Hello Steem World,

After I read a post in German by Hive account@jedigeiss and some discussions on steemit.chat or discord, I was thinking to start posting regularly(not weekly, maybe every 2 weeks) tips for minnows that have heard about Steemit and newly joined the platform. I promised a minnow that I write him tips after I told him I don't give upvotes on request.

I think the tips will be much more valuable in the end than some votes from my side.

So, here you are on Steemit, lost, seeing the trending tab with hundreds of dollars in potential rewards. I will put it shortly, ignore the trending tab, never watch it as a minnow. Most posts are over evaluated and are voted for curation rewards. Yes, you can make it also there, but it takes time and patience. Remember this, patience is a virtue which most of us don't have, but there is hope as it can be trained. I also had to learn it, as I'm not a very patient person and which likes to have results now. One of the Steemians I like in here, told me: babysteps win the race

Try to interact with others and write comments on the post you like, it does not matter if it is the post from a whale or not. If you look at it, all are minnows in the end with the potential to become a whale, the only difference that it is between becoming a whale and staying a minnow is the choice you make. If you start spamming with mindless comments you will definitely not become a whale and if you are unlucky you might receive some flags which diminish your reputation and your rewards.

Another really good tip is to post original content, don't copy pictures from the internet and tell us that this is yours. It is not a good idea, why? Mostly you will get flagged. People like to see original content as they want to build a relationship with you, your account and what you post. It needs the personal touch. Nobody cares about things copied from Wikipedia. You might share the WindowsXP image background, it has the same result.

You should post every time a picture and also write more than 200 words next to it. 200 words shall be the least decent amount of your posts if you are not using zappl or some challenge without words. Also, pay attention to the format of your posts, make them readable. It is very painful to read a post with a lot of grammar errors, without a structure and as a whole block. Might start using hackmd.io to prepare them and get a better feeling on the markdown code.

List of tips summarised:

• ignore the trending tab
• have patience
• interact
• comment, but don't spam
• post original content and try to make it entertaining or educative
• make it from your personal view
• pay attention to style, errors
• use the markdown code

I also started mentoring minnows on the private chat, at least with some guidance to get a grip on the platform. I have at the moment 3 accounts whom I'm directly helping due to the limited time. If one minnow will get it, I will be happy.

By the way, if I see a comment like: great post, good content, follow me for great... or some link to check on I will add you to this miracle site: https://steemcleaners.org/abuse-report/