Right now it's probably impossible to become a successful user on Steem but this wasn't the case in 2016, or 2017. Changes happened to Steem which removed that. I started posting on Steem in 2016. In 2016 you could start with an account with almost no Steem and earn your way to whale status. Some posters actually did exactly that by posting.

Who can do that now? No one. It doesn't matter how good your content is or how you post, you'll never move up the ranks. And the current whales will not stop dumping the price.