As per my other comment about newbies, I agree with you, they cannot afford it and it takes most of them more than 3 months to become independent.

The idea of promoting a post by bid...I like it, but maybe it should stay on your front page for 2 days, then, have a button we can click to see the last three posts you promoted (makes them feel you gave them extra value).

Those who want to show appreciation for all you offer us should then reward those bidders by upvoting and/or commenting on their post.

From what you say, you basically need to have at least $20 per day. Set the min bid for 10STEEM - to win the bid, we'll have to bid higher.

At the worst, it should seriously reduce your reliance on voting only.