6. Introducing Yourself: Your First Steemit Blog Post!

# 6. Introducing Yourself: Your First Steemit Blog Post! It's been a long five lessons, but we're finally here! The part of the Beginner's guide where you get to put a foot forward into the Steemit ecosystem that we've been discussing and get started interacting with others! In this lesson, you'll learn: * Why introducing yourself is important * What to include in your introduction post * How to title and tag your intro post * Basic formatting for your intro post (headings, emphasis, and images) * How to respond to comments on your intro post (good, bad, and spam) Introduction posts are a staple of Steemit. Just like any other social media website, your Steemit profile is associated with an identity. On Facebook, that identity is expressed through photos, personal information such as jobs, locations, and photos. On Steemit, you identify yourself through an introduction post! Introduction posts are simple. It's your chance to tell everyone on Steemit about you. You can include as much detail as you like. Tell everyone about where you're from, what you like to do, and what you hope to accomplish on Steemit! Do your best to communicate these aspects as clearly as possible. Grab some photos from trips you've taken or hobbies you have. Share a video of your music or provide a sample of your poetry! Whatever defines you as an individual, get it all out there in your first post! It doesn't have to be long, and it doesn't have to be perfect. It will give you a great place to reference people to if they want to know more about you as a person and a Steemian. I thought about providing a template for an intro post, but I think that will limit your creativity. So if you need ideas for what to include, here's a list to get you started: * How did you find out about Steemit? If a specific user referred you, mention them! * Where are you from? Share photos from areas nearby. * What do you think of Steemit so far? * What are your unique hobbies, interests, or passions that you might enjoy blogging about? * What do you hope to learn from your time on Steemit? You're certainly not limited to answering just these questions. Be creative! Not all introduction posts are created equally. For example, take a look at how diverse these introduction posts are, and use them for inspiration! Example Introduction Posts: * Here's mine: ethandsmith- [First post. Time for an introduction.](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@ethandsmith/first-post-time-for-an-introduction) * bafi- [[EN INTRO] Buongiorno Steemit :D - Google and Tom's Hardware introduced me!](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@bafi/buongiorno-steemit-d-google-and-tom-s-hardware-introduced-me) * awakentolife- [Introducing myself to Steemit.](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@awakentolife/introducing-myself-to-steemit) For many other examples, check out the Steemit account @thefreshfive, a curation project run by @mikepm74, where he highlights great intro posts from across the platform each week. There are countless great examples of intro posts here! Keep in mind that you have an advantage right now since you've read this article and understand the Steemit basics. My intro post, as seen above, does leave much to be desired. However, I did not have this resource at the beginning like you do, so I just decided to keep it simple. You could also keep it simple, but including more information will mean more engagements from others right after you join. It also makes your account look more trustworthy. # Verification, Identities, and Anonymity As with any online account, it's always good to know who exactly you are interacting with. On Steemit, this isn't any different, so the community encourages new users to verify their identities through one of several different methods. If you have an account on another social media website like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, you could share a link to your Steemit intro post to confirm that you are the same person. Even easier, though, is the route I took in my intro post, which is to just snap a picture of yourself with a handwritten note featuring your Steemit name and the date. It's simple, but it lets the community know that you are indeed who you say you are, which can lead to more genuine interactions and trustworthy relationships. If you wish to remain anonymous, there's nothing wrong with that either. There are many Steemians who operate anonymously without having shared photos of themselves. If you decide to remain anonymous, you can be just as valuable to the Steemit community by sharing quality content. Verification of some sort will most likely increase your engagement on posts, so consider including alternate forms of verification like handwritten notes. There are several groups on Steemit dedicated to helping users get verified to avoid issues such as plagiarism and impersonations. This is especially true as high-profile content creators migrate to the platform. We will discuss many of these type of accounts later, but for now, I wanted to mention that one in particular, @steemcleaners, has a guide on how to verify your account if you are already a content creator on another website