This is a great post @sircharles.
I wouldnt call mine much of a success story but I feel it is worthwhile sharing. When I also joined steemit the returns and complications, altogether made it seem pretty difficult..no, not pretty difficult, it made it very difficult to tag along. There were several moments I contemplated quitting. But once in a blue steemit moon, I got a double figure on my post, and even though it wasn't over the top as juxtaposed to some of my comrades, I still found a reason to push on and take steemit seriously. I like to think of myself as someone who is still learning on steemit so I take whatever comes and try to look for ways to be better at content creation and every other thing necessary to be a success on steemit..I love your post. I urge you to keep going just as you are committed to doing.