It's not the amount of votes but the weight of the votes. If someone with a lot of steem power votes you earn more.
If the price of STEEM goes up you earn more (at least the equivalent amount in fiat currency)
There is a "fixed" amount of STEEM created every day. The posts with the larger amount of votes (as described in the first bullet) get a larger piece of the pie.
The blockchain pays out seven days after the posts are published.
The best way to earn more is to get more followers. So commenting on other people's posts is a good strategy.
Oh and comments can also earn you STEEM if they get upvoted.
As for what I've observed, you would need more than 20 likes to being paid, but it depends too of how many promoters you have. Sometimes you got 80 likes and some steemit dollars, like 4 or more.
It depends on who votes on your post.
For more information check www.steemithelp.com
Actually it depends on a lot of factors:
The best way to earn more is to get more followers. So commenting on other people's posts is a good strategy.
Oh and comments can also earn you STEEM if they get upvoted.
Finally...welcome :)
As for what I've observed, you would need more than 20 likes to being paid, but it depends too of how many promoters you have. Sometimes you got 80 likes and some steemit dollars, like 4 or more.