Archive for April, 2009
Written on April 8th, 2009 by Graham
With the credit cashout service planned to come online this Saturday, one burning question is storming through the Entrecard community: Who is going to get priority to the cashout? Certainly we won’t have enough money from the paid ads to cash out everyone’s credits all at once, so we have to give priority to someone. But who should get it?
Some members said that those who approved the most paid ads should get priority in the cashout service.
Some members said it is the serious droppers, who drop hundreds of cards per day, who should get priority.
And still others have said it is the people who hold the huge contests and credit giveaways who should get to cash out their credits first.
The underlying common thread between all these arguments is that there are groups of people in Entrecard, each who support the service in their own way, either by being dedicated droppers, dedicated ad approvers, or huge contest holders. It immediately became clear that we’re going to need to reconcile a few valid arguments into a system that makes sense for giving priority in the credit cashout system.
Announcing our community-support algorithm
Our new community support algorithm is going to determine the priority with which you can cash out your credits. It is also going to eventually help determine your rank in our member directory. The main factors it will take into consideration are:
- How many cards you drop / how frequently
- % of paid ads you approve
- % of Entrecard ads you approve
- Listings you create / completed sales in the market
- How many credits you transfer to others (indicative of contests, tips, and generosity)
- % of credits you spend on Entrecard ads
So what we basically do is take all this data in, compute it, and determine a “community support” algorithm, because all these actions are ways to support Entrecard, and they are all very important. Critically important in fact. So now, we’re rewarding everyone who does these things by giving them priority in the cashout.
Thanks for everyone’s continued support!
Written on April 8th, 2009 by Graham
Entrecarders rock!!
When we announced that our paid ad platform was coming online, there was a lot of skepticism, hesitation, and questions. There was also a lot of support from people who love Entrecard, and want to see us survive in the economic recession.
A few things happened immediately upon turning on the new platform. Some members decided to reject all paid ads until the “dust settled”. Some members approved only those ads that fit with their theme. Some members approved every ad that came their way, supporting us any way they could.
I just want to say, that however you chose to vet the paid ads coming through, thank you! You are the best, and your efforts to make this work, even if you are rejecting every ad, is appreciated more than I can express. Helping us make this work is what makes the community so special, and I am not only flattered but also humbled by the overwhelming support in the community for our bold new initiative to take the economy to the next level.
So I just wanted to give you all a big thanks and a ::hug:: for helping us get this off the ground, and helping us see Entrecard through as per my larger vision for what this can be.
I also wanted to take a moment to talk about a few important issues that have popped up.
Dropping
A lot of people have complained that their dropping habits have been impacted by the introduction of paid ads into the system.
Dropping, as you know, is the method of earning credits by visiting Entrecard members and clicking the “drop” button on their widget. Some members like to drop by clicking through the ads in the widget, dropping on each blog they pass by. With 50% of the ads now paid, this becomes a problem because there isn’t always an Entrecard widget on the other end of the ad. Thankfully, a high portion of our paid ads are from Entrecard members with widgets, but many are not.
Try the toolbar!
This is the perfect time to try out our Toolbar for Firefox if you aren’t already using it. It offers the following benefits:
- It will take you to an Entrecard blog every time, with a widget you can drop on.
- It can open multiple sites at a time
- It lets you visit your entire inbox, and drop on them all
- It lets you drop by category, by price, by popularity, as well as a number of other filters
- It lets you advertise on any site you come across with a single click
So if you used to widget surf while dropping, and finding it more difficult now, I would suggest you try out the toolbar. We’ve worked hard on it and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprsied. Try it out here. You will need to have firefox to use it.
It’s taking too long to approve ads
If you trust us in making sound judgement calls on the types of ads we let into Entrecard (and we do hold out advertisers to the highest standards), we have created a checkbox button to “automatically accept all paid ads”. Now, we don’t want to pressure anyone into doing this. We realize that everyone has their own ideals of what types of advertising to allow. But, if you are the type of person who is accepting every ad (and there are plenty of you out there), checking this box will save you from every having to click the “approve” button again.