in order to avoid plagiarism accusations or downvotes. For more information, see [their guide on requesting verification.](https://steemit.com/steemcleaners/@steemcleaners/identity-and-content-verification-guide-when-to-ask-and-when-not-to) # Ready, Set, Go! That's it! You're ready to type up an introduction post. Gather your thoughts and get started. Login to Steemit, and you'll see a button in the top left that says "Post". ## Titling Your Post Click the button, and you'll be taken to the compose window. First, you'll need to come up with a title. It can be as simple as "Introducing Myself to Steemit," but I encourage you to use a personal tidbit in the title- something that will be intriguing to someone reading through many other posts. Type your title into the title field and proceed to the body of the post. ## Formatting Your Post Here's where Markdown will come in handy. We'll talk more in depth about markdown in a later lesson, but for now, here's a quick crash course on some formatting tips that may help you when writing your first post: Headings are always great tools to use. To implement headings into your intro post, use the following markdown rules: `# Heading 1` `## Heading 2` `### Heading 3` will appear as: # Heading 1 ## Heading 2 ### Heading 3 Use these to distinguish between paragraphs and sections. Want bold text? Just use `**place your bold text here**` to get **place your bold text here**. Italics? Just use one asterisk instead of two: `*place italics text here*` becomes *place italics text here.* Need to use a list? A single asterisk before a word will create a bullet, i.e. `* Bullet 1` becomes * Bullet 1 Want to link to another site like your blog or YouTube channel? The formula for links in markdown is fairly simple. Place the text you want to appear as a link within brackets, and then follow it with the URL in parentheses like this: `[Link text](Link URL)` So `[Ethan D. Smith's Personal Blog](https://ethandsmith.com)` becomes [Ethan D. Smith's Personal Blog](https://ethandsmith.com) Finally, you can use images to spice up your post. If you have the images you want saved on your hard drive, adding an image is as simple as dragging it into the compose window. Steemit will upload and host the image for you and create the markdown code so that it displays properly. You may alternatively host the images yourself on another site. In that case, grab the URL of the image you want to include, and use the following code template: `![Image description](Image URL)` Therefore `![People with thought bubbles](https://ethandsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/feedback-2990424_1280.jpg)` becomes ![People with thought bubbles](https://ethandsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/feedback-2990424_1280.jpg) Using those tricks, you should be able to craft a great introduction post. If you want to dive further into Markdown and learn some more great formatting tips, check out the [Markdown Styling Guide,](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/) or [this blog I wrote about polishing your posts.](https://steemit.com/steemit/@ethandsmith/polishing-your-posts-tips-for-creating-high-quality-readable-and-engaging-articles-for-your-blog) You may also read the Markdown lesson of this series. Now the rest is up to you. You may continue to type out an introduction post in the compose field on Steemit, but keep in mind that while it does save a draft, it isn't as reliable as an offline editor. If you want to be sure your work is protected, I advise downloading [Atom,](https://atom.io) [Haroopad,](http://pad.haroopress.com/user.html) or using an online auto-save editor like [HackMD.](https://hackmd.io) You can simply copy and paste your post into the compose field on Steemit once you're done! ## Tagging Your Post Since you're going to be brand new on Steemit, you'll need to get yourself noticed! That's where tags come in. The final field on the "Post" page gives you the option to include up to five tags. As explained earlier, these will act as filters by which other users may sort through posts across the platform. There are two tags that are extremely useful for your first post: #introduceyourself and #introducemyself. You'll want to use these as the first two tags. The other three tags can be anything. I would suggest using tags related to your interests, for example if you like to take photographs, you could use the photography tag, or if you enjoy reading, you can use the books tag. If you can't think of anything else, some of the most popular tags on Steemit are blog, life, steemit, and cryptocurrency. Again, choose up to five tags, and you're ready to share your post! There are two more things you'll notice on the "Post" page. One is the selection beside "Rewards." This allows you to take the post rewards as a 50/50 split between SP and SBD or take it all as SP. It is almost always advisable to take the 50/50 split. At the time of this post, SBDs are trading for considerably more than the $1 peg, so you can get much higher earnings by converting SBD to STEEM. I don't want to go too in depth, so I'll advise you to leave this set on 50/50. You'll also see a check box beside "upvote post." As tempting as this sounds, leave this unchecked for