I believe you first have to have some Steem power as well as good reputation score but I think of the 2, steempower is most important. Then you upvote. When you upvote, you want to up vote good posts that you think will be receive good rewards (up votes) from others. You should not vote too early or too late in order to get the best curation rewards. It is a bit complicated but that is the best I can tell you.
I have no idea about curation. How to get curation rewards
I believe you first have to have some Steem power as well as good reputation score but I think of the 2, steempower is most important. Then you upvote. When you upvote, you want to up vote good posts that you think will be receive good rewards (up votes) from others. You should not vote too early or too late in order to get the best curation rewards. It is a bit complicated but that is the best I can tell you.