I said this several weeks ago when Steemit opened up properly, and I will say it again. I do not appreciate people asking for votes and I strongly feel that their work should do all the talking. If someone consistently produces quality content, maintains a solid level of activity and otherwise engages with the community, that someone is bound to gain readers and thus, slowly, upvotes. I would much rather encourage people to focus on producing as opposed to shouting the loudest to get votes, however you wrap the latter.
The question I ask here is, I'll sooner or later reach 200 followers, to celebrate It I will give away to random followers some SBD (assuming I have some SBD at the time) but they will need to up vote celebration post to become eligible to win the SBD. If I do this, It's clearly abuse aka vote buying, but If I set the rule for them to up vote only with 1% vote weight, does that make it acceptable? Now some may ask why do you require them to up vote, well that makes sure the reward is given to someone who actually follows me and isn't following just because..
On that what you are saying in the comment I strongly agree, work should speak for itself and get rewarded accordingly.
Agree. I don't like just asking for votes. However, I have warmed to the idea of experimentation like steemsports. I don't see a lot of difference between that and the many crowdfunding posts. Yes the participants get a potential return but the way it is presented, managed, and marketed also adds value to the platform.