There is something called ''engagement'', from my research this word has been the only propelling tool to stay strong and fit on this blockchain. According to the oxford dictionary engagement means;
The act of engaging or being engaged
The only way to move forward is simply taking the first step to move. Failure to do that you'll remain stagnant and the ones you left behind will definitely overtake you. One thing we need to know in life is that life it's self is a race, a race in the sense that each individual here on earth is on his/her own race and nobody waits for the other.
Back to the topic at hand
Here on steemit we have minnows, dolphins and whales. Most of the whales we come across here on steemit are investors who has invested their resources, time and idea into the blockchain.
Most newbies who just got their accounts come into the blockchain with the mentality of ''Blog and earn''. But it doesn't end there. Truth be told - if i don't like what you write, there's no way i will upvote it.In order to get some coins on your post a lot o hard work has to be sown.
First of all, you have to be proactive in everything, if you spot a whale and you wish to get an upvote from him without asking there is a way to do that;
- Most people or whales with steem power invested all they have just to get the steem power they have. Yo don't expect them to throw their votes on some shitty piece of crab, no never! i doesn't work that way. You have to come up with something that will in a way benefit the whale, for instance
- Be active in his/her discord group
- Comment and resteem everything he posts
- Bring more people to his discord
- With the little steem power you have, upvote their work.
Note this whales are humans like you, when you constantly doing the following above, they'll eventually notice you and then your blog will be the first thing they'll check out. Hopefully they like what they see there, an upvote follows - this also inclines that you put a lot of work and effort on your own blog-
Secondly, asking a whale for an upvote isn't ideal. Just as i stated in the above, they did'nt just get the steem power on a platter of gold, some hard work and sacrifice has been sown in to get that. So you can't just come out from nowhere and asking for upvotes, no you'll never get one you'll only get blocked and eventually get discouraged and dump your steem account.
So with a deep sense of knowledge, grasp those items listed above and together we make the blockchain an interesting place to be.