Who Do I Follow On Steem and Why? - My 6 Months' Journey

I just found this initiative from @theycallmedan and decided to join in and provide my input on who I follow on Steem and why. I'm new to Steem, having just joined in July of 2019. So, January 29, 2020 was my 6-month anniversary here.

During the first month, Steem felt like I'd just stepped into the Twilight Zone. It was intimidating attempting to navigate the unknown. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and how to go about finding out. My goal was to make as few mistakes as possible.

I read numerous blogs from people I didn't know. Whether it was their opinion or facts they included in their posts, I couldn't tell. It all seemed the same to me because I didn't know anything about blogging or cryptocurrency. So I was wide-eyed trying to learn. Those individuals who were posting content seemed as though they knew what they were talking about. My only assumption was that they had to know more than I did. The clock was ticking on my learning curve.

^{Image by mohamed_hassan from Pixaby}

Luckily, I found some awesome mentors who jump started my journey on Steem. I was told to just post a blog each day, comment on other authors' posts, support their content with votes.

I began to gain some clarity and see through the fog with the help of the individuals whom I discovered, read several of their posts, and decided to follow. I present these individuals not in order of important; rather, in order of my journey on Steem from the beginning.

@jongolson

As the owner of Click Track Profit ("CTP"), @jongolson introduced his membership to Steem and the Steemit platform for blogging through his training lessons he developed for his members. He and his team developed the CTPTalk Tribe. He then urged his members to create an account and explore all Steem had to offer. He also urged his members to explore the blockchain and learn about cryptocurrency. I was hesitant to join at first.

I knew nothing about crypto or blogging. The only reason I finally did join Steem was to satisfy the requirement in the one of the training modules. I waited until the end of July to join. I'm thankful that his training modules dealing with Steem was left available for members to revisit as many times as needed to familiarize themselves with Steem. His training lessons also covered staking and trading.

What an accomplishment for me when I completed the CTP Steem training module and received my CTP badge for posting 200 blogs:

^{Screenshot of @justclickin's account at CTP}
He also added other training modules that dealt with blogging, commenting, and curating. @jongolson continuously develops CTP and his CTPTalk Tribe. I feel he is totally committed to the success of Steem. If any of his members or anyone on Steemit has a problem he can assist with, he will attempt to do so.

If it were not for @jongolson and CTP, I would not have joined Steem.

@brittandjosie

Once I joined Steem and started blogging, my fellow teammate at CTP suggested I join a few Tribes to expand my writings and meet new Steemians. One group in particular he suggested I join was Steem Terminal. He stated this was the place I needed to be in order to learn.

He was right. I had no idea what to expect when I joined Steem Terminal. But I soon discovered that the individuals who operated this Discord group are truly dedicated to assisting new Steemians learn and grow on Steem.

The individual at Steem Terminal that sort of took me under her wing and looked after me to make sure I was doing things the right way was @brittandjosie. She and the other founders of Steem Terminal make you feel welcome the moment you enter the terminal. @brittandjosie is one of the greeters. She and the Steem Terminal co-founders hold a monthly Redfish Rally to help new Steemians with less than 500SP grow their accounts. They also provide indepth instructions with regards to correct blog creation, sourcing, engagement, curating, and any other questions you will have.

I wasn't sourcing my blogs correctly. As I created them, @brittandjosie would advise how to make sure my posts were accurate. I used her blogs as examples. She is one of the individuals on steem that truly wants to help others, especially beginning Steemians. Her signature blog series "4 o'clocky" is a great daily read. She has posted a blog every day for the past two years. It's a testament to her dedication to Steem and her desire for its success.

@brittandjosie is also the manager of the witness group @blocktrades. Accordimg to the posts I've read, she is handling this task effectively. She is a person with a positive attitude. She lights up the Steem Terminal Discord chat with her humor. She blogs on various topic and enters contests. I've noticed that numerous times, she requests that if she wins a contest, her earnings be returned to the sponsor to help with additional prizes or to defray costs.

