Each one is vying for the greatest resource: attention
It can be so hard to get. You can write and article (or book) that you feel would really benefit people if they read it, but it's a challenge to get it in front of their eyes. And if you can it in front of them, are they going to read it? There's a lot of perseverance that needs to take place before you get to the point where you've "made it." Even then, there's always attrition due to a plethora of factors, so you always have to be selling, always closing.
Always be closing!
Yes, for the entrepreneurial minded steemian, that is true. It can wear on people, too, as many of us aren't born sales experts, or have grown up back when sales people were likely to be as scummy as the men in Glengarry Glen Ross.
It took me months to get writing more regularly, and I was fortunate enough to have some good upvotes early on that really incentivized me to keep it up. It's been fun finding interesting and interested people to make steemit a better experience.