I agree whole heartedly with what you are saying. I'm about to reach 1000 followers and lest than 10% are actively engaging with me. I try hard to be encouraging and vote on their posts. One thing I find to be successful is to vote up the comments on my posts because that encourages them to comment and keeps them coming back to me for more. Cultivating and supporting a personal network is something I found easier than casting a wide net on steemit