My wife and I do not have any discretionary funds at this time. In fact, we do not even have enough income to pay for all of our prescribed medications.
Hopefully, that will change soon—just like it may for many, many others, and this is what you should be paying attention to. For whatever you may be offering just might be what we are looking for when we do have a little extra in our pockets.
Just in case you are curious, this post is in response to an article that I read yesterday on [impNERD.com] about how advertising on [Entrecard] was not very cost-effective in comparison to other internet mediums. Granted, I could feel my brain cells start to liquefy when I tried to follow the formula that was presented to make such a conclusion, but even if it was correct, an extremely critical point was missed—if not blatantly ignored.
The extremely important point has to do with the ad being actually seen. For everyone who makes an Entrecard drop will see the ad that is displayed at the time.
[Google AdWords] cannot make a promise like that to their prospective advertisers, nor can anyone else that I am aware of, except for [Adgitize]. For no one in their right-mind visits a blog to look for advertising.
Be assured that your ad being actually seen is a value that will pay-off in the long run, even if it does not appear to being doing a thing at a particular time, if you are offering a quality product or service. After all, are there not times when you go to a store to buy one thing and then decide to buy something else because of seeing or hearing an ad for it days (maybe even months) before?
Again, everyone who makes an Entrecard drop will see the ad that is displayed at the time, and this is where Entecard has an advantage over even Adgitize. For Adgitize droppers only get credit for 100 blogs a day while the Entrecard limit is 300.
In theory, the more blogs that one can get credit for dropping on, the more blogs they will visit, which equates to the more times your ad will be seen. This blog has been averaging over 250 Entrecard drops every single day, and I hear that others are averaging much, much higher. Personally, I don’t understand why, but that is another post for another day.
Getting back to the part about everyone who makes an Entrecard drop will see the ad being displayed at the time, it is like having an audience duct-taped to their seats with their eyelids stapled to their foreheads. In other words, they are going to see the ad—be assured!
Now, to all of the disgruntled Entrecard publishers—are you not forgetting something? For I would be right in there with you in your protests over paid ads stealing half of the time that regular adverts would be getting if Entrecard was going to keep all of the proceeds, but are we not being promised a 75% share?
Come on now, wouldn’t it be nice to make a little money from your blog for a change? Besides, are they not also promising to soon come out with a two-sided badge that would hold both kinds for the full 24 hours?
No, I have not seen a dime of it yet, but according to the latest estimates, I have earned around $350.00 on Entrecard so far. I’m willing to wait and see. How about you?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
16 comments:
Since the Blogger spam filter has been found sorely lacking lately, I will start moderating comments. Be assured that I am only interested in deleting spam. So, if you feel a need to take me to task over something—even anonymously, go ahead and let 'er rip, and I will publish it as soon as I can.
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The proof is in the pudding as they say. No pudding being served then do you go there to eat again?
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! It's refreshing to see another positive perspective. All the whining and banning of EC is absurd, in my opinion. It was offered as a free way to get your blog noticed and we all have reaped the benefits. The creator and his team want to try and actually make some money from this great tool and I think it is definitely their right.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested in seeing how the credit/cash system works out, but I was never here for the money...it would just be the icing on this delicious cake.
You have made my point exactly, my dear Martin. For pudding is always being served on Entrecard for advertisers if they want their ad to be seen, and in regards to concerns about Entrecard just being about "drop & run," it was while dropping on impNERD that I saw the article.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much, my dear Shelly!!! In all honesty, however, I would be just as upset as some others if the powers that be on Entrecard were not promising to spread the wealth. For paid ads did jump the line over the regular adverts that were having to wait several days before their turn to be displayed came. Alas, surely there would not have been nearly as many upset people if they had of just came out with a double-sided badge at the same time they introduced paid ads to the system.
ReplyDeleteHey - enjoyed this read. I unfortunately at this time am not able to take full advantage of Entrecard due to restrictions from today.com. I will just keep rounding up ECs and buying ads with EC credits to promote my blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks, my dear Mike!!!
