Hello, Brent, and Welcome to Steemit.

Creating quality content is what drivers Steemit, so people such as yourself are essential for its further growth. You clearly have expertise in a number of fields, and if you bring that "wisdom" to this platform, you will (eventually) find success along with it.

As for the cross-posting, I believe it's not only allowed, it's encouraged. Essentially, you're in charge of your blog, and you can do with it what you choose – as long as you do not harm the platform or anyone on it.

And you're right about the "ton of potential." I started blogging several times in the past, but abandoned each attempt, primarily because I got no recognition or rewards.

On the other hand, once I started on Steemit, I was off and running, and I have not looked back for the past 8 months. To a great extent, Steemit has already fulfilled many of my goals.

But its further potential is mind-boggling!

Below are a few basic points of advice re posting on Steemit.
1 – Longer posts are more lucrative than short posts. If you make a post of 20–30 paragraphs, it's more likely to earn rewards.
2 – Include some photos, images or graphs, to complement the text.
3 – Make sure the text and photos are formatted properly, so that your post looks attractive and appealing.
4 – Be yourself.
5 – Be interesting and informative.
6 – Create quality content. Steemit is intended to be a platform of quality content. (You will see many insignificant posts with meager content and no quality. Most of those of posts [called “shitposts” by Steemit whale Stellabelle] will earn few rewards and soon pass into oblivion.)
7 – Get online and start curating. Read various posts, comment on those posts you find interesting, and upvote those posts. That’s the best way to attract followers.

Hope this helps for now. Good luck, and Full Steem Ahead!