How to gain audience

I am new steemit. It is an interesting platform but there are some things that are not very clear. How does one gain more steem power or get noticed by people who have power to elevate posts. So far I see, upvotes increase the value of the post, but not all upvotes seem to have the same value. Clarify somethings please.

It would be great if there is a clear set of documentations outlining the process.

And follow me Hive account@codero.