Haha, I am glad you got such encouragement when starting out. My first post took me like 3 hours to make because I couldn't find any pictures to start with. I got a total of 6 votes and $0.12. I actually reposted that introductory post somewhat recently.

My second post I also put a good amount of effort into and got exactly $0.00 for (I also re-posted this one a while ago).

I got annoyed and kind of gave up after that. I started posting about once a month or so, until about 4 months ago when I decided to just say screw it, and start putting some effort in. Starting about 3 months ago I began to post almost every day and have been ever since.

The point is, everyone's mileage will vary but if you put the effort and hard work in, eventually it will pay off! For a couple of months I started to use bit-bots and it helped me get a lot of traction, but I was really being ignored by the larger players. Since I stopped using them (thanks to your advice), I have recently been getting a lot of high level followers.

So yes, quality, thoughtful and interesting posts with your own twist and personality will get you far - but not always immediately. The key is persistence!