my posts are read from minnows only so i guess I should set "engaging with more experienced steemians" as a goal!

There you go, yes. I would recommend that. It's great you've got a head start on a decent number of followers, but you'll hit a big boost if you get some higher-rep people to vote or resteem your work. It's like the difference between telling just your family & friends VS broadcasting it to the entire community.