Great content and the money
Everytime someone complains about Steem and all that whale blablabla I think the only reason why some post earn more money then others is:
Luck, they write the right stuff at the right time
Great and interesting content
Just look at a few people who have earn more than 1000$ on #introduceyourself
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@neilstrauss/introducing-neil-strauss-and-a-steemit-book-club
The reason why I up vote these posts (and I think many others too) is that they are great content. If I would meet that person, I would like to drink a beer with them.
Here at Steem you see a lot of great people and most of them who post on #introduceyourself and earn a lot of money are people who have done something in their life. They don't sit all the time in front of their PC. They are creative, interesting and they show us, that with hard work you can make something great out of your life.
They have a passion
I think that many posts that gain a lot of money are post were you see that the writer believe in Steem, they like the community and they want to be part of it.
Steem is a pretty fun platform and of course if you have a talent or look sexy it's easier. But I think we should not be so greedy for money. Instead we should try to create nice content.
Content creation is not easy yet everyone is trying to do it expecting the results they see on the front page. Just like everything else in life in order to have success it takes energy! The better and more energy you put in you will eventually get out. That's why I love Steemit. It forces me to work harder and smarter for every little bit I get.