Yesterday we talked about why it is important to leverage your relationships with other bloggers and how it can help you grow. One of the things you can do to deepen a relationship with a fellow blogger is to offer to host a guest blog post for them. It’s a win-win situation that helps out both of you.

Let's take a look at some of the obvious benefits:

• free blog content
• the guest blogger gets in front of your audience and a link back to their site
• cross-promotion on social platforms = more traffic to your site and you reach a new audience

That is a lot of win-win for everyone.  Not only does the guest blogger get in front of your audience but you get to be in front of their audience as well.

Your readers win as well. Not only do they get to read a great post with a new perspective they will also find a new blog they haven’t come across before.  Your readers will see your blog as a great resource for content they love.

Last but not least a guest blog post is a great way to introduce a fellow blogger to your audience. If the two of you have some big plans for collaborations and cross promotions in the future, this is a great way to make the introduction to your readers in an easy-going, non-pushy way.

A great way to warm your audience up to an upcoming guest post, especially if there are products for sale, is:

1. mention the blogger and tag them on social media
2. share a few of their posts with your audience
3. do a fun little interview and broadcast it live on social media

Not only will this make your readers more comfortable but your chances of converting readers into customers will also go up as your audience gets to know the other blogger.

You can also turn the table and write guest blog posts for other bloggers. Think about starting a cross-blog conversation. So many different ways to work together and help each other grow.