It always works in a different way and there is always a passive reward for you for your reputation.
Say for example, last Byteball airdrop proportion was more for higher reputation and less for lower reputation and I think Byteball airdrop was one of the lucrative airdrop of 2018. So here your reputation generated that passive benefits for you.
Second aspect which I have personally experienced in steemit is that if your engagement is consistent in steemit and you are posting on a regular basis then there are certain bots which will upvote you with 2 or 3 sbd and they vote on the basis of your reputation.
A good reputation is always looked upon by others seriously and respectfully. They value you in this community.
You can get a loan(collateral based) from neoxian with good reputation in steemit.
There are other passive benefits as well you do not when suddenly your reputation will be cooking in your background and you suddenly want to improve your reputation to be eligible for some benefits like Byteball airdrop.
