Questions and concerns about the platform and rules of engagement for my followers

So tomorrow marks my 100th day on Steemit and I still haven't quite got the hang of it. Well I do know that quality posts are rewarded and believe I'm doing ok in that regard. But I have some questions for those who might know.

When you post, is it frowned upon to promote using bots? Because I notice a lot of trending posts are popular because the user paid for them to be. How is it rewarding when you pay more for a vote than you receive? Also notice I don't receive any further upvotes after paying unless I pay another promoter. Seems you can only get the attention if you spend. I'm not complaining because I've had a few posts trend without having to pay. What is the best way? I've tried different tags that are relevant to what I'm posting and can only get so far. Maybe I'm just being impatient and it will take some more time. It is great to be here though and I'm here to stay.

As far as my followers, there is something I want to address. If you comment on my posts, I will upvote your comment only if its substantial and has meaning. "Nice Post" doesn't cut it and if I have time to notice you're using that same phrase on every post you see, you will get flagged. We are for quality content here. Also if you expect an upvote on your comment, please return the favor and upvote the post your commenting on. As of right now I won't be upvoting users who comment just to get an upvote. I believe that's fair.

Ending this post with my personalized Steemit logo:

Thanks for reading