It's normal to experience zero or close to zero payouts when you're super new on Steemit. All of us have been there but we keep trying to work our way up for more consistent payouts. Pretty sure we're all here because we heard we could earn Steem, and some of us actually use Steem for our day to day expenses.
When you first arrived you probably saw the trending page conveniently left there and you're like "holy shit" but after getting $0.09 for your first payout, you feel like giving up. Or maybe you've gotten a huge $100 upvote on your introduction post by 
Source: Giphy
Your payout (unless you're a whale) depends on the people around you. Their Steem Power directly influences your payout if they vote on your content. That is also why people tend to cling around whales so often. That doesn't mean you should neglect anyone who's not a whale. Good networking is vital to success on a DPOS platform.
Here are some ways to not get a zero payout.
1. Make more friends
As mentioned earlier, you should make more friends on this platform. Don't just stick to your community. Branch out and network with people from other continent as well. Even if they are minnows or at most dolphins, it doesn't matter. If they love your content, they'll still give you an upvote and it can be worth a lot in big volumes. I've been lucky enough to be getting automatic votes from some of my friends.
Many of those on the list are automatic votes (i'm guessing they use SteemAuto for it). Thanks so much for the autovoting (or manual)! This means i don't end up with zero for every post for now.
Some of the people you meet may be minnows now, but who knows what will happen in the future? Case in point: 
I'm counting on 
Payouts aside, you may actually make a lot of real-life friends that you can count on! That's the community aspect of Steemit that is awesome, apart from the rewards.
You can make friends by:
- Commenting on posts by other users
- Start chatting on Steemit.chat
- Find groups on Discord and communicate with others
- Post quality content that facilitates healthy discussions
2. Join initiatives
There are many initiatives on Steemit that will actually help you on this platform. For e.g. i joined 
After 
On a side note, i gotta thank 
The point is you should join some initiatives or communities. It benefits both you and others.
3. We all want the Ds and Z and E
Source: Giphy
With all the recent delegations from 
@eSteem - mobile version of Steemit by
Most of these platforms do take a certain percentage of your payout as beneficiary rewards so do take note. It's also a hit and miss. Some users may be luckier to have constant support from some of the platforms, but that doesn't mean you won't get "hit" by a vote. Just keep trying to create original stuff and you may be lucky enough to get voted upon.
This means you don't actually have to blog on the Steem blockchain to earn. You can do videos, music, streaming or other ways that suit your method of creating content.
4. Voting bots?
Source: Giphy
This has always been a controversial topic. Should you use a voting bot to boost your post?
I would think that if it's awesome high quality original content, then you can use them to gain more visibility (before a certain number of days). But i guess i can't comment on them since i use them to boost my
5. Write quality content
Source: Giphy
I think this is one of the most common advice on this platform. Write quality content and you may be discovered by curation guilds (
But do note that this platform is based on proof of stake, and not proof of effort, which is the reason why a meme can earn more than a 5-hour written post. That's the harsh truth. You don't always get rewarded for your effort, but you should get rewarded in the long run. Hopefully.
6. [Bonus] Buy a shitload of Steem Power
7. [Obvious tip] Check if you've declined your payout, because if you did...
In a nutshell
If you're hardworking enough to network, make friends and try out different platforms, you shouldn't be getting zero or close to zero payouts. Don't just post and leave it there. Make more friends or acquaintances! It takes time as well.
I appreciate all upvotes, resteems and follows.
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