Even if you only make $0.50 per article, it's still more than I ever did for 2 years while paying for hosting, domain names and plugins.

right on the nail head! (is that even a term?) i think that a lot of people who don't find success don't realize both the competition and also how hard it is outside of steemit to ever have a shot at blogging and earning a living. I was surprised to come to steemit and find relative good success. Am i there yet, no. but i can see small steps all the time. nothing comes easy, not even on steemit. But as my skills improve so does the attention for my articles.