The Ten Rules of EntreCard dropping
Posted on August 12th, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,585 views
The whole idea of EntreCard is NOT to amass EntreCard credits. If you manage to amass 1 000 000 EC, you will still not be a millionaire. You will still be broke in real life.
The REAL idea behind the EntreCard community is to PROMOTE your blog. You want to increase your traffic and enlarge your community of regular readers. You do not want to become an EC millionaire. Spend your credits, because it’s just funny money. Dump it regularly on advertising, EVEN IF that advertising is not particularly effective. Keep spending it in different places until you find where it works best.
Before EntreCard came along, there were others. Many others. The first blogging community (or social network) that I joined was MyBlogLog. Then blogcatalog. Then BlogRush. StumbleUpon. Digg. Reddit. FaceBook.
BlogRush came along just before EntreCard and it promised huge amounts of additional traffic. For each time your BlogRush widget displayed, your latest blog post would be displayed somewhere on someone else’s BlogRush widget along with 4 other headlines.
BlogRush failed miserably, because nobody clicked on the stories syndicated throughout the BlogRush network.
Where BlogRush failed EntreCard saw a way to succeed.
Instead of promoting a single blog post, EC promotes the entire blog via a graphic advert, instead of a text RSS feed headline.
EC’s original idea was that it would drive traffic via adverts placed on third party blogs.
However that idea has not succeeded very well. Most adverts placed on the EC blog network result in a very dismal amount of traffic. Many of the adverts that I place result in ZERO clicks. I suspect this is because of the small size of the EC adverts. EC widget ads measure only 125 x 125 pixels. Many bloggers like this format because it does not clutter up their blog. However, REAL banner adverts that actually get clicked are MASSIVE and right at the top, like the 900 x 160 pixels top banner advert that I display throughout the AAA network, including this blog.
But EC does generate lots of traffic! It’s just not generated where its inventors expected it to be generated. EC’s traffic comes from YOUR DROPS on other people’s blogs.
An EC ethic arose out of nowhere that if you drop on someone, generally they will drop back on you. Some prefer to state this explicitly by belonging to an EC clique such as “U DROP I FOLLOW”, but generally more and more EC members are adopting this drop style even if they don’t announce it. I follow this method. I return drops directly out of my drops inbox. I don’t always manage to drop on everyone who dropped on me, but I try to pick up people I missed later.
This being the case, the only way possible to get the MOST out of EC is to drop the maximum EVERYDAY. If you drop less than 300 entrecards a day, you are going to receive sub optimal results.
Here are my suggestions for the most effective EntreCard dropping strategy:
The Ten Rules of EntreCard dropping
1. Never drop on those who don’t drop on you
If you drop on someone, and they never or seldom return your drop, you are wasting a precious drop on them. Rather find someone else who will always or frequently return your drop.
2. Always drop the maximum of 300 a day
If you drop less, you are guaranteed to receive less traffic than what you could have.
3. Drop as early as you can.
The EC drop count is reset to zero every day at midnight EDT (GMT-4) / EST (GMT-5). As soon as it is reset, start your fresh drops, because then others have the whole day to drop back on you, whereas if you start later, they may have finished dropping by the time you drop on them. Drop on them FIRST, if you can, and then your drop will be seen and returned.
4. Drop first on your 10 top droppers
Your top droppers are your most loyal droppers. Show them the same courtesy back or you might lose them to others who appreciate their loyalty. Find ways to reward those who drop on you regularly.
5. Drop on more than 300 blogs
If you go through your inbox regularly, you will soon notice that you receive drops from more than 300 other bloggers. Since you can only drop on 300 blogs a day, it is impossible to recipro drop on everyone every day. You may even have more than 600 different bloggers who drop on you regularly. The way to handle this is to create lists of 300 blogs each and take turns cycling through them.
6. Do not become set in your ways
If you only ever return drops on the same 300 blogs every single day, guess how many EC readers you will have? If you’re lucky, about 300. What if you want a lot more than 300 readers? What if you want 3000 or 30 000 or 300 000 or even 3 000 000 EC readers? How do you use the EntreCard network to expand your reach?
By dropping on new people every day.
With the introduction of the new EntreBar, EntreCard has made it easier to seek out the far corners of their network and reach new bloggers. Reserve about 50 drops a day for those uncharted waters. Always be thinking of getting new blood into your blog. Keep things fresh, keep things vibrant.
