I thought the same thing when I joined. It took me many months of posting before I really earned anything. Many more months after that to earn more than a few dollars. I kept at it though, and continued to network (make friends). Eventually I found myself ending up on the trending page.

I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of work. It is definitely possible though.

As far as what the whales are looking for - every one is different, but in general I would say they are looking for things/users that will make the value of their investment go up. As a user, you want to ask yourself the question - what can you do / post about that will add value to the platform.