I agree with @genxrev. Us minnows are faced with an incredible mountain to climb. I know from my perspective I have been out in the community and responding to posts and getting good upvotes on my comments. It feels great. However, I can't get a shiff on my own posts. I only have posted about 10-12 pieces so far but the results are very similar. Meanwhile I seem to be picking up new followers every single day who I don't think have ever taken a single look at my blog. Should I be running around like crazy trying to follow everyone? I personally am not willing to follow just anyone in hopes of being followed. I follow quality. I wrote an article last night https://steemit.com/abuse/@broncofan99/domestic-abuse-when-will-it-stop and I used several different bots, on a small scale, to see if that might help with traffic. In the end it was the same ole same ole and It cost me more than what I got back from the bots. I can't say I'm in a hurry to do that again. Funny thing is, a user I follow out out a similar post this morning except he just copied something in that he found and he was able to upvote himself right away to $5. All I can do is shake my head.