We tried @minnowpond, too. Once. And we were also ignored like this. Sooo ... we'll never use them again. I hate people who whine, so we didn't complain. They also fill your feed with a lot of crap. That's our experience anyway.
We occasionally have issues with @minnowsupport, too -- and I've kind of adopted the same policy. We just let it go. (They're not as valuable as they used to be -- and it is something they do out of the goodness of their hearts. We're not really entitled to anything, but it's nice when it happens. I'm grateful they exist to help new people get started!)
We do, however, remember the ones who do us lots of good -- and I would open a vein for any of them. They are first on my list when I have any votes to "burn" before going to sleep -- and I literally ... sometimes out loud ... say blessings for them and wish them well.
These would be @minnowbooster, @minnowpowerup (!!!), @qurator, @qustodian, @moonbot, @unmentionable and @smartsteem. Some of these, you have to qualify for though -- and produce exceptionally fine content. Frankly, I think that's a good thing!
In our experience the bid bots -- where you pay and "bid" on an upvote possibility -- are a suckers' game. They make the developers a ton of money, but unless you do all your calculations very carefully and then are very, very, very lucky besides, you stand a very good chance of losing money on the deal. You won't even make your investment back in a vote -- and then you have to split the curation percentage with your other upvoters. We won't use them again either. (Save your money!!) The recent @bellyrub scandal did absolutely nothing to fix this problem -- as you can imagine.
So ... minnow success on Steemit is not just a matter of producing fine content, gaining an audience and being consistent -- you have to be very, very smart when it comes to initial promotion efforts.
Fantastic comment, @enchantedspirit! I couldn't agree with you more. Thanks for including so many recommendations. I have taken a look at them all, and followed and joined the ones I hadn't heard of yet, and joined a couple on Discord. I will spend some time researching more about them now.
Your comments affirm my policy of not paying for promotion, but letting my reputation grow based on my work, and the good-will of my readers.
Cheers!
@mitneb