1. I wrote a guest post a couple weeks ago for the lovely blog, HappyVolunteers.com. It’s run by a Twitter friend of mine and celebrates the dedication and love and goofy things about volunteers everywhere.

I wrote about my gut. It’s a bit more appealing of a topic than it sounds.

Sort of.

Here it is: I mean, seriously, who fails at volunteering?!

2. Can I make a scatterbrained list into a blog post? Is this allowed?

3. Miss Juta is so jazzed about this list. She lifted one eyelid just to prove it to you. SO.EXCITED. Beyond excited.

Ecstatic, really.

Or, she may have spent all weekend cavorting with my parents Westie and therefore has not budged from this chair all day.

One of the two.

4. There is a squirrel outside my window right now that is performing some type of acrobatic move in order to eat the feed in our bird feeder. And succeeding.

I have zero idea what to do about this.

5. I’m currently reading: The ABC’s of Property Management by Ken McElroy. I have so much to learn about the real estate world it’s not even funny. But this book actually IS funny, and straightforward and educational and highlighter-friendly.

Big thumbs-up so far.

6. That link up there was an Amazon affiliate. Mmkay?

7. Once a month we sit down to update the spreadsheets for our Vemma business. Sales, growth, drop-off, etc. In reviewing everything this morning, our membership has grown 23% since January 1st. Holy growth Batman! Thank you.

Thank you!

Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

8. The Kansas City Public Library has a great blog that cranks out daily content. If you’re a library person, or a book person, or a Kansas City person, or community person…or a person person? take a peek. They’re well-deserving of the attention.

You can find them, here: KCUnbound: The Kansas City Public Library Blog

9. I love blog comments.

10. Just sayin.

11. But seriously, let’s chat. I was thinking this morning about attending conferences and how people have such strong opinions – for and against – about the benefits of traveling to and networking and learning at conferences.

Some love, some hate. Really, really hate. I attended quite a few last year, and will be at only one, maybe two, this year for a whole host of reasons. Actually, I even wrote about why I didn’t attend SXSW.

You? Will you be adding a conference or two or three to your calendar this year? Have you already? Why or why not?

Beneficial? A waste of time? Let’s hear it.

12. This was fun! Thanks for being you.

Wowie zowie. Sometimes the blogosphere (or at least the teeny tiny piece of it that I monitor) seems to blow up about the same topic all at once. Perhaps it’s like some blogger, mind-reading thing? Or maybe they get together in secret and plan it out? Who knows.

What I do know, though, is that a couple weeks ago several high-profile business/blogging/social media bloggers all published on the same topic:

Guest Posts.

Many of you know how much of a fan I am of guest posts. I think, hands down, that they are the #1 way to increase traffic, reach new audiences, and build your brand. Both for the blogger hosting the post and the blogger contributing the post.

Which reminds me, who wants free content? Contact me here if you’re up for it. :)

Side note: yes, I do have a project in the works, a web-app of sorts, that relates specifically to guest-posting. (Coming soon.) Because of this I am probably more sensitive and observant to catching discussions about it. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, am I writing about this topic now because I felt strongly about guest posting before or because it relates to one of my new projects? Probably a bit of both.

Scan the following posts and form your own opinions on the topic, whatever they might be. Promise me, though, that you will at least educate yourself by reading the viewpoints of some of the uber-successful.

Yup, it’s that important.

Escape Your Blog To Grow It, by Chris Garrett blogger & internet marketing consultant, co-author of ProBlogger

Guest Posts and Traffic, by Chris Brogan President of New Marketing Labs, #2 ranked blogger from AdAge’s Power 150

Diary of a Wimpy Blogger, by Stanford Smith VP of Marketing at Fluency Media, blogger at Pushing Social

Thoughts?

The other day I was honored with the opportunity to share content with Rod Villagomez and post an article on his blog. Rod is a professional broadcaster, passionate social media enthusiast, and one of the nicest guys on the ‘net.

My guest post covered one of my most passionate topics – the power of your personal brand. Go check it out, and be sure to say hi to Rod while you’re there, ok?

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to receive a pre-release copy of Chris Brogan’s new book, Social Media 101, to play around with, and have recorded a quick review as a guest post on The Ren Men Show. Grant Peelle and Alan Ledford have a fantastic show about lifestyle design, real estate, self-education, and all sorts of other inspiring entrepreneurial topics. They’re professional, always-learning, and a little goofy – perfect.

I was honored to submit the review for their audience to watch. Go check it out! And while you’re there, say hello to Grant and Alan and stick around for a little bit. You won’t regret it.

Also, if you’ve recently landed here, on AnnieSorensen.com, from Grant and Alan’s site, welcome! Thanks for visiting. Please, take a look around, and feel free to leave a comment and let me know what I can do to help you to live your very best life, every day.

Finally, guest posts; let’s chat about those for a second. I LOVE submitting to the blogs of those who have a similar mission, are dedicated to providing great content to the world, and care about building professional, fun, and purposeful relationships. What do they always say, you only become a success yourself once you’ve helped many others find success first? I often don’t know where the posts will be, or what new folks I’ll meet, but several of my goals consistently surround giving and submitting content to the sites of others. I think it’s that important.

So, what do you think of guest posts? Do them often? Worry about giving away too much? Do you enjoy giving away content for free, the “go-giver” mentality?