One of the issues with steemit it that the vast majority of users don't invest any money in it!
If you are a big youtuber or talented artist etc it is possible to grow your account fairly quickly without investing money.
But most people, that don't leave after a short while (a lot do) will still have tiny accounts (less than 500 dollars) after a years worth of time and effort!
Thats the reality of it.
If you invest time and money as I have done it speeds up the process.