ReplyDeleteFishHawk, how did you actually Make Money on Entrecard ? you should post that formula Sweets. I for one would be very interested in it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't join Entrecard or start blogging to make money for myself or anyone else for that matter. Personally, and maybe I'm missing something, I do not see how the normal guy is going to make much money at this. If you only are allowed to drop 300EC per day I don't see how it can add up to enough to cash out and have enough to use for advertising. I plan to sit back and wait and see what happens. I love Entrecard, but I am not currently participating in the paid ads. I prefer to see how it plays out and wait for some of the bugs to be out of the system. Let me ad that I did try it first, and I opted out after giving it a shot.
ReplyDeleteWell, my dear Ausetkmt, how I came up with the $350.00 has to do with the 24,000 credits that I have accumulated so far and the estimated pay out of $15.00 per thousand credits. Of course, whether or not it actually happens is another matter, but I naturally want to believe that a person is sincere when they state their intentions until it is proven otherwise.
ReplyDeleteNow, I feel like I need to explain how I have come to accumulate so many credits in the relatively short time that I have been on Entrecard. For some will undoubtedly think that it is all about hoarding or something, but I have been purchasing adverts on other sites. In fact, I have purchased almost as many as has been purchased from me.
The rest of my accumulated credits come from making my 300 drops each and every day, along with making a post here at least 6 times a week, which I have been given time to do. Be assured that I would much rather be spending my time making a living for my family, but I cannot due to being disabled for quite some time now. Subsequently, I am trying to do whatever I can to help.
No, I cannot be justly accused of being on Entrecard merely in the hope of making some money. For I joined before that became a possibility, and I am one of the exceptions to the supposed rule about everyone on Entrecard being all about "drop & run." After all, how could I have known about impNERD's article if I was one of them since it is on account of impNERD making a drop on me that I visited the blog in the first-place? Cannot the same be said of you, as well?
Methinks that the powers that be over at Turnip of Power need to practice a little more of what they preach. For they are always trashing Entecard for being all about drop & run when they rejected this blog as a publisher for their ads because of not having nearly enough "original" content.
Yes, many of my posts do consist of videos and MP3's, along with the lyrics of the songs, but they are not just being copied from another site. For even in the cases when another site is given credit for providing the lyrics, they have been retyped and edited by me.
Alas, I do stand guilty as charged for just copying Bible verses. For it doesn't make any sense to me to mess with perfection, and I suppose that the rest of the stuff included with them in the articles they are contained just doesn't count for much in their eyes.
I hear you, my dear Tina. Perhaps the response that I just offered to the lovely Ms. Ausetkmt might also be of interest to you.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: Just in case you might think that I am being sarcastic when I address someone as being my dear or refer to a lady as being lovely, please be assured that I am not. I am, however, trying to be charming. Is it working?
I am surprised you did not get some hate mail from this can of worms! I have been with EC since almost the beginning and contrary to what seems to be popular talk bandied about, I am staying where I am, for now anyways. The biggest thing for me has been the huge amount of friends I have made while dropping cards. I drop and run only on the blogs that are make money sites. I try to at least read so the bounce rate is not real high. I really think the concept of EC is a great one.
ReplyDeleteI really don't get it, my dear Ettarose. For as I have tryed to convey before, it would be different if the powers that be at Entrecard were just stealing advertising time away from their members and giving it to paid advertisers without any offer of shared compensation. Thank you for the encouragement, and for testifying that those who insist that Entrecard is all about drop & run are wrong.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response. It is good for people to hear both sides of the story. You are correct in the sense that more people will see your widget, and that is great for those who are just starting out and want to get their brand recognized.
ReplyDeleteMy article was mostly about conversations, not necessarily brand awareness. My point was that if you are trying to sell a specific product (and that being your only intent), then you should look elsewhere.
I think my point holds even more water now that pay-per-click is being done away with. When someone is forced to pay $0.60 per thousand visits, I'm quite positive that there are other, far more, visible ways of doing so.
Many blogs on EC receive most of their traffic from EC. So when you advertise per thousand the same person is likely to see the same ad several times. When you advertise elsewhere, the same person is not so likely to see the same ad. You essentially get a larger market by advertising somewhere else.
Basically, it isn't cost efficient, even if your point is to get your brand recognized, because for the exact same price you can reach a far more targeted audience with far more people seeing your ad.
