Archive for January, 2009
Written on January 31st, 2009 by Graham
Earlier in the month I told you all that we were holding the first ever official Top Dropper Day. To participate, I asked you to agree that at the end of the month you would go into your Entrecard statistics page and thank everyone who made it onto your top dropper list, with a linkback and a nice compliment about their blog. 175 people commented on that post, and told us they were in.
And so, without further ado, I present to you Entrecard’s Top Droppers:
Computer Aid: this blog has great tips on all those errors you’ve been getting with Windows Vista
Let’s Jump Together: this blog has some very thoughtful and insightful poetry
Photography by KML: This blog truly has some stunning photography
Adsense Addict: This blog has good content and a nice clean layout, but what I love most is the domain name!
Veritable Life: This blog is required reading for sifting through the madness of 21st century technology
Daisy the Curly Cat: Who doesn’t love photos of cats and their hilarious antics?
Blogger Rap: The first post up on this blog has great tips for creating web video.
Septagon Studios News Blog: This blog is sleek. Really sleek. I may have to borrow a few design elements, like the awesome twitter widget they’re using.
Coming Back To Life: What I really like about this blog is that Clara has a photo of herself in the top left of the blog. This immediately makes me comfortable and connected to the blogger. So many bloggers don’t have a photo of themself anywhere on their blog, and it makes it harder for the audience to connect with them.
Is 8 Enough: beautiful header
Thanks everyone for being a Top Dropper for the month of January!
Now for a free ad on Entrecard:
Now I want everyone who participated in Top Dropper Day to log into their Wordpress blog, or do a Google Blogsearch if you use blogger or other, and see how many people linked to you today, on Top Dropper Day. Then enter this information below in the comments, including how many links you got and link to their posts.
The person with the most links from Entrecard members on Top Dropper Day wins an ad on Entrecard -a $250 value! Second place wins 25,000 credits!
Don’t forget to thank your Top Droppers!
If you didn’t participate at all this month don’t worry! It’s still not to late to go into your Entrecard Statistics page and write a post thanking your Top Droppers with a link and a nice compliment!
Written on January 22nd, 2009 by Graham
Greetings Entrecard Members!
We have made very important changes to our customer service that we need to inform you of. Now, when you click on the “help” link in our main navigation, it no longer takes you to the help guide. Instead, it now takes you to our customer service area, where you can log new tickets, check the status of existing tickets, and access our knowledge base which provides you with all the information that was in our previous help guide, as well as the answers to real questions people are asking.
The new URL of our official helpdesk is http://help.entrecard.com -please make use of it!
Testimonials:
We need your Entrecard testimonials! We have a redesign of our website coming out soon, and after that we’re launching an enormous marketing campaign. But first we need your testimonials! All testimonials will include a link to your blog, and the testimonials page will be linked to from our homepage. So, if you love Entrecard and want to earn some extra traffic from our marketing campaign, send your testimonial in to feedback@entrecard.com
That’s all for now. Stay tuned to see what Entrecard is cooking up next!
Written on January 19th, 2009 by Graham
Greetings Everyone!
Well, it’s been a while since all you Entrecarders received an email from us, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been hard at work developing features we think you will love and appreciate.
NEW Forum
First up, the forum. Literally since day one, Entrecarders have been asking for a new forum, a better forum than the one we’ve always had. You wanted a fully-featured vbulletin, with all the bells and whistles. So we have officially upgraded to a NEW Vbulletin forum, with all the bells and whistles like user groups, user ranks/titles/reputation, post signatures, better moderation capabilities, subscriptions to threads and forums, and more!
…Open to ALL bloggers
One of the biggest changes is that the Entrecard forums are going to be open to all bloggers. You no longer need an Entrecard account to use Entrecard forums. We hope this opens the discussion to many more bloggers. Let’s show them what Entrecarders are made of!
REGISTER for the New Forum (important!!!)
Forum Giveaway Promotion!
From now until the end of February we’re giving away 1000 credits each day to two people in the forum who we’ve seen be helpful, informative, and supportive. It will be random, and each day we’ll announce the winners on the Contests forum.