It doesn't matter when you're able to be present in the Steem Terminal chat, if she's not there due to the time zone difference, when she does return, she reads all the messages she can and tries to respond to each. She recently celebrated reaching a 70 reputation. She is a hard worker, and it's a plesure to work with and earn from her.

I was a bit sad to graduate from the Redfish Rally program because it was such fun and engagement with not only her, but all the Steem Terminal owners and moderators.

@jaynie

The founder of the Power House Creatives ("PHC") group, @jaynie is the nicest person you'd ever want to engage with on Steem. Her no-nonsense approach has made her Discord Channel the most organized and team-oriented space to be a part of. She is food enthusiast, and you can tell by the content of her food blogs.

When I first landed in PHC's channel, I read the instructions for newcomers. I couldn't believe the numerous requirements to gain and maintain membership. I had to return several times to re-read the requirements and instructions. I had serious thoughts of not continuing.

I had to step back, consider what was being asked of me, and decide whether I wanted to move forward with being a member. I made a checklist of items to be completed. After a week, I realized what was being asked was minor if approached correctly.

What I couldn't see at first was the philosophy behind @jaynie's concept. If you want to be considered a member and enjoy the benefits, then you must give back. In other words, treat others as you wish to be treated.

I didn't really understand the concept of engagement on Steem until I entered PHC's community of like-minded indiviuals. You can't expect others to support your work if you don't do the same. Simple as that. And that concept is now engrained in my way of thinking, thanks to @jaynie.

Each day @jaynie creates a post highlighting her members' quality blogs. You can even recommend other PHC members' work if you feel that contain quality content. All this makes one feel inclusive in the community. Numerous benefits exists for members of PHC, but you have to earn them. If you do, @jaynie will ensure that you will be rewarded.

There are other individuals I'd like to acknowledge. @c0ff33a awarded me a 200SP delegation that is still intact today for winning a contest. I'm truly grateful for his supporing my efforts here. @mariannewest for her daily freewriting that allows my love of fiction to flourish; @shadowspub for providing another outlet, Prompt A Day, for my writing; @viking-ventures gave me tips on how I could construct my blogs to declutter them so the focus would be on the current content. I can't thank her enough. She also worked with me on a formatting feature in SteemPeak.

And what would my journey here on Steem be without the numerous contests that several Steemians hold that helped me grow my account to Minnow.These individuals and others below are some of the Steemians who assisted me during my 6 months here, and who continue to provide their support:
@xcountytravelers; @thekittygirl; @wesphilbin; @thisisawesome; @zord189; @felt.buzz; @pifc; @dswigle; @melinda010100; @ph1102; @flaxz; @redheadpei; @kirkoliver; @mamasez; @carolkean; @papilloncharity; and @deannematthews.

Also, I'd like to mention members from these Tribes:

^{Image made in Canva by @justclickindiva}

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all MY FOLLOWERS. These are the true Steemians, some of which have followed me from the beginning of my journey on Steem. Others have found me along the way by taking the time to visit my posts and engage with me. They have continued to follow my progress, suppporting, and encouraging me every day. As I told them at the beginning:

THANK YOU
I APPRECIATE THAT YOU

^{Image by geralt from Pixaby}

And I'm lucky enough now that after 6 months, they continue to follow me in order to monitor my progress and keep me going down the straight path to success. I'm determined not to disappoint them.

After 6 months here on steem, I can say I've made progress. I don't feel like a beginner Redfish any longer. Of course, I still have a lot to learn, especially on the trading and market side of Steem, and cryptocurrency aspects. But for the individuals named above, I wouldn't be as far along as I am now. You can't do it alone. And I thank everyone who had a part in my small success.
Reputation 63.624
Followers 119 | 82 following
Post Count 160 posts | 1,840 comments | 1,594 replies

My next goal is to gain enough Steem Power so that I can give back to other Steemians in the same spirit of the ones who helped me get my start on Steem.

^{Image by geralt from Pixaby}