It's the same fundamental misunderstanding. It's like launching a Facebook app and hoping the app directory helps you take off (in the early days there were people who did just this), or banking on getting mentioned on TechCrunch.
Now, I don't know what Rick Strom did or didn't do to market his apps, but success or failure isn't the App Store's fault. It removes a huge chunk of friction from the sales funnel, but it's all at the final, transactional step.
There's a big chunk in the middle which consists of marketing and, AFAIK, no app developer has talked extensively about their marketing efforts, only about their position in the App Store.
Rick is right: you're probably going to lose that game. Rather than go home I'd try to figure out a better game to play.