It's not a question of how many upvotes. It is a question of who upvotes.

Steem Power is "ownership" in Steemit. The larger the owner the more influence they have in the platform (just like any company). Therefore, a large Steem Power holder's upvote is worth a larger currency amount, or Steem, than a smaller shareholder.

Like @vault said, if you want to make money than the goal is to figure out how to provide value to the shareholders, again like any other company.

Lastly, I suggest turning your Steem and Steem dollars into Steem Power so you too can become a shareholder.