you put in the work.

Please feel free to repost this guide on the posts of other minnows you run into!