My ultimate Steemit guide!

Introduction

A friend of mine asked me some info about Steemit and how she should get started. I told her I have a lot of posts wich would help her get started but then I realized it would be a lot better if all these posts were combined in one big post. That's what this post is about, I want you guys to use your browser's search function to find the info you need!

What is Steemit
What is a cryptocurrency
Should you invest in cryptocurrencies
What should you post on Steemit
How do you upload a picture to Steemit
That number behind everyone's name
What is Steempower

1. What is Steemit

That's the first answer I'm going to answer. Why? Because this is the first information you will need when you join Steemit!
Steemit is a social network that rewards you for posting good content. If you frequently post good content then you will be awarded with Steem dollars. That is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Its value changes all the time so you will have to monitor the rates and sell at the best moment!

2. What is a cryptocurrency

What is a cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency is basically the same as the currency you use everyday... Money! Let's use our imagination here. The dollars are Bitcoins, euros are Ethers and pounds are Steem dollars. Sometimes you read that the dollar has crashed. That happens on the market! if there is to much money then the "price" of it lowers, if there is not enough money then the "price" goes up! This is exactly the same with cryptocurrencies, if there are too much bitcoins then the price lowers or vice versa. These pricedrops happen when the price is really high and everyone is selling bitcoins to make as much money as possible. suddenly there are to much bitcoins, to much to be sold! The prices go down and everyone starts buying Bitcoins again. That way the circle is complete because if everyone buys Bitcoins then there are less and if there are less... Well you can guess what happens next ;)

Where do cryptocurrencies come from?

This is possibly the biggest questions you have: Where do these "coins" come from? Well let's go back to real money. This is printed by your national bank, they decide how much money is printed. The amount of Bitcoins isn't decided by some company or human. They are made by mining! An algorythm decides how difficult this mining is and how much coins you get from it.

Bitcoins are created from bitcoin mining (adding transactions to a public ledger). An algorithm controls mining difficulty and total coin creation (21 million). Because coins are created and distributed via a controlled algorithm (as opposed to a central bank), the bitcoin system avoids inflation of the currency and ensures as steady flow of new coins.

Read this article for more information!

Where do you buy these cryptocurrencies?

Cryptocurrencies are sold by brokers. Brokers are people or companys who buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Most of the time they buy the currency for less than what they sell it for. That's because they want to make profit as well. You also have to pay a fee on your transaction! So watch out, just make sure you buy and sell on the right time.

3. Should you invest in cryptocurrencies

If you check the huge inflation investing in a cryptocurrency seems like a good idea, but is it really an easy way to get rich? You've probably heard of this really expensive one, Bitcoin I believe it's called. Well, at this moment Bitcoin isn't a great investment. Bitcoin is reaching all time heights. So that means there is a big risk at this moment because nobody knows if it will crash or continue growing. The best moment to buy cryptocurrencies is right after they have crashed... Seems weird? Well it isn't because if the value has dropped than there is a bigger chance of it going back up then it going down even more!
You should always watch the rates of the currency you want to invest in. I would do that at least a month before you are going to buy them. That way you know what the average price is. If the price is below average then you can "safely" buy some of it. Yup, that safely isn't always true. Nobody can predict the rates of a coin. If you don't have any experience I would buy just a small amount or just a cheap currency.

“Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”

This quote is from Warren Buffett, once of the richest (or maybe even the richest) investors on this planet! What it means is that if you plan ahead and have some idea what you're doing then you can eliminate 99% of the risk!
Investing could be your way to succes but always know that you're taking a big risk if you invest a lot of your money!
Never use money you will ever need to invest. Always use some of your savings, that way if you lose it you'll not lose an important part of your income!
Good luck if you are investing your money right now! I hope you earn a lot of it! :)

4. What should you post on Steemit

Well I can't guarantee you that you will make a lot of money. If you want to know what topics are hot at the moment then you should check out the hot page! What you can do here is look at all the posts that are popular at this moment. If you like at the categories you will spot that: Bitcoin, Steem and cryptocurrency are really hot topics right now. Probably because cryptocurrency's prices are currently growing really quick. Sometimes you will spot some other popular topics like: photography, writing or travel! Those Are the topics that people really want to read. Make sure you use those statistics and post about those topics!

What are the popular topics?

Bitcoin
Steem
cryptocurrency
travel
photography
economy
And a lot more!

I don't know anything about those topics?

Hey, no problem. every topic on steemit is popular. Just go to your feed! On the right hand side you see all the tags on Steemit. In that list you will definitely find something that you are interested in!

I post in those topics but don't get popular posts!

Well, posting in these tags doesn't mean your posts will get trending! Well what you maybe do wrong is not using the correct tag. Don't post pictures in Cryptocurrency! You will not atract the right people. Post good content in the right tag and your posts will get a lot more upvotes.

5. How do you upload a picture to Steemit

Although it's on the Steemit FAQ page , some people still appear to don't know how to change their profile picture and banner. Well hopefully this post will learn you how to do this!
First you will have to upload your pictures to a upload website, I really like postimages, it's a really cool upload website since you don't have to create and account and your uploads will never get deleted. Once you have uploaded your picture you can copy the 'direct link' and paste it in one of the many picture boxes that you can find on the website!

You have the profile picture and banner at your settings page or in the picture box when you are making a post.

Why you should upload a profile picture and banner!

Having a profile picture and banner makes your profile look way more attractive! People will be more interested if you have a great looking profile! So make sure you use a picture of the right size when you upload a cover image! If you use one of the correct size then you will have the full quality and no blurred background!

6. That number behind everyone's name

Well, you have probably seen it already that number behind everyone's name... Some have a high number (like 39 ;) ) and others got a lower one(like ahm let's take 7, I like 7 you know). This number is the rating that every Steemit user has! As you can see mine at this moment is 39. I think I'm doing quitte well since I have only started a week ago.
Everyone starts at 25, no matter who you are you started on 25. If you are a nice person who upvotes, recieves upvotes, comments and posts good content that doesn't get downvoted, then that number will go up. Have you seen those people with a 60 behind their name? That means that they are nice, trustworthy people who have been around some time. On the other side of the spectrum you have got the people with a number below 25. These are people that aren't that nice probably. Their posts get flagged a lot and they aren't nice to be around. They also don't post that frequent and when they post it's probably bad content. No problem if you have a low or high number because the nicer you are the faster your number will rise. Maybe I can teach you some lessons in being nice ;) If you want to get more followers then you better be nice to everyone! Nice people attract nice people you know...

7. What is Steempower

You have probably already checked the wallet section on your blog. You have seen Steem, Steempower and Steem dollars. In this post I will be explaining what Steempower, or in short SP is!Steempower is also a cryptocurrency wich you can buy and sell, but before you start converting your SP to Steem, Steem advises to keep your SP above 5! Your account may get unstable if you convert more. Well if you have just started out then you have not that much SP. No problem you'll survive!

Steempower is a measurement of how much influence a user has in the Steem network. The more Steempower a user holds, the more they can influence the value of posts and comments. Steempower is less liquid. If a user wishes to “Power Down” SP, they will receive equal distributions of the STEEM weekly, over a 13 week period.

The section above is from the Steemit FAQ page. That is an awesome page that you should check out if you are just starting out! As you have just read. The more SP you have the more you can influence the value of posts. If you have a lot of SP your votes and comments are worth more! So before you start powering down consider the value of your Steempower!

You are free to copy this but place don't steal, give me the credit I deserve!

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My ultimate Steemit/cryptocurrency guide!