To say that the last month on [Entrecard] has been quite a ride is quite an understatement. For out came the announcement that the first cash-out payments were looking like $15.00 per thousand, and I immediately started spending (in my head) the over $300.00 worth of credits that I had accumulated at the time. In fact, the page that the announcement was on had not fully loaded on even [Firefox] yet.
Oh, but that was just the beginning of the fun. For the next announcement established the first cash-out payments at $1.00 per thousand, which slashed my stash down to a paltry $25.oo or so.
No, we are most certainly not done yet. For my cash-out application is still pending approval.
Just for the sake of clarity, I am not at all concerned about being strung along. For I realize that I am relative newcomer to the program, and it is only fair that those who have been with Entrecard the longest should get a little somethin’ somethin’ first. After all, they helped build it into a means for making a little money.
Nonetheless, I am feeling a little foolish for being such a staunch supporter of the new cash-out system in the face of many who have been with Entrecard a whole lot longer than I have. For the way the powers that be at Entrecard has handled the whole aware so far has helped make it ever more increasingly clear to me that the old-timers knew that it was not going to be nearly as grand as I hoped.
Therefore, I am going to scale way back on singing the praises of the Entrecard cash-out option for the time being, but I am still going to shout from the rooftops just how happy I am with all of the traffic that I have been getting. For before Entrecard, I rarely had more than 300 visitors in a month here, and now I am receiving more than that a day.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, 300 visitors a day is laughable to some, and then there are those who insist that none of them are paying any real attention to the content. Well, just let them laugh. For many have paid at least some attention to the content, and even the devout “drop & runners” are fulfilling a purpose.
Needless to say, since I have been receiving over 300 drops a day, I have not been able to return-drop on everyone every day. Please be assured, however, that I go ahead and visit every site anyway.
Alas, oh how I wish they would allow all drops to show up in the corresponding inboxes—even after the 300 drop credit limit has been reached. For that would let the person know that their effort had not been just ignored, and I would think that it would also greatly increase over-all traffic of Entrecard itself, which is what advertisers want to see—right?
Anyway, the following is a list of the top droppers here for April, 2009 in alphabetical order. Be assured that they are all greatly appreciated by me, and I hope you will pay many visits to their sites.
Link: [A Grateful Heart]
Link: [Current Events and Bible Prophecy]
Yeah, some of us do pay attention to the content and do more than drop. I for one have decided to start a little experiment. I know without keeping track I leave at least double the comments I get in return; and am willing to bet it's more than double. And I rarely leave one sentence...cool blog, as a response to someone's blog entry.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you had such high hopes and got them dashed regarding making $$. I'm not one who suppose anything about the paid ads/cash out. It's not what EC was designed for, and it's not what so many choice to sign up for. That only makes it a problem for me.
I do very much dislike being kept in the dark, being locked out of the forums because as active as I am, I still can't buy my way into the inside group. All of this is suspect. If one has nothing to hide...why keep people out.
Growing up, a child of the sixties I was taught and still believe it is not only our right to question; but is in fact our duty to question those in authority.
I do like visiting and EC is good for that, seeing lots of different blogs. Jury's out and how this all is going to shake out.
Sandy
As always, welcome mats out, hope you'll swing by for a visit...it won't cost you anything...lol
EC will bring you a lot of traffic. Some is good, some not so good. It's a numbers game, and if you develop some good readers, it is worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for stopping by again, my dear Sandy!!! You have most definitely become a very valuable contributor to this site, and I hope your comments are as greatly appreciated by others as much as they are by me.
ReplyDeleteAs in regards to Entrecard, I signed on with them before they started accepting third-party ads, and it was mostly in the hope of gaining some more traffic that I did so. So, the cash-out was just some icing on an already incredibly delicious cake to me. For I was seeing a huge increase in traffic, and it keeps increasing.
On the other hand, the way the powers that be at Entrecard has been generally handling things lately makes me sick. For I can relate to having an under-seige mentality, but treating people poorly in return just adds all the more fuel to the fire.
Even though you are not nearly as valuable to me as Sandy, I still appreciate you coming by, my dear Crotchety. For I am, after all, a very tolerant individual--even of Giants and Yankees fans.
