This is true. I have personal experience with how successful this can be. In the early days of my current local small business, I've did very well by connecting with local people on Twitter and then meeting them in person. That has turned into many referrals to my business.
I'm not sure how to do that with my goals on Steemit, but I'll remember this lesson and try to apply it. My goal is to get programming projects by connecting with people on Steemit. I've only been here a few weeks, but I can see that I'm already moving toward making that goal a reality.