I can understand that, at the moment I'm trying to grow my minnow pond of followers and attempt at helping them earn something. I'm also trying to contribute to their growth by holding contests like these and giving away SBD. I can understand the lack of visibility can be discouraging, especially if you took the time to try and produce good content.
The choice of growing, or cashing out is in their hands.
True @bit.curious, contest like this can really go a long way in helping minnows.
Obviously, the right attitude will make steemit grow faster. If the big players will replicate what you are doing, definitely, that will boost confidence amongst minnows. What many of them fail to understand is that those minnows they ignore are also part of steem lifeline.
That is true, minnows are a huge part of the steem lifeline, but at the same time whales have a strong enough foothold to not have to worry about them. Considering they can easily make money without them...sadly.