People keep asking about free guest posts and link swaps. I've been down that road - most 'mutually beneficial' partnerships end up being a waste of time. You get spammed with low-quality sites or people who just want a free backlink without any real value.
If you're serious, you need a proper niche and a site that actually has traffic. The replies you'll get are mostly link builders with huge databases of junk. Not worth it unless you're playing volume games.
better approach? Create something worth linking to instead of chasing exchanges. But hey, if you've got a solid site in a non-shit niche, hit me up. Otherwise, save your DMs