Your'e welcome @organduo!  I don't think it's absolutely necessary to invest in a bunch of Steem right out of the gate. Although there are many more users now than there were when I joined in 2016, in some ways I feel it's easier to get noticed than it used to be. 

There are many accounts which are set up to help creators of good content get traction now (like @sndbox). My advice would be to reach out and utilize these tools at our disposal now.  Sndbox is especially helpful because they have posting guidelines you have to follow in order to get their support, this forces content creators to become better. It takes a while to get noticed here but if you keep readjusting your approach until you find your niche you will eventually get there. 

Another word of advice is to engage in other people's posts by leaving substantive comments on people's content you connect with. So many new users make the mistake of leaving spammy comments on 100 posts a day (i.e., "Love your work. I write good stuff too! Check out my blog!") when they'd connect with far more people if they left 5 genuine comments.  The spammy comments actually drive people away.  I hope this helps! Best of luck to you.