7. Combine dropping with advertising on EC blogs
As I mentioned above, advertising on EC blogs generally does not result in as many visits as dropping does, however, it still does bring some extra traffic on average and since it makes absolutely no sense to hoard EC credits, you might as well spend them each week on new blogs to increase your fame.
If you drop the maximum amount each day, you will get in excess of 400 EC a day, roughly 3000 EC a week. Spend it each week on adverts. Blow your EC! Go on, blow it! You’ll get more again tomorrow, I promise you.
Actually, that’s all I can come up with now. The 10 rules of EntreCard dropping only has seven rules so far. But maybe you can supply the other 3? Come on, dazzle me with your insights. Tell me what else I am missing.
Tags: EntreBar, EntreCard
Filed under blogs, Entre Card |
15 Responses to “The Ten Rules of EntreCard dropping”
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Blog Tactic Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 09:58Great tips ! One of the comprehensive list on the net.
Blog Tactics last blog post..Olympic Snippets – Chinese Weightlifters lifts 4 golds
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Bas Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 10:30Hey, awesome post, mate.
Some really great tips in here. Wish I would have read this earlier on when I was just starting out
When you start taking EntreCard seriously, all of this follows naturally. I suppose it could function as a checklist for people to see if they indeed take EC seriously.
Anyway, good post. Enjoyed reading it.
Bass last blog post..PhotoHunt: Dark
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Dre Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 11:35Hey Richard.
Great post indeed. I joined it today after reading several of your articles about it.
Blogrush was such a waste of time and their customer service/support sucked!
Keep well!Dres last blog post..7 Things You Should Never Say To A Customer Service Rep, And 7 Things You Should [Customer Service]
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Christopher J Combrink Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 11:48Out of ALL the blog-promoting ventures, this strikes me as the most umm, i don’t even know how to word it? Mimiky? of real life.
Christopher J Combrinks last blog post..Will the real Riply please stand up?
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Babette Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 12:44Great post! I’m a newbie at EC and still learning the ropes. At first, I bookmarked every site I went to and dropped daily but found out later that not everyone reciprocated. Now I started a new one and bookmarked only those that always return my drops.
Babettes last blog post..Don’t Lose It, Label It
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Enfotainer Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 08:27Very interesting and informative article.
So I’ll start dropping you and hope I’ll get the love returned as well
Enfotainers last blog post..Top 6 Free Online Storage And File Hosting Services
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BioTecK Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 09:06Some nice tips!
I like this article! However I don’t use the entrebar cause it uses a lot of FireFox space.. :pBioTecKs last blog post..Free Hugs!?
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S. Hart Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 09:51Great post! One of the problems I see with EC is that many of the people who sign up for EC don’t actually place their widget on their page and quite often the widget links are inoperative. Over-all, however, it’s fairly effective. I personally would like to generate additional traffic at my blog, read interesting posts such as this at other blogs, and spend less time dropping on sites where they’re simply filled with advertisements in an attempt to generate revenue.
S. Harts last blog post..All That Glitters is Not Gold
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Richard Catto Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 09:54@Infotainer: You can hope, you can pray, that maybe some day…
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Richard Catto Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 09:58@BioTecK: download FF lite specially for people who want the smallest FF possilble.
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Richard Catto Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 09:59@S. Hart: Well if you sign up for EC and then do not place the widget, you go to jail.
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Just Sayin'... Says:
August 14th, 2008 at 00:01Great tips! You’ve been stumbled…
Just Sayin’…s last blog post..The Greatest Blog Comment Ever!
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Richard Catto Says:
August 14th, 2008 at 02:51@Just Sayin : Great, thanks, but you don’t appear to be using EntreCard. Are you planning to join us in our quest for Blog Domination?
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Just Sayin'... Says:
August 14th, 2008 at 04:23It is definitely on my list of things to accomplish this weekend.
Just Sayin’…s last blog post..The Greatest Blog Comment Ever!
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Richard Catto Says:
August 14th, 2008 at 18:09@Just Sayin : It takes about 10 minutes to create a new account. You’ll need to pre-create a 125 x 125 pixels jpeg to represent your blog on teh Internets. You’ll need that to open your EntreCard account.
Then EC gives you some javascript which you slap into a text widget to display in your blog’s sidebar.
If you need a weekend to accomplish that, you must be on drugs.
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