If you are new to Steemit you probably want to know how you can earn money here.

I am currently working on a strategy on how to make better content for Steemit, and I thought sharing my ideas with you would make a great first post for my new strategy. At the end of this article I will also share how I converted Steemdollars to fiat currency (USD, EUR etc.) quick and easy. So, let's just jump right into it.

1) Combine knowledge and merge it into one topic

This might seem obvious, but it's important because it's hard to write about stuff you don't care about.

I am into photography and woodworking, but I make videos about woodworking on YouTube, and have a decent audience there. Therefore, I have decided that my main category here on Steemit will be photography.

I will write about other stuff as well (like this post), but most of my posts will be about photography. I can also make WordPress themes, design magazines, make videos and other useful stuff.

All this can easily be combined with photography.

Example: Make a photography related WordPress theme which I can give away.

I can also combine woodworking with photography by making frames and wooden cameras. Share camera plans and tips.

The idea is to combine knowledge, and try to merge it with the main topic (in a useful way of course).

2) How can readers benefit from my posts?

This is important, because most of us are "what's in it for me" or "entertain me please" type of persons.

Posting a great photo or piece of artwork is ok, and can give your readers inspiration, but in the long run you also need to provide something your readers can benefit from.

I think sharing knowledge and digital assets (like high res photos, templates, plans, PDF-guides and so on) works best (unless you have a talent for entertaining people).

3) Did I do my best?

Humans like shortcuts, and are naturally lazy (most possible profit for least possible effort). The problem is that constantly searching for those short cuts will require more effort than if you did as good as you could in the first place.

My plan is to make useful content, but also share my best photos that can (hopefully) give my readers inspiration. The idea is to share only my best, most interesting and useful stuff.

4) Be kind, upvote and interact with your readers/audience

On YouTube, I answer every single comment (with a few exceptions). When people spend their time and show interest in my content I communicate with them, even if it's just a single word comment like "awsome".

With a very large audience this will of course be more difficult, but interact as much as you can.

Keep in mind that here on Steemit it's a bit different, because money is involved in everything you do. Many comments are quite obvious just to try to get an upvote and a new follower, and it's ok to skip those, but good comments should always be rewarded with upvotes and a reply.

5) How often to post?

I will try to post once or twice a day, more than that will just affect the quality in a negative way. High frequency posting can hurt your blog too. I read somewhere that you should not post more than four posts a day here on Steemit.

Example on how to make a good post

Let's say I'm going for a walk in the mountains (lots of mountains here), how can I make the best possible post to share on Steemit?

I have a good DSLR camera and good lenses so I have to bring it everytime (use the best equipement available), and shot in RAW format.

I need to carefully think about what to photograph, generic photos of some random trees is not good enough. What would I like to see if I wanted to visit the place for the first time?

I can shot film and make a nice little video.

I can give away the photos and video to people who want to use it in their work (high res downloads).

I'm not much of a writer, but some useful/interesting information should also be included in the post. If I do a good job the reader will hopefully find my photos interesting, and also find good value in the resources I provide (high res photos etc.).

Now I have provided something original, interesting and useful for my readers. I firmly belive that this receipe will work over time.

A beginner guide to Steem, Steemdollars and Steempower

It took me quite some time to understand what all this was about (and I'm still learning). I felt that most posts and videos assumed that you already hade some knowledge about the topic.

Let's say you are new to both Steemit and cryptocurrency. The first thing you would like to know is of course if Steemit is legit and how you acutally make money here.

You own what you earn here, and it is easy to convert what you earn to "real" money.

I have covered my content strategy above, but not the technical side on how Steemit works. It's a lot more to it than I write below, but I think it's a good start.

Please note that some of the info may not be 100% correct, I'm quite new to this as well (feel free to correct me if you think anything is wrong).

When you write a post or comment people can upvote, this will give you Steemdollar. Never forget that comments also can get upvotes (that's why you should comment and interact with other people as often as you can).

It's important to keep in mind that when you upvote your voting power goes down. This does not mean that you use your own Steemdollars to upvote other posts, it does not cost you Steem or Steemdollar to upvote. It only affects your voting power, which you can check here:

https://steemd.com/@dieterschneider (replace @dieterschneider with your username)

Now, why care about voting power then? The more voting power you have, the more is your upvote worth (depending on your Steem Power). Your voting power goes back again automatically, but it takes longer if you have used a lot of voting power.

I always try to keep my voting power over 80%, then it's usually back to 95-100% the next day. This is why you should use your upvotes wisely.

As you grow on Steemit you get more Steem power (you can also buy steem power). This is a good thing because people will interact more with you because they want your upvotes.

I don't know how much voting power you can get (It depends on how much Steem Power you have), but if you get really powerful your upvote can be worth 50$, or even more maybe.

Remember this: Steem power does not go down when you vote, only your voting power.

Steem and Steemdollar are not the same

Earlier you could convert Steemdollar to Steem, but it seems like this option is gone? It's not a good idea anyway since Steem and Steemdollar are not worth the same. Currently Steem is worth around 2 USD, while Steemdollar is worth 11 USD.

Here's an easy way to check the currencies: http://steemdollar.com/

Why would you convert to Steem anyway? Because you can buy more Steem Power with Steem. Buying more steempower can be seen on as an investment since your votes will be more worth. You can also "Power Down", this means you will get back your steem (over a 3 month period, I think).

Money in my wallet please!

Ok, now we want to convert some Steemdollar to another cryptocurrency or regular USD/EUR. There are several ways to do this but I will show you the method I found easiest (best for smaller amounts).

First you need a wallet, and there are several types. A wallet is simply a place you can store your cryptocurrencies. If you register at Coinbase you will get a wallet. This is pretty convenient, but it's not advised for long term storage.

You can download a wallet to your comuter which is slightly more secure (if done correctly).

You can get a hardware wallet (a little device to plug into your computer). A hardware wallet is a good option since you can store your cryptocurrency offline.

You can even make a wallet on paper, this is maybe the safest method, but must be done correctly with extreme caution (it's not hard, but can be a bit tedious).

To get started we simply use the Coinbase wallet. You must register and get an verified account. Just follow the registration process and you should be good to go in a couple of days.

Once you have an account on Coinbase you can easily convert your Steemdollar to another cryptocurrency, and sell for USD or Euro. I think this is the easiest route for beginners.

You can not transfer Steemdollar directly to your coinbase wallet from Steemit, so we need to convert it to another cryptocurrency first. Coinbase currently accepts Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin so we must convert it to one of those first. Choose the one you like best. I like Litecoin.

To convert Steemdollar (SBD) to Litecoing I use https://changelly.com

Just register an account (no verification needed) and you are good to go. The way this works is very simple. We are not going to store any cryptocurrency on Cangelly, we are simply exchanging to another currency and send it directly to our Coinbase wallet.

Here is how to do it

1. Go to your Coinbase account and click "Accounts" in the menu.
2. Click on the "Receive" button on the currency you are going to receive (Litecoing in my case), and copy the address
3. Head back to Changelly and paste it in step 3.
4. Follow the instructions, and go to your Steemit wallet and click Transfer (Steemdollar)
5. Send to changelly and past the memo (triple check everything), and submit.

That's all you need to do. Now your Steemdollar will be converted to Litecoin (or whatever you prefer) and transfered to your Coinbase account. If you like to cash out your money you can sell your bitcoin and transfer the money to your bank account.

This is sounds like a tedious process, but once you have done it one time it's very easy and takes less than a minute.

If you liked this post please consider an upvote and follow. I'll do my best to answer any questions as well.