Hello there and thank you for this informative post. I started out in September and my experience was just as you described in your post. I quit. And have regretted it immensely since my second coming. But to motivate me I read an article from a journalist describing their first experience with Steemit for the thirty days after starting out. They had also talked about the number of blog posts, replies, and amount of followers gained per day. Seeing this gave me a clear indication of the amount of blood, sweat, and tears involved. The first month is not fun, not rewarding, and can be downright frustrating. Grinding it out is worth it though. Have fun out there and good luck with your future posts!