It doesn't seem to be the case. I may get a lot of votes but I don't get a lot of Steem. Some minnows are earning more per week in Steem Dollars and SP than I do on a per post basis.
I would say some of my upvotes come from my followers who read my content regularly. This may be around 100 people at the most and you are included as one of my regular readers. Then there are new people who see my posts, read it, and then find the discussion and join it. So depending on the topic you can get a lot of interest.
To get a lot of SBD payment per post is not really something I have any control over so I don't focus on that so much. I focus on getting as many upvotes as I can, getting as many followers as I can, engaging the readers, and providing value with content.
If a whale sees one of my popular posts I might get a big upvote. If not then the post may get a lot of upvotes from minnows, a lot of engagement, and I might end up getting a lot of followers rather than the big payout. As long as I see progress toward my goal of 10,000 followers it's fine.
At 10,000 followers I might decide to quit blogging and move on.
to quit? but 10,000 will be very soon! I'm sad bbecause I have so few friends (or people to talk with) here, and I don't want to lose one of them..
why exactly 10,000? a magic number?:)
blogging and steemit has much in comon with addicton, or maybe passion, and if you spend a lot of months here, you just can't stop, because it's a part of your life. and income means much too, of course.
you don't feel such passion here? or maybe you just want to spend money you have earned here at last?:)