Wow your just 7 months here !!! I have been here for 3 months and I am finding it hard to increase my voting power and there have been times were I thought to just quit because I spend a lot of time in my posts but don't get any traction.
I have joined groups and although it helps a bit but it's not enough so I was thinking of permanently powering down and leaving.
Anyway I will still write and write and hope to hit the jackpot.
I did my first personal payout a couple of days ago and indeed I was very grateful and it will be a Merry Christmas indeed for me and my family.
What you can do is go look how I started Steemit, It's more of a community drivin place than anything else. Its hard to build a loyal following here but once you do, great things can happen :)
You are right! It is a community and it's really important to create relationships and hope to grow stronger with them so your votes become more substantial.
Thanks for your insights and I have renewed motivation to get to 58.