Oh muh Gurd! Freaking AWESOME!!! Just crossed the 9,000 follower threshold! Now, you might think "Hey, what the actual fcuk? Didn't he just hit 8,000 and like two weeks before that hit 7,000? Yes. Yes I did. It's been a good December. I don't normally grow 2k followers in 1 month.
Let's talk about how you can do it too!!!
A strong social network! This place is as much about the content of your content as it is about the content of your character. That's weird for folks. Amazing writers get nothing on their posts! Why? No network! Also, people that are great networkers aren't necessarily great earners! Why? They aren't making enough posts or high quality posts. You need both. For social network I suggest the 6,200+ Steemian off chain Discord group I helped to found called the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network. It's home to the minnowsupport project. In there you can network with some absolutely incredible people and the more friends you have the more followers, upvotes, and resteems you'll get.
Quality writing. Until you make it you better be as good as you can be. Check, double check, and triple check your posts. Make sure you're using a title and an image that will catch attention. It's got to have a little click bait to it, but just a little. You need images, and I actually think headers are crucial. They break up your story into readable bits.
Consistency. Coming in when the price is hawt and leaving when the price is cool isn't going to help you. Many people really only want to invest in posters that will return value to this community. Fair weather fans don't do that. So, make sure you're posting when we're up and posting when we're down.
Engage with others!!! You want people to talk, comment, post images and all kinds of things on your posts? Then you better do it to theirs first! Work with a couple people at a time and make sure you're on their radar for having them on yours! You want them wondering "hey, what's my friend 
gonna say about this" while they are writing it. The secret to get that is to start by doing it for others. This place follows your actions with rewards and not the other way around.
Help other people. Take a second and see what problems folks have around them. See if you can solve any of those for them. These people make great long term friendships because they count on you and rely on you. You need some of that to be successful.
BONUS- Create something! We want to see this platform grow and change and be awesome! Investors/whales want to see that you're doing something awesome to help the block. The exact details of what it is doesn't matter that much, but help other people, make something awesome, or spread the word. These will get you attention.
A contentious suggestion
A strong social network! This place is as much about the content of your content as it is about the content of your character. That's weird for folks. Amazing writers get nothing on their posts! Why? No network! Also, people that are great networkers aren't necessarily great earners! Why? They aren't making enough posts or high quality posts. You need both. For social network I suggest the 6,200+ Steemian off chain Discord group I helped to found called the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network. It's home to the minnowsupport project. In there you can network with some absolutely incredible people and the more friends you have the more followers, upvotes, and resteems you'll get.
Quality writing. Until you make it you better be as good as you can be. Check, double check, and triple check your posts. Make sure you're using a title and an image that will catch attention. It's got to have a little click bait to it, but just a little. You need images, and I actually think headers are crucial. They break up your story into readable bits.
Consistency. Coming in when the price is hawt and leaving when the price is cool isn't going to help you. Many people really only want to invest in posters that will return value to this community. Fair weather fans don't do that. So, make sure you're posting when we're up and posting when we're down.
Engage with others!!! You want people to talk, comment, post images and all kinds of things on your posts? Then you better do it to theirs first! Work with a couple people at a time and make sure you're on their radar for having them on yours! You want them wondering "hey, what's my friend
Help other people. Take a second and see what problems folks have around them. See if you can solve any of those for them. These people make great long term friendships because they count on you and rely on you. You need some of that to be successful.
BONUS- Create something! We want to see this platform grow and change and be awesome! Investors/whales want to see that you're doing something awesome to help the block. The exact details of what it is doesn't matter that much, but help other people, make something awesome, or spread the word. These will get you attention.
Without a doubt running a witness has helped my growth. Without a doubt helping other people through the minnowsupport project has helped my growth. Without a doubt the price spike of steema and SBDs has helped. What actually has some doubts is the effect of bid bots. I've used these little guys extensively over the past month. I've been pumping up post rewards, and when possible I've even hit trending because of it. It's been a fun experiment. I gave some competition to the shit posters, I typically broke even or better on my bids (though there are about 4-5 exceptions to that), and I generally got more followers faster. It took a lot of capital and risk, but I'm pretty sure it's contributed to my growth enough that I'm still doing it.
4 Docs
There are four docs I think people should make on this platform.
- A problem statement about something you don't like.
- A Vision statement about what an alternative would look like.
- A Mission statement sharing what you'll value along the way.
- A Plan of how to get there.
I think having this kind of level of organization is good and will lead to more success for you since it's easy to define what you're working on. You'll find the right people along the way.