I remember the very first group that I joined here in Steemit one of their rules is for all posts made by members it should have the name of the group which would act as a sort of advertisement. 2nd all posts has signatures thanking a particular whale.3rd and most ridiculous for me is using the name of the whale as an actual tab.
Well keeping to my namesake I did not follow their rules and eventually left.
I still see some of their posts and they have to a certain degree achieved some success but I achieved mine through my own hard work. I did not beg for upvotes, I got curated because of the quality of my work and I can stand tall and know I am did my best.
Yes it is easy to fall the trap of wanting to get a whales attention but do you want to be reliant on one person who will hold your success or failure.
Yeah there has been a lot of people who became successful after getting mentorship and support from a whale but looking at their work it is because they are unique and contribute something to the community.
They are bound to be successful.