Wow, so you are one of those who succeeded on steemit without buying in to Steem? I haven’t gotten anywhere near $1000 for a post. My best payout was $200 and I’ve been chasing that ever since. After 3 months of serious steeming (and 3 months of not so serious steeming), I have brought my average post payout from $1 to $5. That’s exciting enough, but I hope to keep it up and be able to make a living from steemit since I met able to do what I love to do here, connect, share ideas and build community. I also hope to grow bigger and start passing out some Steem to struggling minnows.