I followed that exact same path. Just was hard since blocks were rare with those pools and I’m not online 24/7. ViaBTC has an option to basically pay for your hash rate, whether or not they hit a block. They just take a higher fee (4% I believe). So has been nice to have a steady flow of a few sats whenever I’m hopping online vs hoping these smaller pools get a block. If you find other pools you like please share!