If you want to get promotion for this post + use paid votes, you can either decline payout (you can see those post don't get DV's) or you can set the author rewards to @null or @steem.dao - you can see examples of post like this on trending that did not get DV'd either.

Paid votes offer ROI by nature. Had you not gotten DV's on this post, you would have received ROI. So the best option, if you want to promote, is to simply burn author rewards.
I agree, there should be an easier way, like blending the promoted tab with trending in some way that isn't overly intrusive. But right now, what I mentioned above is the best option.

You stacked a lot of paid votes on this, the average trending for top 5 is around 70-80$ atm, if you want the top spot you will need to go higher. But the top spot really shouldn't be a bid botted post. I am not goint to leave a big DV this time because I see you were not aware, but in the future please don't feel the need to stack large paid votes that undermind organic curation and dilutes the reward pool for other users. I would have gladly given this post a 100% upvote, and I know others that would have as well. #NewSteem