Where are the advert settings?
To find this option, along with lots of other advertisement settings, please see the “Advert Settings” on your dashboard, right under your “Quick Stats”. If you haven’t visited these settings yet, you should, because they help you tailor the ads that will come your way.
We’ve also been taking measures to throttle the amount of paid ads we send through, approving only a few at a time to lighten the load on everyone.
That’s it for now. Thank you all for making this such a wonderful place!
Written on April 7th, 2009 by Graham
I’ve gotten a lot of questions over the past few days, specifically with regards to the new paid ads system and the member payout of 75%. I’m going to take the time to answer all the questions I’ve gotten, and if you have more questions, ask them here in the comments and I’ll do a round 2. Without further ado:
How much will EC credits be worth? Can it be as much as $5 per 1000 EC??
If we deflate the economy back to levels seen in early 2008, credits should be worth approximately $15 per thousand. Whether we will get there succesfully remains to be seen, and whether this will be the retail price sold from EC, or the cashout price also remains to be seen.
I’m also wondering what the payment amount will be, this will be very interesting indeed.
The payment amount is going to fluxuate on a daily basis. We’re first going to try to clear all the credits from the system that people are willing to sell at very low rates. We have an internal supply and demand curve that will constantly adjust, so even though prices to sell credits will start out low, they will go up over time as more credits are removed from the system. But we will be starting at the bottom.
Do you have an estimated date or month for Entrecard to be launching the credit cashout service?
This saturday.
I have a ton of paid spots waiting, and I cannot help but wonder what that will do for my EC credit purchased ads.
The ads purchased with EC will display 50% of the time, for as long as you have paid ads running through your blog. Nothing has changed for credit-bought ads and the credit-ad system, except that they will only display half the time if enough paid ads are running through the blog.
Another issue is members resent the paid adverts immediately jumping ahead of the queue of those bought from credits which have taken people hours of dropping on blogs to earn.
Paid ads do not jump the Que… they rotate evenly in their own Que. Let me try to explain. Ads bought with credits via the regular system still show one day at a time for a full 24 hours. But, 50% of the time, instead of the Entrecard ad on your widget, we now rotate through and any all paid ads you have approved that have running campaigns. So paid ads rotate through their own que that is displaying 50% of the time on your widget, and Entrecard ads are still in the same daily Que they always were. Hope this makes sense.
I think the system will only really benefit those who have been hoarding ec credits. I for one always used them to advertise with so I don’t have a large bank waiting to cash in when the system goes live.
This is not true. The people hoarding credits will earn the most cash, initially, that is true. But over time, you will see many more people selling tons of new products and services in the market -which you will be able to buy for credits. Tying credits to cash will create all sorts of interesting opportunities and growth prospects not just with Entrecard and its community, but with what your credits can buy, and how they can be earned.
1] When paid ads are approved…. do they take over those ads that are bought using EC points? If yes when will the EC points purchased ads have a chance to be displayed?
Paid ads now display as much as 50% of the time. So Entrecard ads bought with EC points will display the other 50% of the time, or more if there are no paid ads running through a particular blog.
2] When approving of paid ads… does the system instantly add credit to our account?
No, you do not receive credits for running paid ads. That would inflate the economy further, and we’re doing this specifically to deflate the economy.
3] How long does the paid ads run for in our blog?
It will rotate through with all the other paid ads, 50% of the time, for as long as the campaign is running by the advertiser.
4] Are these paid ads shown in a rotating format?
Yes, all the paid ads you’ve approved rotate through your widget evenly during the 50% of widget impressions allocated for paid ads via the Entrecard system.
5] Will the new credit cash out contain a limit per user?
Not sure yet. Across the system, the only limit will be the amount of money brought in from the sale of ads. But on a per-member level, not sure yet.
6] Do you guys screen paid ads to ensure quality?
Yes, we screen every single paid ad to insure quality, approving each by hand and making sure they adhere to our Advertiser Guidelines.
What direct benefit will i get by advertising these paid ads on my blog ?
