Writes past DinnerGuest Jane Friedman in The Four Stages of Marketing & Promotion (and MWW Recap):

People who know you and trust you will be more likely to help you. That’s why it’s important to establish relationships far before you market and promote a product/service. The relationships have to be meaningful before they have value in a marketing/promotion effort, particularly online.

Bingo!

People can sniff insincerity a mile away, and like one of my friends has often said, “Takers suck.”