SteemIt can be a tough nut to crack. I am sad to see that there are many authors who drop scores of posts without getting rewards.
One of the best of ways to break into SteemIt is to join a SteemIt Community. A well run community will have dedicated moderators who assure that the small accounts that post in the community receive upvotes and rewards.
A post needs a minimum of $0.02 in upvotes to receive a reward. The rewards come from interest on STEEM POWER. The general rule is that one needs over $500 in STEEM POWER to deliver a $0.02+ upvote. The exact cutoff changes with the price of STEEM and the size of the reward pool. Currently, one needs about 3000 SP to deliver a $0.02 reward.
Before posting to a SteemIt Community, one should study both the content and the voting patterns of the community.