Great post, I have been doing just this. By commenting on new users posts, not only can I build my own following, but I can encourage them to stick around. I also try to reserve some of my resteeming for brand new users. I made my first $20 thanks to a high ranking user resteeming my post on my second day here. If it weren't for him I would have probably felt a little intimidated by the whole platform.

I am more interested in encouraging quality posters to stick around then just getting as many people as possible here. Once I have a big enough following to actually do some help, I will start to do features on new steemians and once I build up some STEEM I want to give awards to some promising new steemians and help them build a following.