Honestly? I wish I understood Steemit too! I wish I could crack a few algorithms to figure some stuff out, and I wish I knew the magic formula for consistent upvotes!!! Some people have truly figured it out and I am so envious! I mean there are "obvious answers" that even I have thrown around like "make great content" and "comment, comment, comment", and while those things are important, they don't even necessarily apply. There are some people getting upvotes for actual shit, and not just bot votes. And there are some people who do well that don't even follow anyone. Haha, in some ways I think a lot of it is luck!