Its a very strange platform. I have $400 pending article there, on my 3rd day of joining. If you plan to plagiarize it won't work, because cheetah will mark your post. If you act like a beggar people will ignore you. Only way to actually succeed there is to care about content and people, be creative and don't think about money. If you are trying to get a quick buck, you will fail. People will sense your intention. Start with blank document, don't scrape around for topics and ideas.
My advice is to NOT think about money.
Think about giving value. Forget standard boring way that works with mainstream media. Mainstream media can be manipulated. On steemit you don't have to, and you shouldn't. There is no product to sell. Its not stuff ads down someones throat type of thing. Just be yourself and talk about your passion, real passion, tell your story. Why? It might be a while before anyone notice you. If you are writing for the money, first few articles will earn pennies, and you won't stay long enough to be noticed.