Building a relationship on Steemit is just the same as building a relationship in the real life. The only difference is that one is online and the other isn't.
To build a relationship, you need to make the other party genuinely interested in you.
That's what a relationship is all about. Two people interested in each other.
It may be because of the person's influence, money, charisma etc.
But to successfully build a relationship with someone on Steemit, you need to be genuinely interested in the person's affairs..
Keep tabs with the person's blog and make nice and meaningful comments and possibly leave a question for continued conversation and in no time, you have built a successful relationship.