Glad you found that blog post useful. I’d also take a look at his book, Strangers to Superfans. Like Newsletter Ninja, I think it’s the right way to think about cultivating a strong fanbase.
And the first community-building thing I did was installing Disqus on my site and responding to every comment. Once my comments rose into the hundreds, I couldn’t do that for every comment, but it definitely set the right tone in the beginning, and I do try to interact as much as I can now. (And I respond to pretty much every comment on Patreon.)
And speaking of tone, I modeled one of always taking the high-ground, never getting hot under the collar, always treating folks who disagreed with me with respect. That, I believe, set a certain tone for the community that shaped it going forward. Much more pleasant for me and the readers.
I just launched my Discourse site. I’m hoping that will also be a community builder. I encourage a lot of thoughtful discussion in the comments under each page (by responding and engaging.) I think having a forum might be a good fit for my readers. We shall see. 
Up until recently I spent almost all my time nurturing my current community, but 2019 will be different. I’m doing a deep dive into learning about Facebook ads and email onboarding sequences. (Currently, switching from Mailchimp to ConvertKit where I’m coming up with extensive onboarding sequences to get new readers up to speed about who I am and what free comics of mine are available to read.)
It’s all an experiment right now, but I’m optimistic this is the right path.
The path isn’t to “attract new patrons,” though, but rather to “attract new readers” which you then educate and nurture so they eventually become patrons. Work to attract the right audience, give them a great experience, and the Patreon support will come.