Couple more ideas if you want to use Steemit to earn - try checking out the Minnow Support Project. They run a bunch of competitions and help you get followers, boost your reputation and Steem power. I did a scavenger hunt run by @aggroed and ended up with almost $10 worth of STEEM.
https://steemit.com/trending/minnowsupportproject
I also regularly post photos - on #photography there are daily contents based on various themes and a lot of people follow those and upvote generously. I'll regularly net $0.50 for a single photo. If you like photos and have a decent online album of old shots use Google to search it for whatever the theme word is, pick out a good one and post it.
Some of the photo challenges are curated and have a prize offering:
Thanks a lot for these original suggestions! I'll definitely take a look at them :).