Useful links:
New forum Homepage:
Forum registration URL:
Another feature that people have been asking for, since day 1, is a Manual Approval Process. From today forward, only blogs meeting the Entrecard Quality Standards will be admitted to Entrecard. And we’re going to work harder than ever to track down every last splog already in the system, and remove them immediately.
Top Dropper Day
Next Saturday, January 31 is Top Dropper Day. On this day, every Entrecard member participating in Top Dropper Day is going to write a blog post thanking their Top Droppers and linking to them. There are two ways you can join in the festivities:
1.) Write a post thanking your top droppers! From your Entrecard Statistics page you can see a list of the 10 bloggers who have dropped their card for you the most times in the last 30 days. Writing a post thanking them, linking to them, and writing a nice compliment about their blog is a great way to reward them for being loyal visitors.
2.) Drop!! Because so many people in Entrecard are participating in Top Dropper Day this month, the chances that bloggers will link to you increases dramatically. Dropping is a great way to earn credits and drive traffic to your blog, and this month it’s going to help you get links from other bloggers too. So drop frequently and often for the greatest rewards!
You can see a list of everyone participating in top dropper day in the comments section of this blog post:
Written on January 12th, 2009 by Graham
Good news everyone! Advertising across the Entrecard Network is now reaching a larger audience than ever before!
Our network’s unique visitors has surged by over 200,000 unique visitors in December to reach 1,425,703!
So you may be wondering what this means for you as an advertiser? First of all, it puts a MASSIVE audience at your fingertips, to advertise to, for free. Second of all, it means that more people are visiting Entrecard blogs than ever before, through a combination of browsing our directory (no coincidence that December is also the first month we began listing our directory categories on the home page), using our toolbar, and lots of advertising.
If you’re wondering how you can capture all this audience, the answer is simple: Drop and Advertise! Lots of people in the Entrecard network drop back, so when you visit a blog and drop, there’s a good chance that blogger will visit you back as a common courtesy. But by advertising aggressively (and that means spending all your credits on ads), you can reach a VERY large audience.
Looking towards a bright future
A lot has been going on behind the scenes lately at Entrecard. It’s like we’re in the calm before the storm. We’ve hired an additional developer. We’ve put together a solid roadmap of features to release that are being built every day. In the first quarter 09, things at Entrecard are going to change and enhance like never before as we give you feature after feature that you’ve asked for over the last year. Our goal will still be what it always has been, and what we’re best at: bringing bloggers traffic. But as we move forward, we’re also going to be focusing strongly on bringing the blogging community together with positivity, optimism, and support for each other.
Cheers to the new year!
Written on January 11th, 2009 by Graham
Mark your calendars!
On the last day of this month, we will be starting an official “Top Dropper Day.” What is Top Dropper Day? Glad you asked!
On your Entrecard statistics page, if you scroll down, you can see a list of your top droppers. These are the people who visit your site most frequently to drop a card. The Entrecard Top Droppers list looks like this:
Now, on the last day of this month, we are going to make a HUGE push to get as many Entrecarders as possible to give their top droppers some link love. This will include writing a special “thank you” post on your blog and linking to your top droppers. We’re also going to think of one compliment to give each blog. We all work so hard on our blogs, blogging, promoting, dropping, that this will be a nice way to recognize each other’s efforts.
Are you in??
People have been linking to their top droppers for over a year. However, we’ve never made an official push to get EVERYONE to do it. So, you can help us make blogging history with the first ever official “Top Dropper Day.” We’re very serious about this. We are going to make this an embedded part of Entrecard culture, because it’s such a great way to help everyone and recognize the efforts of others. So, right here in the comments section, tell us if you’ll be participating. Not only will stating your participation motivate others to drop on your site every day to try to get that link at the end of the month, it will also re-inforce your being a part of the wonderful and supportive Entrecard community. Finally, we’re going to be taking some of Entrecard’s top droppers in the entire system, and giving them special linkbacks and blog mentions on our Top Dropper Day post! Do you have what it takes to be a Top Dropper?
Ready? Set? Drop!
