Well, first, welcome.
Second, you just go here. This isn't a get rich quick scheme. For whales who buy in, it is a get richer scheme, however.
Let's get started. You need to create your introduction post. A post that says who you are and what your interests are and what you plan on writing about on Steemit. Use the "introduceyourself community minnowsunite steemit story" tags.
You are posting on a regular basis. Good. I usually tell newbies that they need to do about 4 articles a day and they can keep track on Steemit Board of Honor. It also helps with motivation. You can get other motivational information by checking Steem Supply
Make sure you have an image with all your posts. It helps drive eyeballs.
Based on what you want to post, from your intro article, look in the tag/category list to make sure it isn't overcrowded. The majority of your articles have been for "cryptocurrency", which is a crowded tag. So, you better have some compelling headlines and images.
You are making good comments on other people's articles. (look at the Steem Supply for your comment payout) Try to stick to articles you are interested in and also ones that are similar to what you write about. Seems like a no-brainer, but like people will vote on like articles.
Don't give up, but don't burn yourself out.
If you want to go down the road of fake upvotes and buying upvotes, you can do that. And, there are ways of getting people to delegate you Steem POWER, so that yourself vote on your article is more. That's up to you.
Good luck.
Good advice! I'd summarize to say the keys are to keep posting, and to comment a lot on other people's post you enjoy. Most followers for me come from comments I've made which caused them to check out my profile.
Thanks so much for the detailed reply. I'm here to join the community, so not really looking for the free upvotes/power. Would just like to have more of a following/more power since that's always a plus, and more money is an obvious plus!
Ah, is it okay to do an introduceyourself without posting a picture of myself? Would prefer not to have to do that :) though I've seen it's recommended.
Also that is really good advice on the tags ... always thought posting to the most popular ones would get the most views, but I see that it can easily get buried.
Notice there are a lot of canned responses on most articles ... seems like bots just post mindlessly :)
Will keep these in mind, thanks a lot for the reply ... appreciate it.
See my avatar?
lol i see i see, yeah well me too hahah
Yes, there is an issue with comment bots. And there is an issue with junk/bot articles.
In general, there is an issue with bots.