ReplyDeleteI share your views about Entrecard! Cheers! I am just staying on the sidelines for now watching how the storm over the paid ads are going! Like you, I can't complain about the more 200 visits I get from EC everyday!
ReplyDeleteMethinks that maintaining a low profile would be most wise, my dear Big Daddy Richard. Thank you so very much for being such a faithful dropper here!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you also for developing your Entrecard Dropper Widget. I am sure that it is also contributing greatly to the traffic that this site is now seeing.
I definitely pay attention to what's written on the blogs I visit! I try to comment as often as I can and reciprocate every comment left on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that there are times when I am just as much of a "drop & runner" as anyone can be. For I am focused upon finding the Entrecard or Adgitize widget and nothing else.
ReplyDeleteEven during those times, however, something will often catch my attention anyway, and I would like to believe that most are not so different than I am. Of course, my mother used to call me gullible a lot.
Nonetheless, you have certainly helped to prove the Entrecard scoffers wrong, my dear Margret. For here you are on account of Entrecard, and here you are taking the time to not only read the post, but to leave a comment, as well. Thank you so very much!!!
Ihave to agree, I drop a bit and always take note of content, at least on the last post made. Quite often I will dwell if it interests me and comment if I feel I want to, hang on, that's what I'm doing no! lol
ReplyDeleteEntrecard for me is used mainly as a traffic gernerating tools where I meet many people. The $ is incidental and as far as I'm concerned should be looked as a bonus. It might just pay for my site's yearly fees, but that's okay.
That's certainly the best way to look at it, my dear Martin. Thanks for stopping by!!!
ReplyDeleteI always figured it would be around $1 or less. I honestly thought that $15/1000 was laughable. But who knows, maybe it will happen?
ReplyDeleteThe $1/1000 or lower seemed about right, because a long while ago EC allowed credits to be sold through eBay (or really anything) and the last price ECs were going for was around $1/1000.
The very first time I sold credits back I got $10/1000. Graham was selling them through his website for $15 (which I think is where he got that number from).
The second time? $6/1000. But I advertised that money as going to charity, which it did (UNICEF). So I'm sure that helped quite a bit.
Shortly after I sold those credits, the price dipped to $2. Then, around a month later it went to $1.
Now, when EC first began it was a lot easier to do drops. Well, easier in the sense where you don't even have to read the title of the page. You could simply visit a blog and do a CTRL+F 'Drop' and then drop and leave. With Firefox, you could leave the find box open and just click the down arrow.
Then there were tons of bots and websites popping up which claimed to offer faster than ever dropping. I remember one website which simply loaded members EC cards on a single page and you could just click click click and not even have to see another blog.
Now, there is a lot more security against that type of thing. But, the difference is that now there are a lot more members. So now everyone is wanting to get to 300 so they can buy a new ad or sell them for money.
Anyways, if (when) the price does increase I doubt it will go over $3/1000.
I was (finally) accepted last week and got $30. I have quite a bit more credits but I am waiting for it to go up to $1.50 or $2 and I will completely sell out.
FWIW, they only buy them back at 10,000 each. So it took a few days for the credits to be bought.
Thanks for all of great info, my dear impNERD. I have been wondering if maybe it was because of having over 30,000 credits that it was taking so long for me to be approved for a cash-out, but with you having a lot more than me, it is obvious that this is not the reason.
ReplyDeleteI find it curious that the new "Crazy Entrecard Promotion" includes 10,000 credits, which is a $56 value according to Entrecard. Now, if my figuring is right, that would be $5.60 per thousand, and I just don't think it's right that Entrecard's own credits are worth more than mine! (LOL)
@FishHawk Haha :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is definitely a bit deceptive on EC's part.
Try sending them a support email. The mods generally check it out, but they might send a note to Graham anyway about your application.
That is what happened for me anyway. It could have just been a coincidence, but finally after they got to my support mail they answered saying 'we can't do anything about that, there is an order, blah blah'. But then two days later I was approved.
Thanks for suggesting dropping (PUN INTENDED!) them a line about how long it is taking to get approved for the cash-out, my dear impNERD, but they've got me a little spooked right now. So, I think I will follow Big Daddy Richard's example and try to maintain a low profile for at least the time being.
ReplyDelete