A couple of tips that I didn't see mentioned:

• Just a good fyi, after 4 posts per 24 hours there is a payout penalty.
• I've seen you in the steem.chat which is good, but you might try finding articles by others that you like and leave meaningful comments. It's a great way to start conversations that can translate over to your posts.
• The follow for follow, vote for vote thing can only go so far. Try to find people that you honestly like, care what they have to say and vice versa. These more organic relationships will garner much more success in the long run.