I've only been on for 2 days, and I can say that it's definitely possible to move up the ranks quickly.

However it can also be very disappointing when you work for an hour on a detailed post and it gets 10 views and a $0.01 profit - It quickly becomes discouraging. I rambled about it a bit earlier today:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@weaselhouse/steemit-s-troubles-a-newbie-s-perspective