So, you're new to Steemit, and tired of seeing that one penny jump in payout when you vote 100%? Yeah, I get it. But, never fear, there are ways to start your journey to Whaledom, and you've got everything you need right now, because you're reading this. Here's what you need to increase your voting power and start making a bigger splash on the steemit boards. 

![](https://i.imgur.com/DTIug8y.jpg) 
*image selected for attention purposes only it has no meaning!*

1. A computer, or tablet, or smart phone, or whatever other internet capable device I'm unaware of. 
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![](https://i.imgur.com/yooOX6t.jpg)

As I said, not a problem, you've already got it, or we wouldn't be having this discussion. Whatever you are used to will work. I use a laptop and my smartphone for following and replying to comments, etc, while I'm out and about. 

2. A Steemit account. This is easy. If you're not a member already, go to the top and find the sign up button. 
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![](https://i.imgur.com/pWJ9s22.jpg)

You'll need to provide the same kind of basic information you provide for many online platforms. You should be prepared to wait. Last person I heard from, said it took 4 days to get approved. While you're waiting, you can probably get a start on some of the rest of this!

3. An idea for a steemit post! 
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![](https://i.imgur.com/ZczjKYz.jpg)

I know, for some of you, that's like saying, here, poop a gold brick  in this hat! You're terrified. You don't think of yourselves as creative, you just came here cause your weird crypto crazed neighbor got a new TV with steem and you thought you could use a new washing machine. (that's gonna cost you, THANKS TRUMP!)

The good news is, it can really be just about anything you can digitize here are a few things that steemians get good payouts on all the time

- News or informational articles. Current events, blockchain and crypto are popular topics
- Photography is one of the largest and most rewarded categories on steemit, give it a shot!
- Video, we even have our own video site, Dtube, you can log into it using your steemit account and start uploading right away!
- Fictional stories, short or serialized. (this is my favorite)
- Poetry, of any type. 
- Songs and other audio, such as podcasts can be shared as well!

**Now you're ready to get started!**

Most regular steemers use some sort of word processing, or writing app to build their post, before bringing it onto the steemit platform, but you don't have to. Just click on "post" and an editor, with a few features pops down. If you know HTML markdown, you're golden, if not, go get MarkDownPad2 to edit your post and add some formatting, like **bold text**, *italics*, bulleted lists and more. 

![](https://i.imgur.com/RXLaXpW.jpg)

**Take your time with this post, it's going to be your first impression!**

Carefully craft your post. Make it lively and entertaining. Add images if it's a text post, add captions if you are sharing photos or video. Take the time to edit your grammar and check it for mistakes before you publish. 

Be sure that you use your best image as the first image in the post, since this will become your preview image. Choose something the represents your post and garners attention, or at least sticks out like a sore thumb. 

**Time for a little homework**

Unless you want to have more than one Steemit window open at a time, or you already know where you're going to publish this little gem for the best attention, you'll want to research the available categories. 

![](https://i.imgur.com/pCndDMt.jpg)

To do this, go up in the top right of your Steemit dashboard and select the four little horizontal bars. Select "Explore" from the drop down menu and you'll be dropped into the list of categories. Here you can see how many posts each category has, from the beginning of Steem, and how much they've paid out, as well as how many comments the posts in that category have gotten. 

Here's my theory. Shoot for the category that fits your work that has the most comments, with the fewest published posts. You'll be facing the least amount of competition. Make this your first "tag" (I'll explain what to do with that later) you can choose up to four others, or add your own tag using words you think users might search to find your content. 

**Now it's time to publish!**

If you're using MarkdownPad2, simply click into the document, select control/a to select all text, then control/c to copy it. Open the "post" tool and click into it. No, select control/v to paste your edited post into the publishing tool. 

This view is a bit wonky at first, so scroll down. You'll find a visual preview panel right under the editor. If you've done your editing correctly, it should be perfect, but at least the first few times, give it a quick once over to make sure you didn't make any rookie mistakes. (trust  me, I make them all the time, what's my excuse?)

**Now you need a headline!**

This may be the most important part of this entire endeavor. The right headline can draw an audience for the lousiest of posts, while a ho hum headline will get a few curious peeks, but probably won't go viral, which is what we're hoping for, right? 

You'll add your headline in the "title" bar at the top of the editor. Now you're almost ready to hit publish. 

**Add your tags**

You'll see a dialog bar at the bottom of the editor. It says "Tag(up to 5 tags) the first tag becomes your main category" Type or copy paste, your tags here. Do not add hashtag, commas, or capitol letters. If you do, it will not allow you to post. If you've used a hashtag in the body of your post, it will count as one of your tags. 

**Now, you've got two choices to make**

To the right, at the very bottom, there are two options. One says "rewards" and gives you the option to choose: Default 50/50 so that half your authorship rewards will be in SBD, and half in Steem power; 100% power up, so that all of your reward will go into your steem power directly; or, decline payout, which will eliminate the payout for this one post, this one time. 

***Here is my recommendation. In the current state of things, SBD is worth more than Steem, so even if you want to power up, collect 50/50 and sell your SBD for Steem***

**Finally, to upvote, or not to upvote?**

That is the question. If you're new, and you didn't drop a fat wad on steem power to get in the door, it won't really benefit you much to add your vote. It may give you one penny more, but that vote might be more valuably used to win friends and influence steem users. 

I typically do upvote my own posts. Yes, I'm a greedy bastard, but I give away everything I learn here and help whoever I can, so I feel I earn what I get. 

**One more thing**

There is a bot called @originalworks that checks works tagged with this @ mention. If you add it to a comment once your post is published, you may get a small upvote and some credibility for having original material. If you're copy/pasting, or sharing someone else's work (even legitimately) don't use this as it will find you're work is not original, which looks bad on Steemit. 

Before you move on, take a look at your post. Select the "blog" button from the top navigation bar. It will take you to your personal blog where your latest post will be on the top. Scroll through to double check for mistakes, and use the "edit" button at the bottom of the post to make corrections, add that comment for @originalworks, and consider using the social media share buttons on the lower right to broadcast your post to your audiences on Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. 

**A word about Introduction posts!**

You may have noticed already, there is a special category for introduction posts. This does not have to be, and maybe shouldn't be, your first place to post. Here's why. 

- You don't know the platform well yet. Unless you've studied some successful intros and feel good about trying it, you can wait. 
- You don't have any followers yet, if you publish a little more content, you'll gain some, they'll be watching for your intro post and more likely to support you. 
- You want your intro post to be your best work, and unless you produce content regularly, a little warm up may be your best bet. 

**So, what about that voting power?**

Well, once your post is up and you've gotten a few votes, hopefully, after seven days, you'll get your reward. Once your post has paid out, go to the "wallet" button in the top navigation bar, and collect your reward. My advice to for beginners, with the price of SBD, is to convert it into steem power right away on the Steemit market place. I'll share how to do that in another post.