Good post.  

I agree with your comments on whales/minnows. My experience has been that whales are very supportive. But they've been here on Steemit long enough that they know how to detect great content from average content. My advice to minnows/plankton is to learn what it takes to produce the absolute best content possible. Most people can do better. It's just a matter of discipline. Head to some Discord groups, like @Promo-Mentors and @steemitbloggers and learn how the pros write and lay out their posts. Dedicate yourself to improving, be social and comment on others' posts a lot, and you'll see it pay off in the long run. Be patient.