Great post. The money side of steemit is a double edged sword, it's obviously nice to be rewarded for your content but it does also prompt spamming and makes people concentrate on the money side a little too much. I think more people need to just post and comment/upvote on things they like, and as you say over time you will build a naturally strong following who appreciate what you do (having said that a few bots and alike never hurt anyone)