The short answer is that you a.) get to make money by cashing out your credits and b.) you get to continue using Entrecard as a free service that can continue to operate. The longer answer is that by approving these paid ads, the system becomes stable, the economy grows, advertising becomes cheaper, you’ll be able to find a greater variety of products and services in the shop.
Can someone PLEASE explain me in short and brief about what is written above?
Short and brief description. We are selling advertising across the network to anyone who wants to buy, permitted they adhere to these guidelines. With that money, 25% goes to us to help keep us online and developing new features. The other 75% will go to Entrecard members who want to turn their credits into cash. This will deflate the economy, make credits more valuable, and lead to lots of exciting new products and services in the market. By approving paid ads, you are investing in the Entrecard economy.
Do we still get EC’s credited for taking a paid add? Will it be for the same amount as the old style adds?
No, you do not get EC’s for accepting paid ads. The whole point of this initiative is to clear ECs from the system, which is why we’re taking almost all the money it generates and buying your credits back from you.
Can we have a second box on our widget to show paid ads on?
Soon we will release a grid that will show multiple ads at a time, but it will always likely be half Entrecard ads and half paid ads.
When I saw they were PAID ADS I assumed I would get a chunk out of these… maybe only 50%. But I get nothing at all?
Actually, members are getting 75% of the money we take in from paid ads, but its being taken network-wide and distributed network-wide via the credit cashout. You will see benefits to the entire Entrecard service whether or not you actually cash out your credits.
Written on April 7th, 2009 by Graham
One misconception going around out there is that the members aren’t seeing any of the money that comes in from the paid ads we’re running. The fact of the matter is that 75% of all the revenue we’re generating from the paid ads is going to the members.
I need to explain how this works though, because we’re not issuing payouts in the normal, traditional, inside-the-box way that other ad networks pay you out. Entrecard is too out-of-the-box and too unique to do that. Our payout method is much more controversial, but one that we see far superior for a number of reasons that I’ll explain.
Although we are not paying you based on clicks and impressions generated from your ad spot, we are nonetheless giving you, the members, a 75% cut of all the revenue generated from all the ads. We’ve simply chosen to do this by allowing you to cash your credits in for dollars. So, to clarify, we are taking 75% of the money we’re earning by selling your advertising and using it to pay you for your credits. Either way 75% of the money we’re making is ending up back in the hands of the users… but how much of it will end up in your hands is determined by how you participate in our economy. What we’re dealing with is a system that values selling products and services more than the clicks and impressions an ad on your site generates.
Now in order to fully understand and appreciate why we have made the more controversial choice of offering a credit cashout service with this money, instead of paying you for clicks or impressions (which we could do just as easily, and at the same cost to us), we must explore the concept of an economy, and develop a healthy respect and appreciation for it.
When you participate in Entrecard, you are participating in a virtual economy. As you know, we have our virtual currency, entrecard credits. And as participants in the economy, we all contribute one chief product: 125×125 advertising. But you can also go a step further and sell products and services in our market. You can earn credits by dropping and publishing on your blog, which is quick and easy and over time can build you some serious credits.
So there are a variety of jobs you can do and small businesses you can start on entrecard. And there is a variety of things you can spend your money on, from advertising to graphic design, to wordpress plugins and elvis stamps.
The problem is, the entrecard economy, as a rich and vibrant place to earn and spend, isn’t reaching it’s potential yet. Far from it, in fact. For example, a lot of people have held off selling quality products and services in the market because there is no way to get actual money from their sales. This makes us sad because we’d like to see lots of people offer continually impressive and surprising products and services in the shop. But this won’t happen until merchants in the market earning entrecard credits can convert the credits they earn from their sales into cash. By providing a credit cashout, we remove the main barrier to all sorts of products and services floding into the market.
A healthy economy
An expanding catalog of products and services available in the market is not the only benefit that Entrecarders will realize by making the collective decision to make credits liquid (aka letting us sell ad space on your widget). You will also see advertising prices go down, which will get you more bang for your entrecard credits.
