Please don't feel demoralized. You've only been here for a week...it takes time to build!
And you've already made some connections so that is good!
Just keep commenting and following people you like and it will work out.
You may notice some more traction with your posts when you hit around 100, 150 followers.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend joining the Minnow Support Palnet Discord.
It is a great help to new users and there is also an upvote bot you can use.
https://discord.gg/U4qqvTv
There is also a new Discord called Minnow University
https://discord.gg/MAA9QFd
It’s still in it’s infancy so check out their Steemit page @minnowuniversity for some great resources in the meantime.
Thanks @isaria. I'm already involved in the Minnow Support Project and am making some nice connections. Didn't know about Minnow University so will check that out. Practising patience! 😁