Isn't it great that we can have a conversation with respect even from opposing viewpoints?
I did not mean to belittle the effort you have put in to getting to where you are, I can definitely relate to your journey! And I have huge respect for your efforts to publish in english when it is not your native language. Your posts are clear and concise, and I could never even put together a sentence in any language that I am not native to. Mad respect for that.
I've always advocated that the best way to build your network is in other people's comments. There is too much in the Recent feed to wade through for useful content discovery to take place there, unless you are a curator who is making a job of such actions (I was once a curator for @curie, I know the struggle of scrolling through all the feeds). So you go to people's posts and comment and hopefully get a reaction and build a relationship.
But then your own Blog has to be something that they are interested in so they follow and continue the conversation in your own blog. I think here is where you have done a masterful job of picking your niche. Writing about Hive, Blockchain, SEO, these are topics that a lot of the whales are interested in. But if everyone wrote about these topics, HIVE would be a pretty boring place. Where are the big stake holders who want to read about daily life, sports, parenting, or other more social based content?
I think part of my problem is I am old, (said tongue in cheek) and I don't adjust to change easily. I will be the first to admit, I don't understand communities enough, and am too set in my ways to learn. It seems like a lot of success is coming from the community accounts, like your @bdvoter. Maybe I should try to start a community for Hivers in Tennessee, because a USAVoter would be way to broad to still do any content discovery.
You've done a great job, I am not trying to belittle that at all. My key point here I suppose is the disclaimer that "individual results may vary". For every account like yours that has found success, there are those who have not. But to wrap it back around to your YouTube analogy, for every YouTuber making a living posting videos there are hundreds who have an audience of 10, not everyone is cut out for success on YouTube, or on Hive. That doesn't mean we should stop trying, it is just means that some people won't ever get discovered, and that is okay.