RE: Buying Advertising and Promotion discussion
Chances are that 1SBD would be whittled down in no time though. What will be returned will be less than that 1 SBD, once the lower SP reward is factored in. And from one who bought into the bot thing very quickly after I got here, I can say for the most part it doesn't do much to get eyes on your work. What seems to work is interacting on others of like minds posts. Those are the people who upvote my comments and my posts. And yes, it is a slow process. But doable just the same.
The whales and those delegating are making out like bandits for something that for most buyers really isn't profitable, although it may be every now and then. I haven't even mentioned those who bid in at the last second, ensuring all the bidders lose 10% or more guaranteed. Or the value of Steem declining over that 7 days from votes being bought. A smaller account serious about growth would be better served investing that SBD into SP and focus on interacting, which involves them going to others posts.
I don't think it's either or. You definitely have to interact on the platform, particularly with posters who actually read their comments and reply to them, folks who want to get to know people on here. And if you don't have enough money, bots aren't going to get you on the trending page. But my experience has been that bots have really helped me too.
Other than my "introduceyourself" post, my 2 posts that I did not use bots on have earned only about $1 or less. My posts that I invested just 2-3 SBD in have earned more like $8-15. I'm giving prices in STU, as shown under rewards, not USD. Even once the 50-50 split is considered, I wind up with about as much SBD as I spend each time, and my SP also grows from each payout.
It is a slow process both from gradually growing relationships and for using bots with only 1-3 SBD per post. But it works way better than only doing one or the other.
But yes, it's definitely not a sure thing. There are always those folks who don't bother to check steembottracker before bidding, or do check it but don't understand the implications of what they see, so ruin the round for everyone. (I actually was that person one time, and by the time I realized it, I couldn't take it back!)