Awesome list of ideas at the end. I couldn't agree more with your post. I originally bought $350 worth of STEEM to power up not realizing how little influence that had. Realizing you need to have tens of thousands of dollars to have any real influence has left me wanted to cash out anytime I make a good post. If there were better rewards for those in the $100 to $1000 range i would be all for investing again :)
RE: Steemit's Biggest Investment Problem - The Cost/Benefit Analysis Reward Curve