Over the last few months, I have been experimenting to see what it would take to grow my blog followers and I’ve come up with some really great ways of doing this. After trying many different things, I have found the following list has helped me to grow my followers:

• Share tips that are helpful
• Ask for followers to comment and share your blog posts with others
• Automatically have your blog update social networks
• Incorporate Feedburner as my RSS manager
• Apply SEO to blog posts
• Invite guest bloggers to share their knowledge
• Be consistent in sharing at least 3 times per week

This is just a starter list of what I’ve done to grow my blog followers. I would like to know what you have done to grow your blog followers so please feel free to share your insight.

Have you loved on your blog today by spending time with it? What I mean by this is have you added a new post to it so that it will know that you still love it? I’m declaring it “Love Your Blog” Day and encouraging all bloggers to love on their blog today.

If you have already loved on your blog then I applaud you and encourage you to do this everyday. I wained a little bit in showing love to my blog but now I’m back and looking forward to spending time sharing my knowledge via my blog.

Some of the ways that I’m loving on my blog:

• Updating plugins
• Updating WordPress installation
• Adding plugins that make it run better
• Adding content that encourages others to read it’s feed
• Sharing links to it
• Applying SEO techniques
• And finally, updating the look of it

What are some ways that you love on your blog?

I was selected to blog on Today.com and my blog channel is entitled “Energize Your Business”. You can find the blog at http://EnergizeYourBusiness.Today.com.

The focus of this blog will be to help business owners energize and strategize to grow their online presence. Looking forward to sharing information that will be beneficial to helping business owner grow their business.

Are you interested in being interviewed, please feel free to contact me using the contact form on http://KimBeasley.com

Yesterday I made a business decision to ask for accountability partners as part of my business makeover. I sent a request out to Twitterville* and three of my tweeples** answered back to let me know that they would hold me accountable. The three who will be my acccountability partners are Latara (@LataraHamYing), Christine (@neosoulsister), and Dee (@deegospel).

Why did I ask for accountability partners? I did this so that I will have someone who would check on me to make sure that I’m following through with my plans. It is always important that you not only have a mentor, who will guide you in the right direction, but you also need accountability partners, who will hold you accountable to what you have decided to do. Having accountability partners is not something new but if you don’t have at least one, you are doing yourself a disfavor.

When determining who your accountability partner should be, you should keep the following thing in mind:

• Have a plan first that you have created with your mentor
• Choose your accountability partners wisely
• Make sure that you trust your accountability partners
• Make a S.M.A.R.T.*** accountability schedule
• Be open to constructive feedback from your accountability partners
• HAVE FUN!

As I continue on my business makeover journey, I’m looking forward to having your feedback. If you have additional determining factors that you include with choosing an accountability partner, please share them. Also I will be creating an accountability list with my partners that we will all agree to. Do you have suggestion regarding what should be on this list? Please feel free to leave a comment containing your suggestions.

*Twitterville: the environment for those who use Twitter
**Tweeple: your friends on Twitter
***S.M.A.R.T. = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely

As I continue my business makeover, I’ve decided to look at my business like I’m on a spy mission and trying to determine who the enemy of my business is and destroy it. Realizing that if I don’t destroy the enemy of my business, it could have unrepairable damage. So… I decided to make a list of detailed and sometimes hard questions that will help me identify my enemy.

• What have I done in the past that was successful?
• What have I done in the past that was unsuccessful?
• Where am I unfocused on in my business?
• Do I have an identified target market?
• Have I developed an Internet marketing plan that reaches my target market?
• How am I monetizing my business websites?
• Do I have areas in my business that are causing me to lose money?
• When am I allowing myself to have down-time with my business so I can concentrate on refining it?
• Have I allowed my knowledge to increase by attending training that will help refine my business?
• Am I filling up my schedule with nonsense activities that take away from my business?
• Do I allow myself to spend to much time with the “newest thing” instead of networking to grow my business?
• Have I allowed myself to network to grow my business or do I network without a purpose in mind?

I know this is a long list but this is only a partial list of questions that I have asked myself during the process of my business makeover. Now with my spy hat on and my magnifying glass, I am investigating my business so that I can identify the enemies of my business. This is MISSION POSSIBLE to find the enemy and destroy it!

Have you asked yourself any of these question? If so, please share your input regarding how you applied these questions to your business and how you answered those questions. Looking forward to your answers.

Questions added by blog visitors:

• Provided by Wendy Y. Bailey of http://www.groupmastery.com
  • What problem does my service solve for my target market?
• Provided by Tim Bossie of http://www.timbossie.com/
  • [What] I ask myself is how effectively am I connecting with my target market?
• Provided by Jenn Givler of http://www.createathrivingbusiness.com/
  • Am I building relationships with people that will help me get my work out in the world?
  • Do I have the self-confidence to achieve my goals, and if not – who can help me get it?

