First playthrough feeling weak as a summoner

How do i get better gear and earn more gold? I feel extremely weak, im on act 2 and just getting destroyed by all the minions. I can't seem to progress very far and if i do i always end up getting destroyed.

I'm struggling to find decent gear also and earn gold how can i get around this? I put all my stat points into skeletons and vitality with a small amount of strength. I don't even know what im supposed to be picking up for gold.