By Michele Scism
The Results Lady

Oh my mind is racing. Today is July 1st and that means so many things.

First, it means I just had another birthday and yes I re-celebrated my 39th birthday. I am not concerned about that fact because I heard Betty White say she was re-visiting her 50th and if she can take that many years off I can take a few years off.

Second, it means that half of this year is officially gone but even better than that half of the year still remains.  I believe that to have a successful business we must have a plan of action that is flexible enough for us to adjust along our journey.  So I think this would be a great time for you to revisit your plans for this year.  Are you on track?  Do you need to adjust slightly, or massively, to reach your goals for the year?

Make the necessary adjustments and take action!

Third, and this one is huge, today is also the first day of the July 2011 Ultimate Blog Challenge. I love, love, love the blog challenges that my co-host Michelle Shaeffer and I host each quarter.  I will be really honest – I think blogging is super duper important but I also find it really easy to let time slip by and not blog as much as I should.  So I need the accountability and I love meeting new bloggers and catching up with all of my blogging buddies from previous challenges.  It's also a great time for me to forgive my bad blogging habits and just get going again.

If your blog needs more traffic, you need accountability to do what you know you should be doing or if you simply want to read some truly amazing blogs please join us for the FREE Ultimate Blog Challenge.   I want to share with you my tips on having a successful blog challenge.

• Post 31 posts in the month of July.  That doesn't mean you have to post one each day but it is better for blog traffic if you spread your posts out.  I know a lot of bloggers that only write 5 days a week so on 2 of those days they just do an extra post.  If you join us later in the month just do an extra post a day until you catch up.

• Share your blog posts on Twitter – if you don't have a Twitter account it's time to take the plunge.  Be sure to attach our hashtag to your blog post tweets – #blogboost.  Don't know what I am talking about? Check out this post I wrote called “What are Hashtags and Why Should You be Using Them“.

• Share your blog posts on Facebook.  We have a Facebook Group called Ultimate Blog Challenge – Boost Your Blog Traffic.  If you are not already a member be sure to ask to be added.  Then just post your new blog posts in the group.  Think about it the more places you post it the more potential viewers.  Where else could you post?  LinkedIn or your other networking sites you belong to?

• Support your fellow UBC bloggers.  Do a search on Twitter for the #blogboost hashtag and read, comment and retweet the posts you like.  Check out the other bloggers that are posting in the Facebook Group.  Check out the members list on the website to see what other blogs you might want to read or which ones might have content that you would like to share with your social media audience?  You don't have to spend a lot of time doing this but what if you made a point to visit 2 new blogs a day – that's 62 in the month.  That will really help them out and you might be amazed what it does for you.

So it's time to TAKE ACTION – get started blogging.  Be strategic and get some really great value out of the challenge.  I can't wait to see what the month holds for you.