Congratulations! You’ve created a company blog, you consistently post stellar content, plus you’ve twisted the arms of your colleagues and peers to read regularly and sometimes they even post comments. After all that hard work, the good news (the glass is always half full, right?!) is that you are halfway to success. All you have to do now is grow your audience—one that is inspired to engage and take action. So, where do you start?

It really begins by discovering where your prospects, customers/clients and influencers go to get their information. Are they on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? Do a bit of research to find out, and while you are at it, note the type of information they consume because it will come in handy when deciding what to blog about. And the winner is? LinkedIn! (If Facebook or Twitter is where your audiences hang out, stay tuned to future posts when I address promoting your blog within these communities.)

Linking up on LinkedIn can greatly enhance blog traffic, and when done right, drive qualified leads. It just so happens that this week LinkedIn hit a huge milestone surpassing 100 million users—that’s a lot of people waiting to be dazzled. But before you dive in, devise a plan to make sure your time is well spent and you achieve the outcomes that you desire. These five tips are guaranteed to attract new eyeballs to your blog, and if you are really good, drive referrals.

Connect your blog. Sync your blog account with your LinkedIn profile and company page. As you post blog entries, they will appear as status updates on LinkedIn making posts visible to your direct connections. Encourage your connections to share your content with others to further expand your reach. Remember to not get caught up in strictly sharing your own content—mix it up. Share third-party content to help promote the work of others. It’s a great way to make friends who will be more inclined to share your content with their own communities.

Observe conversation. Select a half dozen or so niche LinkedIn groups where potential blog subscribers hang out, read and connect with other like-minded individuals. Then stop and listen. Really listen to the topics and issues raised by group members and use this information as fodder for future blog post topics. It's not rocket science—write about those topics that are of concern to your audiences and provide solutions, best practices, a new perspective or trending data that addresses these issues. Should a topic of conversation arise that falls outside your realm of expertise but you want to address it, invite an expert to contribute a guest post to your blog. People will appreciate you for connecting them with other resources.

That’s enough to chew on for now, you say? Well then, check in tomorrow for the three remaining tips to promote your blog on LinkedIn. If you have one more sec, let us know how you made your LinkedIn observations work for you and your business. Simply leave your comment in the box below.

Five Ways to Link Up on LinkedIn to Grow Your Blog (Part 2 of 2)

Nikki Martin is the Chief PR Officer of MOOv, which means she blends traditional PR with social media strategies to spark conversation, inspire action and cause change. She was also voted “Most likely to die of the hiccups” in high school.