So, all those posts on how to make money tips on steem are great and help but the fundamental ways to get to the top is dundundundundun:

• Whales (obviously)
• Positivity. The more negative you are on steem the worse your chance for success. Even if you speak the truth like ole bacchist and myself meh don't matter whales hate it. While I disagree with that post, I think the unrestriction towards having a contrasting opinion on steem should be warranted; without getting so much flack for the so called status quo. Oh the irony, post the positive fluff and promote positivity, advocate it, then shoot down anything contrary. I'm not going to name the names...
• Audience. Outside Steem. This is another factor, that says if you had a following on medium or your site or social media your chances for success are increased, as whales like to upvote quality posts from people they can verify and know. @stellabelle @dollarvigilante @rogerkver @charleshosk to name many prove this, they all had blogs or presence before they hit steem.

Further thoughts:

Post and interact what you enjoy or believe in

That is exactly what I am doing and will continue to do, even if it gets no votes, I much prefer comments as that tells me someone actually read the stuff I write. Upvoting something is so passive, I do it 80% to grow my tiny krill power, not because I always agree with that post. Also, I upvote even if I don't like it, and I suspect I am not the only one to do this. Why bother to contribute or comment when you can make passive money stalking whales through steemwhales.com? Seriously. Just follow the patterns, maybe I should make a post on that in detail.

I comment on posts that don't have monetary value; upvote potential whale votes. It's like speculation lol through blogging.

Stop wishing for whale votes for money

It likely won't happen as the .1 percent get smaller as more krill come in. Supposedly will mean more whales but I say unlikely, it will mean more minnows with 1000-10000 Steem Power though. Whales won't make too much whales as they need to be a part of the elite which is small. Too many whales = too much money being circulated to minnows and krill defeating the minority and their power.

I stopped doing this. It is futile, I only post quality now as I don't want to be the guy who writes junk.

Comment more with good honest feedback

This. Very important. Pretty obvious but it kinda works. Got to stick to this as it goes back to whales. Even if your post won't be popular it doesn't matter, stick to integrity and what you believe in. A whale could throw you a bone if you really push this. It shows character. This will be crucial going forward into steem as low esteem and copy pasta will be highly discouraged.

Don't tailor towards whales

Stop trying to write how to get rich on steem. Ironically I realize the hypocrisy here, by mentioning it and giving whale tips lol I am not taking my advice. My only counter-argument to that is I wish to enlighten others on the reality to steem, you won't get rich, you won't get noticed easily, and writing articles tips on how to get rich on steem is the problem and why I will steer away from that, as it promotes groupthink and stagnation.

Bye! And have fun like craig grant promotes in his posts.