Excellent that you posted this article on steemit. Actually the points that you mention are the very reasons why I'm here on this platform. I started from zero and built up a strong brand/blog in a couple of months that was even able to pay me an overseas trip I'm going to start next week.

That would have taken me much longer if I had launched an independent blog not being embedded in an already existing eco-system. Steemit is a great solution to people who are completely new to the blogging scene and want to generate their first earnings online.
Great and thought-provoking post, resteemed and followed!