If you’re dropping cards using Firefox, our toolbar now supports Firefox 5. Please visit the link below to download our the EC toolbar.

http://entrecard.com/page/ec_toolbar

Thank you for being a valued EC member!

Hi everyone,

We’re having problems with our widget scanner which is not detecting your
entrecard widget on your site. Our admins are looking into the problem
and it should be resolved soon. Thank you for your patience.

UPDATE:
Widget scanner is fixed. It’s going to take about an hour before the widget scanner
makes an update in your dashboard.

Ok, if you need Entrecard credits, this is by far the easiest way you’re going to get them with minimal work and it’ll cost you nothing. We’re giving away 5,000 credits ($15 value) free if you do the following:

Just write a review about Entrecard on your blog. Share the pro’s and the con’s (hopefully, there will be pro’s ). And in your blog, please place a link back to this contest (Here’s the URL: http://entrecard.com/blog/?p=1593).

Tha’ts it! Once you’re done, post the link to your review in the comment below and include your Entrecard profile URL (example: http://entrecard.com/details/132139). This is the ONLY way we can issue the 5,000 EC credits to you. Good luck and have fun!

This contest ends Oct. 27, 2010.

I’m not sure how many of you actually notice this, but you should see a huge difference in your dropping experience. Meaning, you’re not running into sites with pop ups, porn, non English, or sites that might have viruses. We know this because the complaints coming to our support department have dropped significantly. So, did Entrecard do anything special to improve the quality of sites on our network?

The answer is yes and no. Over the last several weeks, we gave “moderator” access to a couple of our top droppers. As a moderator, they are fully aware of our terms and site quality guidelines. They have access to warn users and/or remove sites on the fly if they find sites in our network that violates our TOS.
So, when our moderator does their 300 drops per day, you can be assured that they are screening out the bad sites as well. They are able to deal with the problem immediately and no longer have to email support about it. This is working out great. It’s something we should have done along time ago. Let’s us know if you’re seeing an improvement in the network.

guest blogger: Karrine McFarlane
http://www.heraffiliatemanager.com

Based on the title of this post you might think I am talking about your content and mature subject matter.  You’d be wrong. When I spend time with new bloggers looking to earn revenue on their blog ‘Keeping It Clean’ is all about your layout and outgoing links.

If you are a blogger hoping to earn revenue for advertising on your blog  than your blog is a business. Your ‘product’ is your blog – both content and design. Advertisers want to see quality content. They also want to know that their advertisement will reach an industry standard when it comes to CTR (click thru ratio) and a return on investment.

CTR = (clicks / impressions) × 100

If you are ‘giving away’ all of your outgoing clicks to sites that do not directly benefit you than you are – well –  ’shooting yourself in the pocket book’. The more links on any page the less your overall click thru rate will be.

So go through all those links and move the awards and badges to a separate page and off your side bar. Save your front page ‘link love’ for advertisers. Throw out the 125 ads and opt for a 300 by 250 or 160 by 600, two ad sizes that typically have a higher CTR.

Help your fellow bloggers and groups through blog posts which will give them more than a simple link and you some quality content and keep your prime advertising space for advertisements or links (like EntreCard) that have proven to bring you new visitors and readers (use Google Analytics to know where your visitors come from).

If you are ready to earn advertising revenue it is time to take your blog to the next level. Invest in your own domain, a premium template that meets Internet advertising standards around ad placement, and learn how to use an ad server (Google offers a free one so there’s really no excuse to not have an ad server).

Remember, if you plan to earn revenue from your blog, it’s a business. You wear two hats; blogger (writer) AND publisher. As a publisher you need to know your publication (readership, reach) and your industry which is Internet advertising.

Karrine McFarlane is an outsourced affiliate manager helping bloggers earn cpa advertising revenue promoting products and services for parents and women at http://www.heraffiliatemanager.com

Guest Blogger:
Paul Baines
http://paulbaines.co.uk
https://atokens.com/graffiti

I’ve been using Entrecard for quite a while, initially to help promote my art, it now forms a core part of my marketing for many of my blogs, most of which were started up to help build a presence for my portfolio blog. The thing is that life never turns out exactly how you plan it, sometimes it’s good and sometimes not so great, but no matter what subject blog or site you need to bring to the market you’ll find that Entrecard is a perfect launchpad for any new venture.

I’m assuming most of you understand the basics of using Entrecard to your advantage, but here are a few more advanced tips to set you in good stead for the future.

Customise your EC widget, create an attractive 125 pixel banner that will really attract the market you’re after. Don’t only consider other Entrecarders but the Internet in general. Most blogs, however specialised can appeal to a far wider readership if they simply take into account a few important factors. One of those has to be your “branding”, even if it’s only a part-time hobby you still want more readers, right?

Always try to position your EC widget “above the fold”, in other words, make it easily accessible, prominently placed, and an easy click away for visitors and potential advertisers.

If you’re low on credits and have the spare time, consider starting up a blog that caters to a “cross-over” market. For instance I am an artist, however I also run a t-shirt reviews blog that specialises in indie designer tees from around the world. Design, fashion, art, it’s a good mix and it works for me.

Be careful where you advertise, there are a lot of “splogs” popping up these days. You should be able to pick them out a mile off, they literally feed of other blogs using “aggregator scripts” that collect posts from more popular sites and replicate them without any purpose other than providing content filler, all these blogs are after is an Alexa traffic rank under 100k and perhaps a low Google PR rank, then they link them altogether and push on the popularity to their “real sites” which could be anything from cut-price medications, adult entertainment, gambling, etc. If you do spot one and can prove they’re not providing original content then report them. Then again, don’t go overboard. Subject matter will always be shared, it’s rare to ever read a truly original post. Reporting duplicate content is a serious matter – if you find a post that is directly poached from another blog, that’s the time to give them what for.

