A New Movement: Blog it Forward! Are you in?

Remember the game you used to play as a kid when picking dandelions? You would pick them one at a time, hold the stem firmly in your folded fingers and then place the tip of your thumb just under the flower bud and sing: "Mama had a baby and her head POPped off!" When you came to the word "popped", your thumb would flick the flower head as far as you could.

Morbid song, now that I think about it.This week I have felt like a dandelion! I have so many ideas buzzing around that it is hard to bring them into focus and channel all that energy- if I did, I think my head would pop off!

I have two ideas that are competing with each other to get out there to you. One idea has been dancing around for a while and I finally came to a point where I was ready to give it a go, but then another idea came dashing onto the scene and tapped "Idea" on the shoulder and said "May I cut in?" Even though they arrived to the party separately, they really are two of a kind and I think will complement each other nicely.

My first idea came about in the spring. I wanted to really showcase folks that I like to read and that I thought you would like to read too.  Like most bloggers, I keep a blog roll list on the side bar, but it is starting to get long.  I didn't want anyone to get lost on a list, so I thought highlighting a blog once a month would be a great way for you to get to know other sites out there that maybe you would not have found.

Beginning September 1, I will start a new feature called "MGB, Blogger of the Month"! As the title suggests, the blogger of the month will be highlighted for an entire month sharing a guest post or two and will also have a spot on my sidebar-giving you a chance to get to know them and visit their site. I had a button created just for this occasion and have been in contact with our first honoree! I am so excited!

My second idea came about just the other day while participating in a live blog chat with Darren Rowse, author of ProBlogger. He was hosting a live chat to wrap up his 31DBBB Challenge with the SITS and BlogFrog participants. As Darren was answering questions, we came across one that was asking about promoting your blog and getting people to come and read it. Darren had some great suggestions, but one in particular caught my attention. He said something along the lines of: Promote OTHERS and in turn you will be promoted. I thought: Hmm. Like Karma. What goes around comes around. And then I typed into the chat box what popped into my head: "Blog it Forward!" The buzz was instant and then I thought....I think others would want to do this too.

I posted "A New Movement: Blog it Forward! Are you in?" on Twitter and on the SITS Community page on Blog Frog. The response has been phenomenal!

What is it?  Blog it Forward is like Pay it Forward. Do a kind gesture for someone else, with no expectation of anything in return, and it will help you some day. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Some day.

For example: Maybe you have advertisers emailing you to review products, or giveaways, or what not and you cannot for whatever reason say yes. When you reply with "no", refer them to another blog who would love the opportunity to say "yes".

Another example might be that a blog has been trying to get followers or comments. Maybe suggest to one or two of your followers to "friend" that blog and become an active participant.

How will you Blog it Forward?

I'm going to start with my Blog of the Month idea and also feature Blog it Forward. 

If you are not on BlogFrog and would like to participate, please leave your information in the comments section or you can email me directly.

Let me know how you have done "Blog it Forward!" and I will share your story. Maybe it will inspire someone else!