is this low engagement normal?

Yes.

Recently, I made the tough decision to pull out of showcasing and exhibiting #Steem in Malta.

A trip I had planned and was going to once again fund out of my own pocket.

After making the decision to pull out of Malta, I decided to run the "I ❤ #Steem" Campaign.

Hopefully, after running the "I ❤ #Steem" Campaign, you will understand why I made the decision to pull out of Malta.

No one really cares!

I ran the the Campaign to see if it would swing my decision to re-book my flights and go to Malta in November.

I gave myself up until the end of last Sunday to make the decision.

That decision was then made.

There's absolutely no point in flying out to Malta, as I fear I would simply be throwing yet more money at promoting #Steem, money that I simply don't have to throw away.

I decided to take the generous up-vote that was given to me when I launched the campaign and gave away 500 #Steem just to see what reaction I got from the Community.

Excluding the generous up-vote prior to launching the campaign the return to myself was a significant loss.

Sure, don't me wrong, we are not talking big numbers here, but needless to say it was a significant loss.

Giving away approximately $70 (500 x $0.14) returned no more than $44.00 gross blog rewards in the x4 days I ran the campaign.

During these x4 days, apart from working on and promoting "I ❤ #Steem" I published no other blogs.

On other words, I feel if I had spent x20's that amount ie ~$1,400 to attend Malta, I fear I would have barely recovered nothing more than what I would have earned if I had not gone.

$70 was a great investment, as it finally helped me to cement those concerns that I have been having for nearly +2 years.

There is a significant lack of commercial awareness in the Community and I fear this still remains the biggest hurdle for the Community to overcome.

With over +30 years in Commercial Management, I have been banging my head against a brick wall trying to get this message across over the last +2 years.

This lack of commercial awareness, I feel, has to be addressed.

Without it I think the lack of engagement will continue.

Stephen