Admittedly, I had a similar impression @dollarsandsense.
That said, last go around I built a successful blog, it was on the back of interaction, too... I was "visible" in 100's or related niche forums and groups, and an active commenter on similar blogs of quality... eventually had a following of about 18K, which regularly meant 3-4K page views on a new post.
I think it’s probably the same in any creative industry. When you are just starting out, whether as a blogger, musician, stand up comic, or painter, you need to engage with your audience or you probably won’t go anywhere.