now. We'll talk about self-voting later. # Sharing Your First Post! That's it! Click Post, and you'll begin your Steemit adventure. Now that you're armed with the information from the first six lessons, you're ready to wade through the waters and set out on your Steemit journey. You've learned all of the very basics from the lessons so far. This means you are ready to begin browsing other users' posts, leaving comments, and giving out votes. At this point, be sure to go back and refresh your memory about voting and commenting, as topics such as voting power will become relevant very quickly. # Responses to Your Intro Post You may start to get comments on your intro post. If you do, these will show up on your profile page (steemit.com/@yourusername/recent-replies) in the "Replies" tab. Click it to see who has responded to your post. These responses will vary tremendously. You will have users who find your introduction post and genuinely take interest. It's easy to spot these users because they will offer some specific details that they liked about your post in addition to a welcome message. I encourage you to immediately respond to these users and engage them about your post. Often they will have similar interests, and you can form a connection. Visit their blog, check out their posts, and leave a few comments of your own. Follow them if you like their content, and they may do the same! Pay attention to these types of interactions. They are integral to growing your community on Steemit, so be sure to respond to every single person who leaves a meaningful comment. In addition to the meaningful comments, you'll get the not-so-meaningful ones. General and unspecific comments abound on intro posts, as many users will simply comment two words hoping that you will notice them and vote on their content. They may even be so bold as to ask you to follow them and leave a link for you to visit. I advise that you do not engage in these behaviors. Instead, reply to these types of comments asking users what they like about your intro post or what they enjoy about Steemit. If they respond, great! If not, you'll just know they were fishing for attention. Finally, you may get some comments from automated services or bots. These may contain various useful pieces of information, but may also be spam, so if you're skeptical of the comment, leave it alone. Many real people may also leave comments that seem like templates. These may also have useful links, so read them and digest them as necessary. I personally have a template for commenting on new users' posts, but I'm always careful to leave a personal comment before pasting in the template. Here's what my template looks like (and it's good advice for you since you're just starting out!): >I always give the same advice to all new Steemians, so I'll leave these tips here for you in hopes that they will help you along the way. > >* Familiarize yourself with the way the platform works by browsing the [FAQs](https://steemit.com/faq.html). > >* Check out the [Steemit Etiquette Guide](https://steemit.com/steemit/@thecryptofiend/the-complete-steemit-etiquette-guide-revision-2-0) for tips on how to interact with others in the community and how to introduce yourself to everyone. > >* If you'd like some advice on how to make your posts great, [take a look at this guide](https://steemit.com/steemit/@ethandsmith/polishing-your-posts-tips-for-creating-high-quality-readable-and-engaging-articles-for-your-blog) I posted about polishing your posts. > >* Finally, when it comes to commenting, check out [this guide](https://steemit.com/minnowsupport/@inquiringtimes/comments-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly) that will get you on the road to becoming a comment expert! > >The rest is up to you, but if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them! > >Best wishes and happy Steeming! You'll find various forms of these types of messages, but overall, they mean very well, so be sure to check out any links. You may also see links to communities to get involved in. We'll talk about communities in a future lesson. Be sure to thoughtfully respond to the meaningful comments you receive on your intro post. Taking time to thank someone for reading your post and ask them a question goes much further than simply saying thank you. Again, this is how you build quality relationships across the platform. In fact, if you're following this guide and you find it useful, please feel free to mention me (@ethandsmith) in your post or stop by my blog and say hello. I'd love to check out your intro post! # Moving Forward Now that you've shared your intro post and have replied to some comments, it's time to leave your blog behind for now and venture out into the Steemit waters. The next lesson will give you some practical tips for next steps after sharing your intro post that will make your Steemit experience even smoother. Congratulations on your first post! What you should know: * What an introduction post is * Why introducing yourself is important * How to title your post * Basic formatting for your post * How to tag your post properly * How to submit your post * How to respond to comments on your introduction post If you're pumped up and ready to move on, keep moving forward!