You are absolutely right, @littlenewthings that there is not some specific success formula here although many constantly try to find it or figure it out. Waste of time!
Regarding dead followers, unfortunately, that's something we accumulate through time as some of them simply drop out (no matter why and when). Therefore and in an example, the user who is here only a month or two would certainly have significantly lower percentage of dead followers vs the total number of followers than an active user who was here from the beginning (something more than a year). That's somewhat the ugly side of the Steemit when our follower's base is in question.
In terms of earnings, I would say we are almost on the same page despite the fact we are living in different countries in between which the living costs may differ.
However, I calculated for me one that I would need to earn at least $40 per post (and post daily) only to cover my more or less essential living costs per month. I would really like to meet that goal.
Therefore, I'm going to follow your advice and ...
Keep Calm, make friends and Steem on!
😉😊