Actually, 1000 SP is nothing to be ashamed of. If you look at all of the accounts overall and the amount of SP held by them your 1000 SP should put you in the top tier of users. I think I read one time that holding 500 SP puts you in the top 5% of users on Steem. I could be totally wrong, but when you are dealing with a million accounts, it wouldn't be that surprising. Either way, you are doing awesome and that is quite the accomplishment. I would probably be right there with you if I hadn't bought a little Steem. I know that @cryptoandcoffee is getting close to 5000 and he has done it all via posting and curation.