Great points. After two weeks here I can tell you that if you engage the community and are nice to people success is possible. I've gained 51 followers in my first 14 days. It took me 4 months to hit that same level at youtube.
It does help that steemit is more suited to the content that I create. I'm a photographer, videographer, and nonfiction/fiction writer. I'm excited about the opportunity and community that steem is.
Good point, I agree with you and welcome to steemit. Feel free to see my older blog posts for more tips-success to you.