And even still, there is a much bigger, better reason why investing your money into the credit market is the best choice in terms of payments to you, the members. In the year and seven months since we’ve been operating, our economy has experienced runaway inflation. We started with no credits in the economy, and ballooned to the tens of millions of credits which are currently in the economy.
Now what we’re going to do with credits we cash out is to actually delete them from the system. So for example, if we buy back a million credits a day (just throwing that out there -there is nothing to suggest that’s how many credits we’ll actually buy on a given day) over the course of one month, there will be 30 million less credits in the economy.
So, while you can think of this whole new initiative in many ways including a 75% revenue share with members, a method to decrease ad prices, a way to bolster offerings in the market, a way to monetize your entrecard traffic, a way to prevent inflation and actually spur deflation, etc. you only really need to think of it in one way:
You are investing in the Entrecard economy.
By approving these ads, and participating in a system that takes the revenue generated and strengthens the system as a whole, you are casting your economy vote and say yes, I want the Entrecard economy as a whole to grow and strengthen. There is no single more powerful way to strengthen the entrecard economy than to make credits exchangeable for real dollars, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to be moving in this direction.
By pooling all the ad revenue together to do something bigger like providing a cashout exchange that all members can use, I promise you that you will start to see terrific things happen with the Entrecard economy. Amazing things, groundbreaking things being done no where else on the internet. But first we need to provide the liquidity… First we need to incentivize the earning of credits properly.
We thank you for trying your best to understand and support our mission to create a healthy virtual economy for bloggers.
Written on April 4th, 2009 by Graham
Greetings Cardsters!
Our much anticipated Ad Network is now online and fully operational! As a blogger, from your dashboard, you can toggle your “advert settings” for control over what ads can even apply to advertise on your blog, and each paid ad that wants to advertise on your blog will show up in a new column on your dashboard labeled “paid ads” just under the normal blog ads. From here, you can reject any paid ad you like, freely and quickly. Revenue generated from these paid ads will go to fund our future operations, feature development, more servers, and all that good stuff, as well as a war chest to cash out all your credits with (or all the credits of those who wish to cash them out!). So please approve paid ads proudly knowing you’re supporting Entrecard and the only true virtual economy in the blogosphere!
Advertisers
If you’re interested in advertising across the entire Entrecard network, or by category, you can signup here to beta test our ad network. It is stable, and runs and operates smoothly, but we’ll be adding some bells and whistles over the coming days/weeks/months.
Rates
For now, you can purchase network-wide advertising for just $.02 (two cents) Cost-Per-Click or $.30 (thirty cents) CPM. Targetted by category, the prices double to $.04 CPC and $.60 CPM. We offer you a real-time statistics broken down by clicks received, impressions, cost per click, CPM, and CTR.
Ongoing Discussions
For any and all quetsions, please join the discussion in the Entrecard forums.
Written on April 2nd, 2009 by Make a Pound
Hey Cardsters!
Today we have a great tutorials contest for you all at Entrecard to take part in we will be giving away a whopping 150,000ec for helpful tutorials to aid newer Entrecard members in getting started and learning the ropes. The main goal is for this contest to generate tutorial videos, with extra points thrown in for tutorial blog posts and twitter tweets. You can make your tutorials about anything to help other users find maximum value and benefit from Entrecard.
Examples to get you started
Here are some examples of tutorials you could make:
How to add the widget to different blogging platforms
How to drop
How to buy ads and maybe show some good buying strategies
How to earn credits by dropping
How to earn credits by increasing the number of people who drop on you
How to gain “popularity” points and rise to the top of a category
How to install and use the toolbar
What the toolbar does
How to buy credits
The terms of service what you can and cant do on Entrecard.
