Oddly, I came in hot to this one... having read numerous similar articles discussing some of the various issues with the Steem platform. (Although, it would be nice if noobs votes had a value, even showing a 0.001 for a vote would add the feel of being an influencer)
Especially when I saw that you were talking about the blaming things on whales...
I do agree that there are some distribution concerns that would have the psychological demotivation for people who are newer and without a thick skin, but you wound up bringing up the most important point.
Just posting regularly, about stuff you enjoy will serve... sure the first while you'll be rewarded in scraps, and it is a kick in the groin sometimes, but the rewards do slowly start to grow.
I'm not even one to look at for examples, but it's common sense that the important way to get stuff back from what you put in is to keep putting in....