By Michele Scism
The Results Lady

Have you taken part in a blog challenge lately?  Is your blog producing the results you want?

Recently I asked a group of bloggers on Facebook and Twitter the following question:

“What is the biggest benefit you got from joining a blog challenge?”

The answers I received were quite interesting but there was definitely a common theme and I am going to share with you the TOP 5 answers.

#5 – Set an example for my clients! Are you a coach, business consultant, marketing expert etc. that is always telling your clients to blog?  Hello – if you aren't blogging on a regular basis, how can you proclaim the benefits of blogging to your clients?

#4 – Create a daily habit! Oh so important.  We all have heard the saying that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  The normal blog challenge runs for a month, either 30 or 31 days and provides you with enough time to form that habit.  My experience has been that the thought of blogging daily can be very scary, especially with our busy lives.  However, once you accomplish it (and I have) you have a completely different way of looking at it.  Blogging is no longer a scary beast!

#3 – Reading other peoples posts! During my last blog challenge I was surprised to find out how many people actually prefer to read blogs over other longer forms of written materials.  I have always been a blog reader, of course I am also a sitcom type of person.  I like that you can start it, get to the point and finish it all in a matter of moments.  This also means that since you are participating in a blog challenge with so many others just like you that you will naturally have more traffic driven to your website.

#2 – Make connections (interact) with other amazing people! This was one of my favorite benefits.  During the last blog challenge I met the most amazing people.  I made new friends, people that I will be friends with for a long time to come as well as people that I will be doing business with.

#1 – ACCOUNTABILITY! I don't think this should be a shocker.  Since our lives are so busy and we have lists of things to do every day, it is really easy to put certain things off.  I don't know about you but I find it pretty easy to put off blogging.  I am not a person who sits and writes for a whole day – I am the person who beats her deadlines by minutes.  🙂  So as a lot of others and I found, it is great to know that there are people out there that are going to be checking to see if you posted that blog post.

So were you surprised at the top 5?  I was a little surprised that traffic didn't come up a little more often.  I had amazing traffic during the last challenge and actually saw a website ranking increase in excess of 50%.  Check out my blog post “Blog Post #30 in the 30 Day Challenge” for more info on the amount of traffic.

EXCITING NEWS!!!!

I had so much fun and accomplished so much during the last blog challenge that when Michelle Shaeffer and I started talking about doing a challenge together I jumped at the chance.  Now it's your turn!

Join the Ultimate Blog Challenge for the month of August.  It's absolutely FREE!

All you do is sign up and tell everyone about you and your blog – that way people will know how to find you.  You will then receive a copy of our free ebook “7 Ways to Get Your Blog in Motion” and you will also receive 31 daily tips on blogging.

All you have to do is start writing your posts and be sure to post them on Twitter with our hashtag – #blogboost.  Then take a little time to visit your fellow challenge members blogs as well.  Leaving comments on others blogs will also help your website ranking because it creates links to your website.

See you in the challenge ==> Http://UltimateBlogChallenge.com