I know a lot of people have made good money here and I've spent some of my earnings on things like a guitar and trips to Hivefest. That's harder to do now, but there's still no minimum threshold to get paid. Maybe people can earn on Youtube if they post every day and have thousands of fans, but the rest of us can earn something here doing whatever we feel like. If people with a small audience can bring their fans to Hive then that may make a difference.

3speak has improved somewhat recently so may be worth another look.