Some real gold in here J.J.

I think Medium isn't too fond of affiliate links (as you've noted) - or with you embedding "subscribe to my newsletter here" widgets in one's posts. Both of which are touted as key elements by bloggers.

Re: Promoting your blog via social media: I've also just tried tweeting 3x a day for 2 months (only 1/3 of these pointed back to my posts).

Whilst it did drive more traffic to my posts - it wasn't much; and I'm not sure the 2 hours a week spent doing it was a good use of my time.

Good luck on your journey!