I completely agree, it is hard to get started here, especially if you don't have that support which you need in order to get off the ground floor. I had one post that jumped, but since have really struggled to gain that attention from my followers and other fellow steemians, but this is not going to stop me. Persistence is the key to success here, and much of the persistence lies within the community (commenting... not just poopy comments but Quality comments, as you mentioned with quality content, finding discords and other initiatives, and making influential friends with that SP we all so desire to have)
kind regards and much respect from @conradsuperb