Of course you need to invest time, that is the least you can do, can't get something out of nothing. If I didn't have to invest time and got money for free then I'd think it's a scam of sorts and might even be afraid to cash out. I'm sorry if you feel like you're not getting enough votes but you don't have to promote yourself in any way to get votes, doing so may help you but that's not a requirement. There are accounts that are not here to get any votes but just curate. I came here with no friends and haven't really tried to make any.

I want to onboard users because this is a great platform and I want to see everyone do well, because I think the more people get involved the more control we have over the future of this space, because I think humanity needs to have a place for uncensored dialogue.

Usually the people who think this is a scam are the people who had expectations about how much they would earn. They tend to compare themselves to others and since they feel like they are doing a better job and the other is making more money then Steemit must be unfair and a scam.