I felt the same as you when I joined first. It took time and dedication to get upvotes and regular followers for my account. It's much easier to be seen now with the different tribes to sort out the content that interests us.
I read a very interesting article lately about how it takes a couple of years and hundreds of posts to gain a following on any social media site. It is the same anywhere that you have to build a reputation but it can be done. I would recommend not selling if possible as this is all a new eco system and we are looking 3 - 5 years down the line before it get developed and the price gets to a steady place. Everything that you see are the building blocks for what this place will be eventually. It's coming together but will take time. I just want to be in the right position with the biggest SP when we do get there.
Thank you very much for your comment. I've been on steem for almost 1.5 years and it has never been that easy to buy cheap steem and to power up. I see it as an opportunity and I try to power up as much as possible.