This topic has been discussed before, so it's nothing new for some, but perhaps useful in these eerie times anyway.
You've probably been there.
You come up with a great topic. Eureka! This is going to be my $500 moment! You grab a beer and start writing. Four hours and a cranky family wondering what you're doing later, you finally press post. It's a masterpiece! Should I quit my day job right now? Just send my boss an email and tell him you're a steemian now, so fuck off!
Let's wait..
30 minutes late...
No upvotes
An hour later...
1 upvote and one comment; "great picture, follow me please!"
Before you go to bed...
Still just 1 upvote. What the fuck is going on?
When you wake up the next morning...
STILL just one 1 upvote (and by the way, all crypto currencies are going down the toilet)
Then you decide to just post a random picture and you get $10 dollars.
I feel your frustration. I've been there many times all ready. You really want to create great and interesting content. But you realize that your work and effort result in nothing. Your five hours of work gives nothing back. While posting a picture that takes literally one minute to post gives you more in return.
Here are some thoughts on that
Timing
You were just unlucky. Maybe most of your followers for some random reason did something else the exact time you posted. Perhaps there was a nuclear attack on the US and they were busy hiding under desks.
Play the long term
Sure, you can post pictures and tell small stories. But that doesn't mean you should quit writing your "masterpieces", and sticking to your niche. It's quite possible that your few hundred followers have a very varied field of interest. You probably have 50% spammers/follow-follow people, 20% who doesn't like to read and perhaps a few weirdoes who enjoy your "brilliant" "work" Take your time. You're probably not that brilliant, and you've never written articles before. So you need time to get really good at it. Practice.
Don't quit your day job just yet
Obviously
Don't burn your best ideas when you're at 10 followers (or 400)
Sure, write good content and stick to your thing. But realize most of your potential curators aren't following you yet. So don't spend your entire summer working on that one masterpiece, and then post it for three people that cares.
Don't forget your followers and friends here
Don't get too obsessed with all of this. Have fun and spend time commentating and curating others. There is no magic formula on how to get a lot of upvotes. But like with everything else, people tend to think they're great and have so much to offer. So instead of realizing they're not that great (yet) and take their time learning and getting better, they just quit eventually. Even if your post doesn't go viral, it might attract one or two new people that are interested. That pays off in the long term.