This is such an important topic, and other Steemians must think so to since I've seen it come up on several occasions lately like @battleaxe's post you referenced and a post from @meesterboom. I even wrote about it half an hour ago.

Your last line sums it up perfectly. Just be a person. Be yourself. Write quality content and try to grow your following organically. Stop begging for money and weighing the platform down with worthless contributions.