I've been surprised how easy it has been to generate sales from people who know me, but how difficult it's been to create sales from strangers. To me, it proves three things:
1.) "Build it, and they will come" is not a great marketing strategy, and
2.) Relationships matter in business, and the more meaningful connections you can make, the better. And finally,
3.) If you want to sell to strangers, your value proposition and the problem your product solves have to be clearly and adequately explained.