Hello @sarahankers
First of all welcome to Steemit.
The best way to make money here is to help others and to care for the community. Steemit is a place to share what you love and sharing is caring.
So don´t go out thinking about what you can get , instead think about what you can give.
you can take a look at my blog @rcartax and you will see that i'm always sharing tings i like. For example i share lots of photos of my son, even thought that doesn't pay a lot there are people that like that and i have started to gain followers.
There are ways to gain more up votes like the tool i talk about here https://steemit.com/upvotes/@rcartax/more-up-votes-for-your-post-s
But the most important thing is to make original, quality and positive content.
Have fun and SteemON!