The tip that I am going to give has helped me tremendously to not give up on Steemit.

Focus on building repeat followers and do not focus on the trending section

Some people have that lucky horseshoe placed somewhere close to them and they are able to soar through Steemit with flying colors. Other people have trouble getting seen, this can cause disappointment. Being glued to the trending section can sometimes become overwhelming. Instead, focus on engaging your followers in your post, go to their post and provide quality comments. Its a slower process but when you cater to your followers needs and build good relationships with them, eventually your repeat followers will help you out and Upvote your post. Gain enough loyal followers and your payouts should eventually start to climb.