100% - writing isn't about having readers from day one. It's about learning how to express yourself. I've been blogging for 6 years now. When I started I had no idea what I wanted to talk about, so I just used it to flush out thoughts I had.
You will find an audience as you find your voice. What you hae to say will resonate as you get better at writing (±12 months of consistent writing is a good rule of thumb to start building a readership).
Forget money. Forget "professional network" even. Just focus on having conversations with people who are passionate about things you're passionate about. If you're lucky, you'll interview a hero of yours.
1) Swiftype (or any of Algolia's integrations - WordPress, ZenDesk, Shopify, Magento, ...) - here you talk about Algolia's developer focus, but the rest of your arguments are about the consumer experience. All search engines are built by developers/engineers, and Algolia delivers end-user experience on Twitch, Periscope, Medium, and even HackerNews (hn.algolia.com), which are exactly what you're looking for. You can actually use Algolia to create all the search engine experience ideas you have, and it takes less time (which you don't have)
You will find an audience as you find your voice. What you hae to say will resonate as you get better at writing (±12 months of consistent writing is a good rule of thumb to start building a readership).
Forget money. Forget "professional network" even. Just focus on having conversations with people who are passionate about things you're passionate about. If you're lucky, you'll interview a hero of yours.