As with anything, success comes with time, effort, and perseverance. Part of the issue is that Steemit's user base is still relatively small and only and small number of members have enough STEEM Power to cast votes to make a post big money. That will slowly change over time as more and more people join and the early adopters start accumulating larger amounts of STEEM Power. Todays "minnows" will become tomorrow's "dolphins" whose votes will be worth much more. Just keep working on developing a following on the platform and in a year or two it may start becoming lucrative for you. Just wait for your "minnows" following you to morph into dolphins later. Given the rate of compound interest for STEEM Power holders, it won't take a long time before the early adopters start accumulating some serious voting power (and wealth!)