I am new here, will answer questions as best I can from my limited experience
Here is a good place to start https://mobile.twitter.com/ErinEMalone/status/1416901431181807617
What is the minimum I should be opening channels with?
2 Million Sats in a channel seems to be a consensus minimum
How many channels should I have open?
Seems to be more about the quality than the quantity. Going to depend on how many sats you want to put into the system.
What are some good to open channels?
Open with well-connected nodes and you’ll get more routing, but you’ll need some inbound liquidity too.
Should I be messaging nodes first?
The best success I’ve had so far was coordinating with 2 other nodes to setup a triangular loop. A to B, B to C, C to A.
What’s the protocol?
Not sure what this is referring to. The protocol for contacting other people about channels? The Lightning Protocol?
Is looping out the a best practice?
I have not been successful with looping yet and it seems expensive.
Is balanced the best state to be in? Or is unbalanced better because I could spend more if I had more outbound?
I think it will depend on the channel. Can get expensive to keep everything balanced all the time. If you have Some inbound and outbound liquidity, then you can get more advanced with channel management.
If I wanted to route more, would having more unbalanced inbound be better?
Yes, maybe? I think I’ll start looking at specific channels once I have more setup and doing more routing, to see what is being used and what is not being used.
How much should I expect to make routing (yield)?
Not a lot, at least at this time. Routing fees are tallied in millisatoshis (1/1,000th of a satoshi). I’ve made 2 full satoshis today with 4 open channels. Maybe this will increase as the network gains more traction, and better to learn about it now and have channels open so you can manage it if traffic gets heavier.
How often should I see routing taken place via my channels?
I’ve had a few payments routed through today. Took a few days before anything really happened. Setting up the triangle route seems to have helped.