How to buy + sell goods and services in the market
How to use the forum
How to make a 125×125 card
Any others you can think of
The prizes are as follows
Winning prize – 75,000ec
Second prize – 25,000ec
Third prize – 25,000ec
Forth prize – 25,000ec
Contest rules
Entrants will be judged on quality of tutorial, number of tutorials published (example: two videos and ten tweets), and you will have a better chance to win the more mediums you publish to. For example, someone who creates three tutorial videos, posts them on multiple video sites, and makes some tutorial posts on twitter and their blog, they would get rated much more highly than someone who just posted a twitter tutorial or a blog post tutorial. The contest will run for all of April and we will announce the winners on the Entrecard blog at the start of May.
To Enter:
Please make sure to link in the comments of this post and video you upload, blog post you write, or tweet you make!
Useful links
Here are some sites you can upload to but not limited to so you can use other sites also.
Google Video MetaCafe YouTube Myspace Vimeo Tubetorial Veoh
To help you put your video together here are some free online video editing sites.
JayCut JumpCut Motionbox OneTrueMedia
Written on April 1st, 2009 by Graham
This is no April Fools… just a big Do-Follow thanks to Entrecard’s Top Droppers for March, as found on your statistics page! You all rock harder than granite!
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Written on April 1st, 2009 by phirate
For immediate release.
Entrecard Inc. has been announced as the winner of US Department of Defense tender #DOD39582 – Automatic Motivational Techniques for Recurring Tasks.
“The essence of the problem is that life in the military involves a great deal of preparation and discipline – cleaning weapons, keeping bunks and quarters tidy, saluting anyone who went to OCS, that kind of thing.” said Captain John Majors of the Armed Forces 2.0 Taskforce.
“Traditional approaches to dealing with this problem involve hard-ass gunnery sergeants with highly trained vocal cords capable of shouting continuously 24/7, but new information from psychologists suggests that adding some carrot to the stick results in a dramatic boost in performance”.
Entrecard Inc, known for its dynamic positive reinforcement mechanisms aimed at helping Bloggers improve their visibility and social connections, was one of over a hundred contenders for the tender.
“We went into it with the approach that if we get daily requests from Bloggers to let them drop more than 300 cards at 1ec a card, surely motivating soldiers to perform duties that will save their lives will be a snap in comparison” said Entrecard founder Graham Langdon. “The hard bit was coming up with automatic – and difficult-to-cheat – mechanisms equivalent to the ‘drop’, we had to get a variety of sensors designed and embedded in weapons, bedsheets, helmets and – and this was tricky – officers skulls.”.
Entrecard’s demonstration stood out during the week-long Not-At-War Games session. “While other bidders managed some level of performance gain, Entrecards results were fascinating. For a start we got realtime information on who had cleaned what weapon when, in shiny flash charts – Generals love that shit. The troops loved it as well, they really got into building their credit balances – so much so that we had to put limits on how often they were allowed to shine their boots and get a credit or risk running out of polish!” said Captain Majors.
Not everything went perfectly however. “On the third day one of the NCOs started a poker game in the mess while we were doing a real-time presentation to the General Staff in the other room. The charts went a bit crazy, all the milcreds ended up in Private Susan Wallaces account. Apparently nobody told the rest of the squad she’s a bit of a card shark when she transferred in..” said Andy Tynefield, one of the moderation team. “We got it straightened out in the end but not before Private Wallace had managed to trade half her milcreds for a 50cal sniper rifle and a bar of chocolate.”
The crucial moment for Entrecard came at the end of the week during the final review, when a 2-star General, blinded by the sun reflecting off the boots of the test squad, stumbled into the path of a humvee and was taken to hospital. Glum Entrecard staff retreated to a nearby bar but were suprised by a cellphone call from the General from hospital later that evening. “I remember picking up the phone and hearing this gruff voice say ‘Damn boy, your squad nearly killed me with its *boots*, I can’t wait to see what they do in combat’” said Graham. “We got handed a contract by a nervous-looking lieutenant 5 minutes later”.
News of the success spread quickly and Entrecard has been inundated with queries by organizations interested in potential uses. “We got one guy from the Ministry of Transport in New Zealand who called me up in the middle of the night and started ranting about giving people credits for crossing with the lights..” said Graham.
For further information about Entrecard positive reinforcement motivational techniques, visit http://entrecard.com/ .
