As far as I know (I'm new on this too, btw), the steem is a cryptocurrency. With it, you'll be paid by posting anything you desire to share. The number of like your post have would determine the payout, or at least is what I've understood. Welcome to Steemit!
Cool, so like how many likes do you need to get paid?
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.