I say this for the sake of the advertiser. I am not that it is bad for the publisher at all. Actually, this is *fantastic* for the people who are making money off this.
The traffic Entrecard gives isn't all bad, I'm sorry if I gave that impression. Yes, there are some who drop by and comment. I do it, you do it, and obviously there are others who do it as well. The problem is that there is a portion of people who don't. They simply want the credits for whatever reason. And I think it is influenced by Entrecard (now more than ever) to do so. The more drops people make, the more money they can make.
I have been a member of Entrecard since shortly after it began, so I have seen many changes they have made (and the changes they haven't). Obviously I have found people on there whom I like to read, otherwise I wouldn't be there. I just think that the management has done a horrible job at keeping things civil and have done a horrible job at trying to make the system better as a whole instead of just on their side or the minorities side.
Anyway, sorry for highjacking your comments.
Oh no, my dear impNERD, I do not consider your input as being an attempted hijack at all. In fact, I great appreciate such a respectful response.
ReplyDeleteYour point is also well taken. For it is true that an advertiser will get much more overall exposure from Google AdWords.
Nonetheless, true value all comes down to whether their ad is actually being seen or not--does it not?. For what does it matter if their ad is on 10 million blogs if no one is paying close attention to what is contained in one of those Google AdSense boxes that are everywhere? Whereas with Entrecard and Adgitize, thousands upon thousands are actually looking for their boxes, which could contain their ad.
As in regards to sales, well, that all comes down to good old-fashioned consumerism. For if you got something that someone wants, they will buy it if they can, and it only takes calling their attention to it once for that to possibly happen.
Thank you so very much for your comment. I hope you will "drop" some more on me from time to time, and not just in regards to Entrecard-related stuff, neither.
I get what you are saying, but since both your's and my posts were written, EC has changed their advertising costs.
ReplyDeleteRight now, Entrecard no longer offers pay per click ads. So if you want to advertise you must pay by the amount of views. The cost is currently $0.60 per 1000, which is right on par with many other advertising programs (depending on the niche, of course).
If everyone followed the 'one scroll rule', then people may receive more exposure compared to most other networks.
However, with Google AdSense, people generally already have the ads high up because they want clicks. I don't know if you have ever advertised through Google, but if not, then you can advertise by paying for views as well. So you could set up a campaign with and not juts clicks. You can set up a campaign there at $0.60 per 1000 views, the exact same as Entrecard. AdSense members can't choose to show just CPM (cost per thousand) ads, they must show both. So to insure they are going to receive the most amount of money, they will have the ad easily visible-high on the page (in most cases).
But, as I said in the post, there are benefits for EC members to advertise there. When you advertise within a community, you become known there (at least by your card). So you will definitely gain more clicks, and possibly more readers because, at least in theory, you will be seen as an authority. It all depends on your strategy and what your purpose of doing so is.
For someone who is cash-strapped, I wouldn't recommend it. For someone who has extra dollars, it couldn't hurt to try out.
Currently, I have nothing bad to say about Adgitize. The owner is friendly (or so I hear), and it is easy enough to gain credits. The payout is slightly low, but that is in part because of the lack of advertisers. I am definitely planning on advertising through them soon and I will have the results on display-this won't be for a month or two though.
Anyway, thanks for responding. I appreciate your kindness. See you around! :)
P.S.: I neglected to address your point about targeted ads, my dear impNERD, and I really should say something about it since we are in agreement about at least that. For such services as Google AdWords do seek to match ads for certain things with related blogs and published articles. Whereas Entrecard and Adgitize do not at this time, and may never do so.
ReplyDeleteA good example of this can be found in the Google AdSense boxes at the top and bottom here at this particular time. For the feature of this weeks Come Monday... was a review of a new book by Marcus Wilder about Israel & Palestine, and there are now somewhat related ads in them. So are there somewhat related ads for Kid Rock, who was featured in this weeks TWO FOR TUESDAY. Needless to say, none of the Entrecard and Adgitize ads are related to either one, but in all fairness, all of the Entrecard adverts that have been published on this blog have been specifically purchased to do so for one reason or another, which is the way it has been for your blog, as well.