I am new to Steem and I found this content super valuable. I have been here just over a week and one of the first things I did was join one of the Facebook groups (follow for follow) after a couple of days of reading I realised this was not the best (you end up following people who add no vlaue to you and who are posting about something that isnt even of interest to you - and they also follow you but often wont be engaged in your content). I think at the start it is about building a dedicated following with people you acutally engage with - this means building those relationships by finding people who are like minded and will be interested in what you offer.
Begging for upvotes etc is something I never understood and it seems abit low to me.
People think this is a sprint but it is a marathon - my first few posts made nothing but they are slowly starting to gain peoples interest so I just have to keep it up and keep producing god and entertaining content.
Thanks again I enjoyed your post