Quite a long post with a lot of info. Comments kept popping up in my head while I was reading, and at the end I digested so much information that it’s hard to remember them all, so forgive me if the part below is a bit chaotic :0)

Let me start by saying that SteemIt More Info is indeed a tool no one can go without. You’ve got me curious: when I finish this comment, first thing I’m going to do is type @armandocat’s name in a post on my tablet :0)

I’m also on here full-time: I have been unemployed for over a year (by choice) and now I’ve just got surgery, so I’m not allowed to do anything but lie down and walk, which gives me plenty of time to explore SteemIt.

One of the things I learned along the way is that if I try to hard, it won’t work. I wrote a piece for Jerry’s contest too, but decided not to publish it - I even erased the entire story - because it wasn’t good enough, it was too forced... I tried to hard.
I learned that if I don’t write with the audience in mind, my writings are not only (slightly) better, but it’s also a very good therapy to get things off my chest or out of my mind.

Of course I have the luxury that I don’t have to earn from my posts (which helps in writing freely), so I can really focus on the community. Never in my life I have learned so much (about everything, but especially about myself) in such a short time span as here on SteemIt.

And as you described, the key to success here is engagement. The more you talk to others, - ask them for advice, share ideas, or simply chit-chat - the more your posts will be seen, because you’re building a network of ..(can I use the word ‘friends’?)

IMHO, the less you’re looking or searching for votes, the more real you become, and the more people will find you.

The SteemIt community is amazing, and there are such a lot of sub-communities you can check out and get involved in - those are the ones that will enrich your life, more than the money will ever do...