--Blasphemous statement to be shared on the steemit platform, I know. Being newer to this, I have had a wide range of success and failure when it comes to the bid bots. It seems like all the heavy hitters use these, because in fact they do, very strategically I might add. Which is very smart, which is why they are big wheels on here in the first place.
--But to become a heavy hitter on here, it is my feeling that constant growth is paramount. Consistently growing your numbers with steem dollars and steem power, your base of people you talk with, and improving the quality and content each time as you make a post. All idyllic intentions that rarely can be met. In school years ago in a business class in the U.S., we were taught about the Japanese Cultural idea of Kaizen; In the context of daily improvement over a long period of time (yesterday, today, tomorrow-pretty much the rest of your life) creating a desired result. Nothing worthwhile easy comes easy.
--My "Just say no" approach to the bid bots is because it has taken over way too much time, effort, and attention that could be better placed in my opinion. I have also grown to like the instant upvote bots. Pay them, get your fixed amount 200%(+) your bid and move on. Not a very attractive system, I know. But doing the numbers in compounding say 2% return daily, that adds up very quickly and nicely. The ups and downs to me, at least at this time, to chase what is adding up to less than significant returns is not worth the risk or time involved.
--What I truly think these bots execute that really nothing else realistically can be done is post promotion. There are so many people on here that see value in doing that, as they are heavyweights throwing down 5-10-20-50+ SBD bids, sometimes even at a loss, but getting instant trending notice across the entire platform. Which is also very nice, but 99.9% of us on the platform do not have 50SBD to go toss into the ether in the hope our post will drag in the masses for the post. I certainly don't like telling others how to spend their very hard earned steem(/)dollars on this platform. This is just my take for the moment, you do what you feel is best for you, and eventually you will be right! Best of luck Steemians! Sincerely, @cryptkeeper17