Upvoted because you didn't ask me to :)

I agree with you here wholeheartedly. If you offer something of value, you shouldn't have to ask for a vote. At the end of my writing lesson posts (which I hope add value to some Steemers), my 'call to action' is to see if anyone has any questions on the content. I always feel a bit sad when someone comments just asking me to follow them, but I can tell they haven't read the post. I wonder if that's simply because there is money to be made... does that inherently just take away from the potential for good conversation/dialogue?

Your three bullet points are especially useful. Thanks for this!