My advise to newbies is to first off don't have any expectations, just put in the work and whatever happens, happens, and if it pays off count it as a nice bonus if anything. Secondly it would be to start off with a few posts but focus mainly on commenting on other peoples post that you find interesting (at least until you gain some "steem" (pun intended) and have a core followership), and no I don't mean mindless "great post" or "follow for follow" or any crap like that, I mean real comments that take time/effort and are relevant to the post you're commenting on (showing that you actually care and did in fact read it). Doing these things will over time lead to growth/relationships for the most part (some people will have more success then others but that is true with everything in life), and over time you may find yourself less of a Minnow and more of a Guppy or even Whale (but again any gains you get should be seen as a nice little bonus and should not be expected).

Hopefully the Steemit community in general will start to better understand this basic stuff as the platform evolves over time.