To save time use the Firefox browser from Mozilla and install the Entrecard toolbar. You can open up multiple tabs, return the favour to those who have dropped on you, and what’s more there are plenty of great add-ons that can help boost your productivity.

If you really want to know where you’re advertising make sure at the very least to add traffic rating and Google PR add-ons so you can see exactly how popular a blog is in the “real world”. It can be rather comforting relying purely on the Entrecard community, but eventually, if you want your blog or site to be taken seriously you need to make in roads to a wider audience. This is a quick way of achieving that.

Write posts regularly and write them well! If English is not your first language try and find a friend who is fluent to help you out until you’re at a more advanced level. Some of the blogs I read at Entrecard make no sense at all, many of which I guess may have been created with the aid of a translation program. They don’t work, honest! Asides language issues is content, does the post stand out and grab you, is the title enticing, are there any images, will your readers want more? Do keep them coming! A regular blogger always receives more traffic, I don’t post at every blog every day but 2-3 posts per blog per week would be the norm.

If you own more than one blog, transfer credits to the most popular and campaign hard! Begin with popular blogs and sites that are less than established in the Entrecard community, I find so many blogs with an Alexa rating under 100K around the 32 EC to 128 EC mark and to be honest some of the most expensive blogs at Entrecard cannot even begin to compete with that.

Once your credits are building up, diversify, spread your portfolio if you like. Invest the bulk of your credits in more and more popular blogs whilst slowly building cheaper campaigns for your ancillary blogs.

Whilst your reading other blogs that are compatible with your own, consider contacting them for a link exchange. Google PR can lead to better rankings and higher advertising rates should you decide to begin selling links at your blog.

Don’t rely on Entrecard to do all the work, if you’re making the sales, invest in some decent SEO software or even an SEO expert to raise those rankings. Who knows, you may just find yourself sitting on a goldmine one day!

Hi everyone!

Entrecard just added a few new features to the user’s detailed page (example: http://entrecard.com/details/132139).

1) Now, when accessing the detailed page, you’ll see a “Reviews” tab in which you can write a review for the blog/site in the Entrecard network. Please take a moment and write a nice review on your favorite blog/site on Entrecard. This is a great way to tell other members how much you appreciate their site/blog!

2) Can non-Entrecasrd members review my site/blog?
Yes!  It’s easy. If they are not a member of Entrecard, they will see a login with facebook and twitter icons (see below). After they connect with facebook/twitter, they will be able to write a review for your site/blog.

3) How can I get more people to write a review?
Also on user detailed page, you’ll also notice a “Is this your site” link towards the top right hand side of the “Reviews” tab.  This link will bring you an html source code linking directly to your Entrecard profile page. Feel free to copy and paste the html code on your site/blog. By doing so, you’re viewers and readers can click on it and it’ll bring them to your detailed page.

In a few weeks we will be launching entrecredits.com as a new site and we can’t wait! But we need help. There’s a lot to test, a userbase to build, and a UI to polish. As an Entrecarder you already have a strong understanding of how a credit-based economy works, so we’re offering EC users an opportunity to get in early on this new site and help us create something to expand and complement Entrecard.

If you’re keen to help out, curious to see what we’ve come up with and want to get some free credits to sweeten the deal, please visit entrecredits.com and add your email address to the list. We’ll send you an invite in a few weeks.

We can’t give out any more information at this time, but it’s going to be *awesome*.

100K credit cap:
Please note that by the end of this month, users are not allowed to have more than 100,000 credits in their account. If you are one of the few with more than 100K credits, you must spend them on ads, purchasing something in the marketplace, or sell them to other users. You have 7 days left! On March 31, 2010, the 100K credit cap will be in effect and we will automatically deduct credits from users that have over 100k, so please use this time to spend your credits.

Credit sales are no longer allowed:
Because of the 100K credit cap, we temporary gave users the options to sell their credits to other users. On March 31, 2010, credit sales are no longer allowed. So, if you want to sell your credits, please do them in the next few days. On March 31, 2010, we will be removing the “Buy/Sell Credits” from the marketplace.

One of the biggest complaints we’ve been hearing was that there are not enough places for our users to spend their EntreCredits. We have been making a few changes to address the problem. First, we’ve opened up the new Marketplace where users can freely spend their credits on other things beside widget ad purchases. For now, users also have the ability to sell their credits for cash. This gives our users an opportunity to make some money off their hard earned credits.

Next, we’ve opened up our EntreCredits API to 3rd party developers. This means developers can create any web applications and user EntreCredits as a currency. Since the launch of our API, we’re excited to introduce our first web application running on EntreCredits virtual currency. It’s a game that we’re all familiar with and available in all casinos. It’s blackjack!

Check out the game at http://blackjack.entrecredits.com/

Although the game is working properly, it’s still in beta. Be one of the first to play the game and give us your feedback. How it works is simple. First you need to login to the blackjack game using your Entrecard login. You can play up to 500 EC per hand. If you win, your winnings will automatically be credit to your Entrecard account. If you lose, the credits will be deducted from your account. Everything is logged in the “Transaction” tab in your dashboard. There is NO credit tax in the game.

Another thing to note is that when you’re playing the blackjack game, you are not playing against Entrecard (us); you’re actually playing against the developer of the game.

If you are a developer and like to create a web application using EntreCredits, please visit: http://entrecredits.com/developers/. We hope to have more applications running on EntreCredits soon.

Have fun and good luck at the tables!