We’re going to be making a big push for Top Dropper Day to all Entrecard members. So, if you want to improve your chances of getting lots of links at the end of the month from lots of Entrecard members, start dropping! And don’t forget, the best way to drop is using the Entrecard Toolbar for Firefox.
So who’s going to be participating?
***UPDATE***
We’re upping the game even more! We’re going to give out prizes to the bloggers who get the first and second most link backs in other’s “thank you” posts. First prize will be a free one-month ad on the Entrecard.com site – that’s a $250 value! The second place prize will be 25,000 credits – a $125 value! Drop away!
Written on January 10th, 2009 by Blogger
That’s how many credits you could win in this contest. No lie. I put the credits on my bed and rolled around in them then I counted them. If you’re on the the guest list as “A bazillion credits plus one,” then you need this contest cause this is the only way you’re going to win all of those credits. Let’s see, one thousand credits can be bought for six U.S. dollars. A bazillion plus one credits is worth about a bazillion plus one dollars! That’s simple math! Ask a calculator! Okay, without further ado. Let’s see some Sponsors!
SPONSORS (In order of mostest credits. Natch!)
Games, Downloads, Walkthroughs – 25,000ec
Google Stalking – 20,001ec
Fragile Heart – 20,000ec
Atlanta Realtors – 10,000ec
The Beauty Denominator – 5,000ec
Norwegian Programmer – 5,000ec
nuke it dot org – 5000ec
Lofty Matters – 3000ec
Random Detox – 3000ec
Guilty Pleasures – 3000ec
Freebies – 3000ec
Project Kickass – 3000ec
Total Web Review – 3000ec
Realm of Prosperity – 2000ec
Fantasy Baseball Rankings – 2000ec
Webbiestuffs – 2000ec
Tazdog – 1500ec
Niacin Flush – 1000ec
Reading Lounge – 1000ec
Fendi Bags For Sale – 1000ec
Michael Aulia – 1000ec
Fish Oil Benefits – 1000ec
Better Interpersonal Communication – 1000ec
Singaporean in London – 1000ec
Diva Fabulosa – 1000ec
Expat wife blogging – 1000ec
Baby Frog Gifts For The Princess In Your Life – 1000ec
Health and Beauty Diva – 1000ec
Certified Pinoy Blogger – 1000ec
Make Money Online With Makoy – 1000ec
Versace Designer Sunglasses – 1000ec
Botany Extracts Aromatherapy Massage Oils – 1000ec
Makoy’s Take On The Arts And The Entertainment – 1000ec
Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff – 1000ec
PRIZES THAT ARE NOT CREDITS, BUT STILL SPECTACULAR
Total Web Review – 1 month text link ad, 1 month 125×125 ad and a Blog Review (that’s three separate prizes)
Momma Wannabe – 1 month text link ad
Charcotrip travel blog – 1 Month 125×125 ad.
Celebrity Pics – A mousepad.
HOW TO ENTER:
1. Write about this contest and just mention the one prize you want to win. Then leave a comment on this blog post with the link for us to see. 1 ENTRY
2. Write about this contest on your blog, mention the prize you want to win and copy ALL of the sponsors. Then leave a comment on this blog post with the link for us to see. 3 ENTRIES
This contest will end exactly at 12:01 AM on 1/31/09. Thanks and good luck!
Fine print: Winners will be chosen at Random.org. The first and last place for randomness.
Written on January 3rd, 2009 by Graham
Greetings Entrecarders!
With our recent move to up transfer limits to 25,000 credits per week, we’ve gotten lots of reports from happy Entrecarders who are holding do-it-yourself contests once again. These contests, where Entrecard Credits are given away as prizes, are a great way to increaes your traffic.
How to hold a contest
Step 1: The Prizes
The first step to holding a contest is deciding what you’re going to give away. Do you have a few thousand credits you’re going to offer up as a prize? Are you going to put in the extra effort, and get other people on board and offering up prizes as well? What will you offer the other prize-poolers to make it worth their while? A link back to their blog is a great way to reward them for offering prizes in your contest.
Step 2: How to enter?
