The simplest and easiest way that I've found to convert between HIVE and HBD is via the Hivehub.dev market. I still haven't tried to do it through Ecency, but it's on my list!
What do you wish you had known or understood about Hive before you started?
The magic of compounding interest and exponential growth. As such, I wish I had started putting every bit of HBD that I got into savings from the very beginning.
As above, I also wish that I had fully understood just how incredibly important rock-solidly consistent engagement and publishing quality daily posts truly is, right from the start.
What's been your biggest learning since opening your account?
That Hive is a sovereignty-driven technological tool that allows everyone, everywhere, to connect, learn, share, to be on the same economic playing field, no matter where s/he is in the world, and to surmount his or her local economic situations. That's why I give my all to Hive every day.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
First would be to secure his or her keys very well, and preferably in multiple places, online and off, and set up a recovery account in case keys are compromised. This is essential before anyone starts building and growing on the Blockchain.
Second would be to devote a good bit of time to diving in deep and learning about Hive and its community via the great many excellent guides and tutorials that have been written over the years, before doing anything.
Third would make to make a good introductory post where the individual shares authentically about who they are, what is important to them, and what they love most.
Fourth is to get into the habit early of rock-solidly consistent engagement, especially via Ecency (to be counted in the Leaderboard), and the daily quality publishing of posts that provide value to the community.
Fifth would be to learn about the benefits of delegating layer-1 and layer-2, the benefits of adding assets to diesel/liquidity pools, and about more dependable and reliable income tokens.
I hope what I've shared is useful! Congratulations on the success of your various projects! 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