It is based upon the rep points of those who are upvoting your post. If the people upvoting your post do not carry any weight themselves, then it really isn't doing much for you. Unfortunately you need to get followed by a few whales in order to receive much in the way of recognition on this platform; that or be fortunate enough to accumulate a massive following of Steemsters who value your content enough to upvote it when they see it in their news feed. It's also a timing thing as well, with each vote that is cast a percentage of voting power is consumed...so, even if you get a followers with high rep points upvoting your post, if they do so after exhausting a majority of their voting power, then it isn't doing much for you either. It's a tricky system to get a grasp on. Hope this helps a bit!