Determining how readers will enter your contest is something you should do carefully, and tailor it to meet your own goals. Will you give out one contest entry for each person who leaves a comment? Will you give out extra entries for people who write a blog post about your contest? A google search for “Entrecard Contest” will give you lots of ideas of things other people have done before. Be creative and enthusiastic in your blog post about your contest.
Step 3: Paying the winners
Once the contest is over and the winners have been selected, it’s time to pay them. Make sure to send all other people contributing to your prize pool the profile links of the winners.
All Entrecard Credits are transferred from the profile. So, on anyone’s Entrecard Profile (which you can always get to by clicking the Entrecard logo on their widget on their blog) you will see these options on the side:
Simple click the 4th option down from the top, “Give credits to this site” to transfer the winning credits!
That’s it. Enjoy! Don’t forget to promote your Entrecard contest on Twitter!
Written on January 1st, 2009 by Graham
There is no better time than today, January 1st, to flesh out your plan to take your blog to the next level this year. As anyone who knows me is well aware, I stress comments second only to great content as the path to success for your blog.
Comments are the life-blood of your blog and the best way to send out a line to any other blogger. But how much thought have you put into what comments you will approve, and what comments you will reject? How do you respond to your comments? What are your goals while leaving comments?
Now I know this idea has been proposed plenty of times, but I want to urge you all to reflect on one simple concept when it comes to comments: Advancing the discussion. So many comments amount to little more than “thanks for the great info” or “I agree” or “wonderful tip, I’ll have to try that”. Essentially, these comments do nothing more than stick a small sign in the ground that says “I was here” and a link back to your blog. That’s all well and great, but if you’re trying to comment as a strategy to draw traffic, you know know that no one is going to have any interest in the link back to your blog unless you’re saying something interesting.
So here are some rules that I’ve borrowed from this article on Venture Hacks, which was summing up this article by Edward Tufte.
First, the rules call for only approving comments that advance the quality of discussion in a civil manner. The focus should be placed on the quality of discussion for the reader. This rule also states that simply agreeing or disagreeing with a post is irrelevant and should not be approved.
Second, the rules call for correcting basic spelling and grammar.
Third, the rules call for comment quality setting the precedent and standard for all future posts.
Fourth, the rules call for not approving comments that are borderline acceptable, if their overall effect lowers the quality of the discussion.
Fifth, the rules call for deleting comments in the future if you are looking back over a post and determine that a certain comment did not advance the discussion.
Sixth, the rules call for thanking commenters and highlighting good comments.
All of this is based on advancing the discussion
In case you haven’t figured it out, this entire comment strategy is based on advancing the discussion. The problem is, for many small bloggers, they may not be getting any comments at all that truly advance the discussion. The strategy doesn’t do much to recommend how to get the first few quality commenters. I submit that you could specifically solicit for quality comments from other bloggers in your niche.
But the bottom line is that this is a strategy to build a more sophisticated blog, and it will require a more sophisticated audience who has a genuine interest in good discourse. If done right, this strategy would attract more sophisticated readers in turn to comment and participate. But a sophisticated blog may or may not be your goal.
Sophistication is a great niche in the blogosphere
So why go through all the trouble to keep the level of dicussion in your comments sophisticated? Why go through all the trouble to leave sophisticated comments on other’s blogs? I mean, after all, leaving sophisticated comments requires a lot of time, energy, and thought.
The answer is simple. You will stand out. Sophistication is a niche in the blogosphere. Many people are craving a sophiticated level of discource and exchange, and are left wondering where to find it. Many bloggers wished that the quality of the comments they received would be higher. So, by playing by these rules, both when leaving comments for others and approving comments on your own blog, you set your personal standard and personal “brand” in the blogosphere as one of sophistication. People craving sophistication will start flocking to your blog to hear what you have to say, and will pay special attention to your comments.
Here at Entrecard, anyone is welcome to comment. We won’t be deleting people’s comments that don’t “advance the discussion.” However, if you are a blogger looking to tap into a very powerful niche, I would suggest you consider going the high road as outlined above. It will certainly make you stand out in a blogosphere that is seeing increasing saturation and competition.
What do you think about these rules?
