Things that worked for me are:

• joining the engagement league of @abh12345 and following and interacting with the top people there.
• joining @qurator and interacting with the people in the featured posts.
• adding 20 people I care about to the @steemdunk auto-voter and then posting about what I did.
• joining discord groups like crazy and then finding the ones I care about and that are active and working with them.

It's not easy or quick but over time - 2 years here - I feel like I have long-lasting relationships and friends on steem.

Can't help you with investments :)