I won't post my good stuff because I know it won't be seen
I know that feeling! But I do try and post some stuff. I've been doing a kind of experiment lately. I've posted a couple of longer posts and a few that didn't take much time to come up with, but I thought were funny. I had the same result in both cases.... Very little interest!
The only post that did get a bit of interest was one that was promoting someone elses work. (I think that was only because that person resteemed it!)
My last post took me a couple of days to put together. Yet, so far, very little interest when compared with other posts that must of taken someone all of ten minutes to put together and still hit the trending page.
All I can put it down to is the number of followers you have.
As you say... Parley seems to be the way to go. Build followers though comments, then once you have a reasonable following your posts will / should get more attention.
Or at least it might not seem like you're talking to yourself! :)
I have given in to the fact that I must use bots. I hate it but if I am going to give it any more effort than I would on Facebook - a more casual and relaxed outlet - then bots will have to be deployed. It sucks but Steemit requires power and money to be seen, in my opinion.
Ya, I see that myself. The trending and hot pages are full to bursting with posts that have practically paid to be there.
The sad thing is I can't see this platform growing unless us minnows get some attention too. I mean - how many people are gonna stick around posting their content if it just gets buried?
Few. I can't drag friends to the site. Once the ones who are approved sign in, and look around, they are gone. Landing on the trending page is certain to drive people away. Sad really because I think it is a great idea and I will stick around. It would be nice with some support from people I already know, though, like on all other social media. Strangers begging for upvotes and my pennies don't make it welcoming.