hehe I'm not sure if it's easier.

The catch there is that you can't login to steemit.com with a WIF key, so you're going to be limited to using Hive account@xeroc 's piston.web

Also, you have to mine a POW before it creates the account, so technically you're paying for the account whereas an invitation is not only free but you get hooked up with some faucet money.