Building out a social network presence is hard work, especially if your IRL network doesn't use the same network. That's why Karen's advice is so important. Begging for followers doesn't work, but talking to people and getting to know them does.

It also helps if you can find a community of people with similar interests. I'm one of the admins of @opgaming, a gaming oriented steemit group. It's not exactly the fastest growing, but we have members who help each other out. There are groups like mine for all sorts of interests, so definitely join one (or three) if you haven't already.