OK, I just wanted to send a gentle reminder to my readers that Leesa Barnes’ Black Friday Podcasting Bundle disappears today, November 30th. I know I’ve shared about this package before, but I wanted to make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to purchase this great podcasting pack.

You will find that this is one of the best resources online that has been put together for you to learn or enhance your knowledge about podcasting. Leesa is one of those people who is above board about what you will receive in this package and you can’t lose listening to her advice.

Again, here are the questions she answers in this bundle:

• If I’m Not an Expert, Should I Podcast?
• How Can I Develop a Podcast that People Want to Hear or See?
• What’s the Best Way to Record My Audio Podcast?
• What Do I Podcast About?
• How Do I Get Started With Podcasting?

This bundle goes away for good at 11:59pm EST on Nov 30, 2007. So, click here to take advantage of this great opportunity to get this podcasting tool pack.

Thanks,
Kim Beasley

Blog marketing can be quite complicated for anyone that has never even blogged before. If you are considering getting into small business blog marketing, you will want to first have a blog and see what that is like before you get into something more. Blogging requires dedication and patience. You have to update your blog on a regular basis in order to keep your readers happy. Doing so will keep them coming back for more and to see what you have new to say.

Small business blog marketing consists of blogging about your business. It definitely is a great tool that you should use to get your business out there and known by others. However, you will need to be patient because it is a long process that will require much of your attention. Just because you have a blog does not mean that someone is going to find it and read it. You are going to have to make it known. If you have a website for your business, you can link your blog to it and that will let the ones that know about your business and business website know about your blog as well.

Small business blog marketing is something that anyone can do. Having a blog and keeping it up to date with the latest information is not hard. All you need to have is a plan and you will be set to market any type of business from your blog. Whether you are selling a product or a service, it does not matter. A blog that is marketed the right way will be beneficial to any business whatever it might be.

So you are probably wondering how you are going to accomplish this small business blog marketing. When you are marketing a blog, you pretty much do it the same way that you would market a website. It is going to need keywords, and content. You can write the content yourself, or pay someone else to write it for you. That part is totally up to you. However you will want to be sure that the content is decent and something that your readers will want to read. This will keep them coming back. Make sure that the content is written from special keywords that you choose. You will also want to become familiar with SEO which is Search Engine Optimization. SEO will help you to optimize your blog to get a better ranking with the search engines.

Once you have chosen the keywords, and gotten some content published on your blog, you will be ready to get it out there some more. Link exchanges are wonderful for marketing your small business blog. You want to try and exchange links with sites that are relevant to yours, but not in direct competition. If you try to exchange links with sites in competition with yours, you are going to find that many of them will turn you down in fear of losing business to you.

Paid directories are a big part of small business blog marketing as well. You can pay some directories to list your blog URL in their directory under the specific category that it falls under. However, some of these even have specific qualifications that you must have to get in. Follow all of the application steps, and you should be ok. Just do not try to submit your blog to a directory that it does not qualify for, or fit in.

Another important thing to remember when you are into small business blog marketing is that if anyone leaves you a comment on your blog, you should acknowledge it and respond. You can also comment on other blogs that are relevant to yours, and leave a link to your blog as well. This will help bring in visitors to your blog, and you will begin to see more and more traffic.

Small business blog marketing is not rocket science, however someone that has never marketed a single thing before in their life may have problems. Just be persistent, and don’t give up.

So you’ve been thinking about getting into podcasting or refining your podcasting skills, then you need to add a podcasting product that my friend, Leesa Barnes, has created for podcasters.

She took 5 of the top questions that people always ask her and found products in her vault that answer them. She’s calling this package the Black Friday Podcasting Bundle and you will find products that will answer the following 5 questions:

• If I’m Not an Expert, Should I Podcast?
• How Can I Develop a Podcast that People Want to Hear or See?
• What’s the Best Way to Record My Audio Podcast?
• What Do I Podcast About?
• How Do I Get Started With Podcasting?

Now, here’s the crazy part. First, the Black Friday sale is for a whole week. Second, you could get this bundle for
just $7 depending on the day you read this. Leesa’s virtual assistant thought that was a misprint. So did I, but I know
Leesa is a stand up gal.

Every few days, the price goes up. So, click here to find out more. If you’re itching to get a podcast up and running before 2008, this bundle will hold your hand step by step.

Once again, grab it by clicking here.

Thanks,
Kim Beasley