It looks like no one has chimed in. I unfortunately do not route. 

Most people are protective of their exact routing strategies because it's a market competition but I think [Alex Bosworth](https://twitter.com/alexbosworth) and [Carsten Otto](https://twitter.com/c_otto83) share the most about how to do this successfully yet they aren't super specific about where they deploy capital.

Personally, I use lightning to pay for stuff when I can and SN's node is connected to a few hubs and a few users. I do this only to provide utility for the site and not to forward payments and it shows in the metrics. I've only forwarded 10's of payments. If you want to route a lot you probably have to be a lot more strategic.

Routing fees would be most interesting now I think, as I don't want to really spend my Bitcoin.

bitcoingraffiti

What are your goals with your node? This might help people point you in the right direction. Do you want to earn a yield through routing? Do you want to simply send and receive payments?

k00b

bitcoin

Mostly bigger nodes in the network?
Nodes that have the shortest paths for my local payments?
Should I also contact the nodes before opening a channel?

Share me your thoughts and best practices. Ty!
