For what this is worth, coming from a lowly plankton (I've only recently even learned of these terms, hehe), this is one of the best posts I've read on the subject of helping others here on Steemit. @brandonfrye also does a great job at helping others (I found him through his Youtube channel).
It really is so discouraging, knowing the stats you mention. Especially when time is factor. I just can't post quality content every day. But I'm determined not to give up. My plan is to make up for that by doing my absolute best with the posts I do manage to get to. If you have the time, you might enjoy my recent post about this... My intentions as a beginner steemit member, entitled What to do on Steemit...? I've finally got it!
Your post here has gone a long way in hardening my resolve... Knowing what one is up against is always important if one's to succeed. So thank you. For the tips, too.
Absolutely! I strive to be "the guy" I wish I'd met when I first showed up. Here's a tip from a pro writer, get an offline markdown editor, like MarkdownPad2, then next time you're working on a post, prep a second one. On that busy day, just pop it in real quick and post it. Maybe that helps? When I was doing a lot of ghost blogging, I'd spend about two whole days week writing client posts. (I'm very fast, though, I can write about 2500 words an hour when I'm on a roll.)