You may have remembered that not to long ago I posted about this thing called EntreCard. Well it has been about a week since I first jumped aboard and I thought it would be a good time to give you the low down on how things are going.
Well according to my stats EntreCard has given me about 275 unique hits this week. Now keep in mind I have not “bought” any ad space on any of the really high priced blogs yet. I have mostly been buying ad space on the cheaper blogs.
When I first blogged about EntreCard it would have cost a prospective ad space buyer 7 ec (Entrecard credits) for 24 hours of ad space. Now it will cost around 72 ec for that same 24 hours of ad space. The cost per ad on my site has been hovering from 68 to 82 ec this past week depending on the day and time.
At first this kind of worried me because I thought the higher price would turn away people from placing ads on my site. I am pleased to say that at this time that is not the case. So far my ad queue is staying pretty full.
Now there is an EntreCard phenomenon called chain dropping. That is where users just click through sites dropping their cards until they reach three hundred (thats the limit per day). This in turn earns them 300 credits. A chain dropper doesn’t spend much time on your site and isn’t there to really read anything. A lot of people complain about this, as it is not really quality traffic.
I know have gotten my fair share of chain droppers. But I have also gained a few readers, and that by far out weighs the chain droppers. I don’t chain drop to 300 cards per day mostly because I do not have the time to devote to it. When I come across a site with the Entrecard widget I will drop my card and generally click the widget to go to the next site. I’ll be honest if there is nothing on the first page that catches my interest I am off to the next site and so on. If something does catch my interest then I will read the post and comment. Doing this I have found some really great sites which I keep going back to.
So the key here is to have some really great content on that first page to convert the chain dropper into a reader. That brings me to my next point. In order for EntreCard to work for you you have to be active with in EntreCard. It is not a passive thing like BlogRush. You have to approve ads, launch your own ad campaigns and of course drop some cards. This all costs time, the more time you put into EntreCard the more you will get out of it.
If you are looking for a set it and forget system of attracting traffic then read my post on BlogRush. If you have some time you can invest into getting some traffic and want to feel part of a community then EntreCard is for you.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
13 responses so far ↓
1 Nicole // Jan 15, 2008 at 1:14 am
I’ve taken down blogrush for good.
I just don’t have a good feel with it and it didn’t get me one click, I know you said two week,s but it has been two and I don’t care for it.
Entrecard is pretty neat and I’ve found a few good blogs via that, that’s cool
Now, my blog is down for now, my host hopefully working on the problem and I’ll be back to playing my game for the rest of the day
Have a good one ;)!
2 Ben // Jan 15, 2008 at 7:20 am
Weird, a lot of people tell me they get no results from BlogRush yet it seems to be doing fine for me.
3 Steve // Jan 15, 2008 at 8:45 am
I haven’t noticed any traffic increase from Blogrush, but I’ve only had it up a few days. Entrecard, on the other hand has given me over 130 click throughs to my site, which has given me two or three readers who have continued to come back, and I have yet to use any of my credits to “buy” an ad. I know a lot of the visits have been people just dropping their card, but like you said, getting a few comeback readers is worth it.
4 Leon // Jan 15, 2008 at 11:39 am
Are you seriously advertising BlogRush? You must be crazy!
5 Ben // Jan 15, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Leon, you know lots of people are telling me I am crazy using Blog Rush. But for some reason it seems to be working for me.
On the other hand EntreCard is surpassing Blog Rush daily now. Plus the quality of traffic from EntreCard seems to be getting a lot better than Blog Rush too.
6 GeekMom // Jan 15, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I dumped BlogRush from my blog a couple of days ago. Maybe it’s my category (I was in parenting/family, because there’s no combo geek/parenting category), but nobody was clicking on it, so it was just a waste of space. I like my blog to look clean, so if a widget isn’t adding anything, it’s just clutter.
7 Alfred // Jan 15, 2008 at 4:10 pm
EntreCard got me here !! Anyways EC depends a lot on your EC graphic. A visitor will click and visit you if he thinks you card stand out for some reason, like i did
Hmm the only problem with EC is that the bounce rate is really high, U get about 5-10 secs on your blog to get the visitors attention before they leave…
Honestly always advertise on cheap blogs, the expensive ones arent worth it.
8 The Insanity of BlogRush Must End | Tenacious Creations // Jan 15, 2008 at 8:36 pm
[...] EntreCard a Week Later [...]
9 RSSHugger, yet another social media site to jump on! | Tenacious Creations // Jan 19, 2008 at 8:19 pm
[...] another note EntreCard is still performing very well for me. Right now as I write this is will cost you 124 EC to [...]
10 5 Tips to Optimize Your EntreCard Time | Tenacious Creations // Jan 21, 2008 at 9:22 pm
[...] That is why this post is on getting the most out of the time you invest into EntreCard. For those of you who do not know, EntreCard is a way of attracting traffic to your blog. It works like the business cards of the past. For more information on EntreCard and why you should look into it read my post here. [...]
11 Realtor In Cleveland Ohio // Jan 22, 2008 at 12:10 am
It’s nice to hear how you started. I’m also a member, (I dropped) and I’m quite behind on the months it’s been out. I’ve been there two days now but my traffic has seen a great increase.
I don’t think chain dropping is practical. I think it will definitely get you a lot of ec’s faster and save you time, but you will ultimately burn out and quit altogether. I think there’s a nice mix of fun to experience with this and as long as it remains enjoyable, you’ll be successful at it.
I have come across so many new blogs and writers that I would have never been in front of.
I’ve read so many different types of blogs and try to pull something out of each. I agree with you that there has to be something catchy for me to stay around and not move on…
I comment on blogs only when I want and feel no pressure… By dropping frequently you also get to stay on top of those blogs you were on the fence about and sometimes there’s a surprise a few days later with a new interesting post.
All in all it’s a great way to spend quality time promoting your blog and others out here… and it doesn’t hurt to network, educate, be educated and best of all perhaps gain a few laughs and friendships along the way.
Cheers and thanks for the perspective.
=)
12 Paul | ConversionBlogger.com // Feb 25, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Thanks for the feedback on this network. I have one question for you - can you pay to get credits in Entrecard, if you don’t have the time to “drop” cards?
13 Ben // Feb 25, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Yes you can buy EntreCard credits from other EntreCard users. I am not sure what the going rate is however.
Leave a Comment