As a business owner, you wear a lot of hats, regardless of how well they fit. But there’s one hat you simply can’t afford to take off: your partnerships with other local businesses.

Aligning with local businesses is vital to growing your product or services. Here are some ideas to get started:

The best local business partners tend to share similar philosophies, products, and/or services. Partnering with someone who attracts your target customers, or who gets the word out on your business without forcing you to do any extra legwork, is effective cross-promotion. Even better, local cross-promotions tap into your ideal customer, in your own neighborhood, who may not yet know about your products or services.

Imagine advertising directly to your partner company’s built-in customer base of people who are already interested in what you’re offering. Creating social media promotions that include a local business is another efficient way to expand the number of eyes that see your business.

For the really ambitious, you can generate interest on social media, then move into the real world. For example, use Facebook to organize an event based around a service or product that fits both your business model and that of your partner. Then host a get-together where people can see and try out those same products.

How have you created top-notch partnerships with local businesses that benefit both of your bottom lines?