Entrecard is Killing My Blog!
Posted on March 27th, 2008 by GrandmasterB under Internet MarketingDid that headline get your attention? To be quite honest it’s not Entrecard that is killing my blog…it’s me that is killing my blog. When I put the Entrecard widget on my blog and starting seeing all of these people wanting to place their advertisement on my site I felt a rush of excitement. I thought “Wow! This is an amazing community of bloggers wanting to help out the new guy.” After three or four days of being on the service my stats showed that I was getting many visits and a good deal of unique visitors as well. I thought I was onto something big. If I kept dropping cards and commenting on certain posts that I had enjoyed reading, maybe I would start to see some good comments on my site. Dropping cards became an obsession the first few days. I was trying to build up some EC credits, so that I could eventually start advertising myself…this turned out to be the big mistake.
You see I had spent so much time getting my EC bankroll started I neglected the number one rule to blogging: HAVE GOOD CONTENT! I had posted what I thought were fairly good posts that were informative and asked the readers for their opinions. However, I wasn’t thinking ahead of the game. Like any good writer would do, I had forgotten to look ahead to the next chapter of the book to develop how the main character would get out of that sticky situation. So what have I done to ensure that I don’t make the same mistake twice? I’ve started to keep a notepad of ideas with me at work and at home. If I stumble upon a good article or idea…jot it down for the future. I’ve been doing it for years as a designer…why didn’t I think about doing it as a writer? Simple…I was consumed by the addictive monster that is Entrecard.
Don’t let this post turn you away from Entrecard. It truly is a great community of bloggers and does help you get your blog off the ground. Just use it wisely, and don’t put all your eggs in one basket (I should’ve used that line last Sunday…see not thinking ahead). I have a couple of great articles around the blogosphere regarding Entrecard and how to better utilize the service and listed them below. Do check them out…they will really help you in your blogging adventures.
~ GrandmasterB
CKMarketing: How to Use Entrecard to Grow Your Blog
Ramona Iftode: Get Something More From That Crappy Entrecard Traffic
March 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
No, entrecard doesn’t kill any blog. It’s just some traffic (most of it NON-quality traffic) for a blog. Most of the people still don’t care about your content but still some might stop and read. I was able to secure my first commenters this way since the blog is also very new. It doesn’t matter I know it’s a good blog if no one is reading it. This way I get traffic and can build up on this.
Just keep on adding GOOD content and be very active in Entrecard too, until you are able to sustain a good traffic without it
March 27th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for the comment Ramona. My post was more about me concentrating too much on EntreCard and not enough on developing good ideas for my content. I know what you’re saying though.
March 27th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
yep I fell into the same hole as you.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
At least I was able to notice my addiction before it was too late. Blogging is definitely a balancing act.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:18 am
You raise some good points. It’s always about content when long term success and consistent traffic is the goal. The EntreCard program is a good way to jump start your blog, especially for those just starting out.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Ha! We’ve all been there! Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (ooops…maybe I forgot).
March 28th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
thx for the link to my post
Newbie bloggers seem to think that EntreCard is a “magic-pill” to their traffic problems, that’s why I wrote the post in the first place.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
@ Marty - Thanks for the comment. EC is great for getting a jumpstart on building traffic…like you said though you have to think long-term if you want to be successful.
@Jeff - I don’t remember a warning. LOL
@Colin - I thought your post was great! The 3-month plan is a great guideline for n00bs like myself to follow. I had never heard of BloggingZoom until I read your post. I signed up immediately. Thanks…
March 28th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
People forget that there’s a world out side of Entrecard. There are lots of other ways to drive traffic to your site, the good thing about non entrecard traffic is that the people on your blog aren’t just there to drop their card on you there’s a good chance they want to read what you’re saying. I’ve cut my EC dropping down to about 100-150 a day now, and I hardly post in the forums anymore. Doing so has helped me focus on other things like, freelance writing, advertising, and reading other peoples blogs.
I haven’t really noticed a drop in my EC traffic, people are still buying my ads, so it’s good all round for me.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
LOL! Hey, don’t let Entrecard become your ONLY source of income
because it’s not worth it… I rarely drop nowadays and yet, my stats just continue to climb without it… interesting… plus, when your bounce rate is 90+% and the last couple days people spent literally 2 seconds from Entrecard, it’s not worth it.
Jay
DatMoney.com
March 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Balancing act is right. I need to focus more on quality content about now — lately I have been distracted by getting my stumble profile set up.
I added you to my RSS feeds. Keep coming up with cool stuff and I’ll keep reading ya!
March 29th, 2008 at 11:55 am
@ Funked - Thanks for the comments. I agree that it’s easy to forget about all of the other traffic generating sources out there. I am noticing that the traffic is still coming with my decreased activity on Entrecard during the work week. It’s tough to drop 100-150 cards per day at the office.
@ Jay - I’ve been doing some reading around the blogging community and have found some other great sources to generate traffic. On another note, I have seen my bounce rate improve from 90%+ to just over 74%…that’s a step in the right direction.
@ Luke - You aren’t kidding! I would call it more juggling than balancing…you gotta keep all those balls in the air and keep them in sync. Thanks for adding my feed…look for a new post to drop later on this afternoon. Putting the finishing touches on it now.
March 31st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I just added Entrecard to my site last week and I get decent traffic. It’s not my only source of traffic, but it brings me decent clicks.
Good post, and I hope EntreCard addicts learn something from this experience of yours.