Persistence on Steemit will certainly pay off and help out financially as long as you post the best content you have, engage with every comment left for you and engage in others posts that interest you. Accumulate Steem Power as it will allow you to earn more and have patience for a few months :)

Someone that I've interacted with in posts a few times on here decided to upvote my last post to the tune of 25 SBD - Almost $200 from one person if SBD stays around $7-8.

Search for contests as well - a great way to earn STEEM/SBD by submitting a post or comment

I recently won 245 Steem from @good-karma during his Steem Advent yearly contest by simply leaving a 3 sentence comment. I am still dumbfounded by his generosity! $1200 from a single comment - How's that for inspiration? :)