It’s not uncommon for me to get several emails a month asking to provide a guest post to this blog.  They come from all types; individual bloggers, publishers, authors, companies, etc. The requests are similar. They start with wonderful platitudes about the  blog, me and the content.  They go on to express their confidence that their content would be a wonderful addition to the blog and something this community would find highly beneficial.  They all politely ask if I’d consider a guest post from them and that they would greatly appreciate it.  Most, if not all, of these emails are respectful, well written, and conversational, yet they all lack one thing — familiarity.

With the rarest of exceptions, I don’t know any these people. I’ve never met them. I never heard of them. I don’t know anything about their writing, their business or them in general. They are strangers. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, they are sending me spam.

I don’t see any reason why this should ever happen to me or any other blogger, no matter how big or small their blog is.  The very nature of blogs is that they are designed to be engaging and build communities.  Therefore, it seems to me, that if you want to be a guest blogger on someones blog, participate in their community.

The A Sales Guy community is a good community.  It’s a smart community, passionate about sales and personal growth. I can’t think of a community easier to become a part of.

It baffles me that based on the relative ease at which we can endear ourselves to the communities that interest us most, we still spam and interrupt our way into asking for favors. In todays online world, there is no excuse for not knowing anyone with an online presence. Whether it’s via Twitter, Linkedin groups, Quora, or blogs, building a relationship with the people you want to know is as easy as committing and engaging.

I don’t accept many guest posts on A Sales Guy. But, I have done some and suspect I will do more in the future. When I do decide to do a guest post you can be sure I will know who the person is.

If you want to provide a guest post for this blog, spare me the pain of another email and join the community. Get involved, participate in the comments, share your opinions, challenge mine and participate. The rest will take care of itself.

We are in an engagement society, engage!