It depends on what you have to say and how well you go about saying it. A very few people reading your stuff can get the ball rolling. If one of the major aggregation sites picks up on you you could easily see a few thousand visitors from one article. And possibly much more than that.

If a few of those put you in their reader the next post will get traction a bit quicker, assuming you keep the quality constant.

It's a long process but the value of the kind of following you build up like that is likely a lot higher than from 'stunts'.

If you build a solid reputation and you continue to treat your audience with some respect, they're likely to be loyal for a long time.

edit: and if you're just writing to up your follower count in twitter then you have to stop and ask yourself what the actual goal is that you are trying to achieve. The number of people following you on social news sites does not automatically translate in to clout. It's just an abstract, a number. If it makes you happy to see a larger number then go for it, but other than that the question is: "what are you going to do with those followers?"

Are you going to somehow harness the power of the people that receive your tweets / posts or is it just a numbers game?

For some, it is apparently all about the numbers. Others, with far smaller 'followings' meanwhile (but with a good plan and some respect and serious intentions) will move mountains.

If you want to achieve some goal it is unlikely that a simple increase in your follower count is going to help you to achieve that goal. It's just a (very small) tool that may help you along the way when used wisely. And when used badly it can cut you just as easily. Reputations are built up slowly and destroyed in a heartbeat.