The way I look at is that you have to love yourself first before you can be loved by others or give love to others. I think it applies to steemit.com pretty well, when you first start no one else is going to vote for you so you should vote for yourself. There is a reason that there is a box to check to vote for yourself on your post. As you go on though your vote, like love, is like a magic penny, the more you give away the more you get.