Im part of the neverpowereddown club lol! I feel like it definitely helped powering up.. Its better to see people place faith in the system they are using, I know I am more likely to upvote someone who is going to keep the steem power and use it here, not that I notice all the time. Also engagement is important..
The biggest thing that helped me was finding people who were just as new as me, and becoming friends.. The ones who powered up now have more power to vote you with, the ones that don't power up usually stop posting.. Find the people who will be interested in the things you say, and become friends with them. Maybe they will be whales someday