@orangejelly at one point I got caught up in trying to develop a niche to build a following and I felt almost boxed in with little results to show for it.

At some point, I came across an interview with Joe Rogan and he was asked about his own success with his YouTube show. One of the most important statements in his reply was he largely didn't care what the audience wanted or expected - he only interviewed people or spoke about things he found interesting. He also did not aggressively promote because he felt it pissed people off and pushed them away more than brought them on as fans.

After hearing that interview, it made me change my content "strategy" on Steemit. I write about things which interest me, make me laugh and I care about. It's become more of my laboratory than my passive income stream. As a result I find myself engaged in more activities and experiencing more outside of Steemit which I may sometimes share on here.

I would suggest you explore and write about those lives and interest, but do it from a point if view where the Steemit community can learn more about you. If they wanted to learn about a subject, there are 1,000,000 resources. Learning about a subject from your experiences and context is what the world as a whole is looking for.