A lot of people seem to come to this amazing blockchain and expect to become rich overnight.
I can tell you for a fact that this is not going to happen.
Looking at this blockchain as the donkey above that shits money is something of an illusion. If you do not invest a decent amount of money to get your return then you will have to make it through being active.
What can happen is that you will create a nest egg on this platform that might provide you with a nice additional income stream you did not have before if you are smart enough to keep most of your returns vested as SP.
I see a lot of new steemians write their blogs and then take out the few SBD to the exchanges and exchange for fiat. Is that wrong? Not per se but if you take it out to put it in your bankaccount then I would argue that that is a wrong move. If you need this money for your daily survival then this is another matter.
The way the Steem ecosystem is set up makes it so that the bigger your Steem power is the easier it is to obtain followers. Personally I have kept roughly 90% of my generated SP and SBD on the platform. I have invested a bit in the beginning and now that I have kickstarted my account and am generating more revenue I have taken most of that initial investment back out.
One can look at SP as Fame in the real world.
If you have a lot then people will follow you. This is as much true on Instagram/Youtube as it is on Steem. And the more Fame or SP you have the easier it is to get more.
Do you need to be an amazing writer to make the big bucks? Not really. One could argue that the Kardashians are not really bringing anything useful to the world either... (they are famous none the less)
You need to create a following and those will create their own value (this is even more true here on steem)
I know I am not the best writer in the world but I would say I usually bring some added value to this platform. I have slowly built up a following to close to 1000. This is not enormous but its not small either and it keeps growing. And this is the key...
We need to keep up a posting Rhythm (otherwise we get the blues) as this will keep your followers entertained (that means you guys and gals) and this will generate a small passive income from people that will put you on autovote (use steemvoter as a free service) if you consistanly create at least decent content.
The second thing is adding to your passive income. I have been delegating some of my SP for a while now and this has been generating a bit of SBD continuously. From a certain amount (I would say 300sp+) I would advise everyone to start delegating at least 30% of their SP. That way you can be sure that you have your money working for you. This is a bit like putting it into a savings account
(one that actually generates revenue) and having your little pile of coins grow bigger every day on its own accord.
That is also why i have increased my delegation to 
Another way is to subscribe to a vote selling service like Smartsteem or Minnowbooster to sell your surplus voting power. (Personally I prefer the Smartsteem service since I help them out behind the scenes a bit and know they are a good service, but the choice is yours)
If you want to start generating some passive income here on steem on top of your votes earned with your precious brain-juice (to quote Cedric Dahl) then click on the banner below
So are you being smart (I think its smart at least, only the future will tell)and are you building up passive income and thinking of the farther future or are you convinced that all this is just a bubble and that you need to take out what you can as fast as you can???