Thanks. If you should ever happen to check my blog (home page) you'll see I actually made a post telling everyone I don't want their crappy money, they can keep their upvotes, what I want is to see that people are reading my posts. Seeing 15 upvotes (totalling a dollar) but seeing only one or two views of the post, it makes me angry, as it means they upvoted without opening/visiting my post. (I make a point of never doing that).
So, I do understand what motivates you.
However, when a so-called whale or dolphin happens to check your post, if they like it and want to upvote you, their upvote can be anything from $10 to $100. However, they first check to see whether you upvoted yourself. If you did, they just leave, without upvoting.
Having more steempower is not just for you to feel wealthier. It also means that your upvotes grow in power, so that you can more effectively upvote posts-posters you admire or like.
As for the normal upvoter, many of them have no voting power; however, even such a vote counts when growth of your Rep is calculated.
All that I've said, it might be pointless; I've been here nearly six months, and only once did a large upvote get given to me, so it is a rare experience.