In order to have any type of stake I don't see any other way then to buy-in for quantity . Us 2018 entries did not hit the SBD reward ,mining or any of the other ways to get/earn steem that the 2017's offered.
Now the rewards are low and being part of communities does help.
With all that said it is a great time to be in steem for both reward and growth. Let us not overlook all the advancements
Yep, those that had the opportunity with high SBD and didn't take it might have missed a bigger opportunity. 10 Steem for an SBD was a decent conversion, many sold to fiat.
Buying is smart, earning to increase the ROI smarter.