Great to hear a bit of the back story man. Posting every day for one year was some acheivement and it is a quest that I have started out on, albeit my target was to post every day for one month, and I am on around day 45 now at this stage and going strong.
I agree wholeheartedly about the three pieces of advise that you lay out and it is something I am doing myself these days and it just kind of happened organically.
For anyone starting out though look at those early posts by @themarkymark - he could easily have walked away and said nah, not for me, but he didn't he persevered and has done really well - hats off to you man and thanks for the ongoing support, it really is appreciated.