Not really much of an article is it, could be summarised as 'How I ordered a cheap PCB by choosing one of the many companies offering to build cheap PCBs'. I was expecting a little more DIY from the title.
There are definite advantages to etching a PCB at home - if you make a mistake that you only discover on assembly, you can make a new run in hours instead of weeks - but soldermask, small vias, and small features are much easier at a real plant. And you won't beat the prices.
He recommends http://dirtypcbs.com/, I personally have had a lot of success with https://oshpark.com/ - local support, you only need 3 boards (not 10) for prototypes, and they do 2-layer in 12 days for $5/sq inch and 4-layer in 2 weeks for $10/sq inch. Once you need a production run, take it to Gold Phoenix.
My soldering skills are approximately good enough to do 0.1 inch pitch pins about 90% of the time, which isn't really good enough for surface-mount, and most modern microprocessors don't come in anything else.
Solder stencils are also easy enough to create, especially if you have access to a laser cutter.
Are there any hackerspaces near where you live?
http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/build-diy-soldering-stenci...
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59
Cheap PET stencils are available from OSH Stencils and SMT Stencil. For small boards, it's not difficult to dispense solder paste by hand with a syringe. The application doesn't need to be precise if you're using a board with a solder mask - surface tension does the hard work for you.
https://www.oshstencils.com/pricing.php http://www.smtstencil.co.uk/
Just don't use lead free solder.
The biggest problem I see with hand soldering is people not using enough flux (get a no-clean flux pen, they're amazing) and then just blaming the solder when they can't get it to flow... Reflow will do similar if you let the flux dry out (keep it in the fridge - I often put it in a zip-lock bag to try and really keep moisture out also).
I've never actually used them but their online tooling is impressive, they have reasonable prices for low quantity assembly, and they've manufactured and fulfilled a few kickstarter projects.
My issue was with the word 'made'. If I see a title for 'I made x' I expect a little more than 'I ordered x'. I'm not going to make an article about 'How I made an iPad' if I just ordered one from Amazon.
It doesn't even say, but I assume (from the picture of the unpopulated board) that the OP also soldered the board, which is even more "doing".