So you’ve got your shiny new Steemit account and you’re wondering how you’re going to make millions?
Slow down, turbo. Steemit is a lot like life: If you want the reward, you’re going to have to add value.
There’s a common saying in computer-land, “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” It’s abbreviated GIGO, and it means if you put in bad code (or any bad “input”) you’ll get a bad result.
If you don’t want garbage out on Steemit or anywhere, you’ll need to do the opposite of that:
Amazing Quality In, Fantastic Experience Out.
Yes, you can use #AQIFEO and it’s a hashtag I’m proud of.
Let me say that another way, and this is absolutely the MOST important piece of advice you’ll need to follow if you want to pay for your dream life with Steem:
The Steemit Prime Directive: Add value with every single interaction.
This idea of adding value rings true with lots of Steemians, from 
Ok, let’s dive in to what the Prime Directive means. I’ll start at the end, with the word “interaction.”
The Interactions
You can basically do 3 things in Steemit.
First, you can “Create”. That means you create original content, whether it’s a video, blog post, poem, photo, whatever.
Second, you can “Curate”. That means you go out and find the very best Creations, upvote and comment on them.
Third, you can “Comment.”
So: Create – Curate – Comment.
Those are (as far as I can tell), the order in which they’re valued, and that seems fair to me and a reflection of life in general.
How To Best Use The Interactions
Now you know what they are, let’s talk about the best way to do each. There is definitely a “right” way to do each one, or at the very least, guidelines on best practices.
If you’re going to Create:
First, ask yourself the Prime Question: Am I adding value?
If you’re not adding value you’re wasting your own most precious asset: Time.
Ok, I’ll assume you’re adding value, like 
Just like in Real Life, not only must you create value, you have to deliver it well. Think of this as turbo charging a fast car. Sure, it’s fast, but without the turbo it ain’t winning any races.
How do you turbo-charge your post? In 2 different ways:
First, make sure every post has either an image or a video. Why? I’ll say this the nice way: People in general are much more responsive to images than they are to words.
Make sure your image or video is NOT distracting and that it supports the post. Random enticing images, jerky GIFs, images of the Steem logo are all distracting, they’re not adding value. Refer to the Steemit Prime Directive:
The Steemit Prime Directive: Add value with every single interaction.
Second, make sure you call out people who will enjoy the post. Don’t just type in their username and think they’ll rush to gush (over your post), make sure you note HOW they helped you, WHO they are, WHAT they contributed to you, WHY you think they’re so helpful, WHEN they helped, or WHERE they come from, if that’s appropriate.
As an example, I was talking about this post with 
Yep, that means you’ll have to do some work and research. Trust me, it’s worth it to be curious about the world.
Ok, so that’s Creation. What about Curation?
This is where you put TONS of research in up front, find the very best of Steemit, and bring it to the attention of others.
Where do you start? Ask yourself: Does this post add EXCEPTIONAL value? Yes, it needs to be exceptional. Why?
Because Curation is a step down power-wise from Creation, you have to do more than just repost every half-decent article you read. If you want to reap the rewards, you’ve got to do the work. You can either do it up front with Creation, or after the fact, with Curation.
If you’re going to Curate, you’ll need to also Comment on each one of those posts. You could just Resteem posts, but you’ll get far more out of it if you first Comment (use the How/Who/What/etc formula for commenting) before you Resteem.
Ok, you’re not a Creator or a Curator. What do you do?
To be honest, you should at least Curate.
Let’s assume that for whatever reason, you’re not much of either. Ok, you’re going to have to make your Comments WORLD-CLASS. How do you do that?
How to Comment Like a Champion:
First, thoroughly read the post you’re going to comment on. Read it twice. Now read it again.
Make at least 2 notes about it.
First, what was the single most important point in that post? What struck you? Did you read anything that changed the way you think?
Start by mentioning that. If you can talk about your FEELINGS, that’ll usually go the furthest. Humans are emotional creatures first, and rational second. Yep, even engineers. If you lead with how you feel, you’re more likely to follow the prime directive, which is:
The Steemit Prime Directive: Add value with every single interaction.
Second, research the account. What is that person into? What do they like? What else have they written? Read at least 2 of their other posts, and reference at least one of them that is related, in some way, to the post you’re commenting on.
Show them that you’re commenting on their post because it moved you or made your life so much better that you took the time to dive deeper into their thought space.
Yes, that’s even more work than Curating or Creating. That’s just the way the ball bounces. If you want to come out on top, you’re going to have to put in the work.
That’s also the beauty of Steemit. You don’t have to be a world class Creator or Curator, you can just be that person who is willing to grind.
Ok, that’s how to use Steemit to support your dream life. Wait, you want the bigger concept? You want a framework in which to hang these ideas? Let’s do it (it’ll be easy.)
Steemit is a network, just like Facebook. The Facebook network is built BY the users, but the benefits of the network are FOR shareholders of Facebook, who aren’t necessarily the users.
The Steemit network is built BY the users, just like Facebook, but unlike Facebook (or Instagram, or Twitter) the financial benefits of the network are FOR the users.
If you want to extract big value out of the network you help build, you have to inject significant value. The beauty of a network is that it’s a multiplier of value. Exhibit A: Mark Zuckerberg.
Remember GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out)? Yep, if you put trash in (crappy Creations, or sloppy Curation, or lazy Comments), you’ll get almost nothing in return.
If you put in value (Amazing Quality In, Fantastic Experience Out, #AQIFEO), you will multiply the value you get out.
Ok, there’s just one caveat to all this:
Not every piece of value you put in will instantly go viral and be worth thousands of Steem. In fact, in the beginning, you should expect that 1 out of 10 interactions (and they should ALL be amazing, requiring the full power of your soul to deliver) will actually return value.
It can be frustrating. Don’t whine about the frustration. Do something about it. Create or Curate or Comment again in amazing way. Do it again, and again, and again.
Keep producing Amazing until the world notices.
Trust me, when the world wakes up and realizes just how awesome you are, every single thing you ever wanted will be delivered to your door. You’ve just got to keep producing the best you can until that happens.
Ok my new fellow Steemians, take some time to decide how you’re going to help make Steemit awesome, then get to work!
Ping me on your posts anytime you want, I’m happy to jump in and Create, Curate, or Comment on the best of what I see.
To an amazing life for all of us!
Cheers,
Nik at Paleo Treats