Congratulations on this great elevation, but frankly I think that right now there are only cronyism (which happened before and just outside of Steemit) that works. I saw the curves which show that there is about 1,700 articles posted daily: how many earn less than $ 1?
The problem here is the same as in real life: if you do not have relationships, you are worthless.
Or you have to work hard to get to the top, there are always shortcuts, but if there isn't you have to take the long road.