Happy one year milestone. The important thing is that you hanged on for 1 year. I am also a veteran minnow whose earnings are also on the low side. The only difference being, I can afford to treat Steemit as a hobby and not as a source of income. But who would not hope to earn more at Steemit. I also put in a lot work to create quality content and I also take the time to interact with others through my curation and commenting. Hope that through your perseverance you will get better earnings.