I completely agree, we are constantly trying to promote ourselves on the eyes of the big whales and well known Steemians. And that´as it, although it is a good way to grow your account, it won´t take you a step further.

Finding influencers outside the STEEM ecosystem is a very reliable way to increase your popularity and traffic on your posts.
I´ve been doing that with some "influencers" on Scorum and Medium, because they are already connected with blockchain technology and it much easier for them.