Yes. That's true. Some of them are however not straightforward. I tried out dmania this past weekend and what I noticed is that dmania upvotes majorly those who use bid bots to promote their posts. It's not good enough. I hope I'm not talking like a loser.
Busy has been trying. I guess consistency is what pays at the end.
No you don't sound like a loser. I've used is Busy but I've only used it like 3 times.
Also I've used Steepshot in the past because I also love taking photos.
I guess it really depends on which kind of content you are trying to create. Not everyone cares to blog so I get that.