Hello there, @zedcm!

Starting on this site is very complicated... and the earnings are not as straightforward as you may think. Many posts you see are being promoted, meaning that people are paying to get those rewards and making their posts more visible.

There are countless Daily Upvote Services as well... and if you look at my posts, you'll see that a big part of my earnings are coming from services that I've invested in.

Yes, I paid to get some daily upvotes... and many others did it, too.

So, you should not be comparing your earnings to others because we all have different strategies.

I advise you to follow @ayushjalan and read his articles. He's been explaining this rather well: https://steemit.com/steemit/@ayushjalan/my-1st-steemit-anniversary-everything-i-learned-from-my-journey

I spent 3 or 4 months posting everyday... and earning next to zero. So don't be discouraged by that because it happens with everyone.

Just stay on your path and be consistent... and followers will come. I also suggest you look into the @pifc community and enter some contests. @brittandjosie has been running a lot of contests lately. @worldcapture has a weekly photo contest you can definitely enter... The main thing is to get yourself out there, start interacting with others and soon you'll have a few loyal followers.

I hope these tips help you.