Written on January 10th, 2008 at 06:01 am by Darren Rowse
Interview with Entrecard’s Graham Langdon
Entrecard is a blogging service that has quickly emerged (or exploded) onto the scene over the last couple of months. Entrecard widgets are popping up on thousands of blogs around the blogosphere – including here at ProBlogger since they became a ProBlogger sponsor.
I get a lot of questions about Entrecard and how to use it most effectively to promote your blog – so I thought I’d approach Entrecard’s Graham Langdon with some of the more common questions. Please note that while Entrecard is a sponsor of ProBlogger this is not a paid post. It emerges out of your questions of a service that I know many of you are curious about and using.
One of the first questions that I get from readers most about Entrecard is – ‘what is it?’ – From what I can tell Entrecard has a number of features that bloggers love – how do you describe it?
Put simply, Entrecard is a free social advertising network for bloggers. Everyone knows that the 125×125 has become this semi-official “ad of the blogosphere.” What Entrecard allows you to do is :
- Advertise your 125×125, for free, on any blog in our network
- Pay with Entrecard Credits instead of real money
- Earn Credits by visiting other blogs, and leaving your card for the owner (through the widget) much in the same way you would hand someone your regular business card
- See 3D statistics of traffic from ad campaigns and from our site, as well as stats for cards given and received
- The whole service is incredibly easy to use and intuitive once you give it a try
So far, Entrecard has been quite effective at sending traffic to members’ blogs. Imagine a user that has a free ad right here on ProBlogger for a day, as well as ads running on 10 small to medium sized blogs. The traffic benefits can be significant. And on top of the advertising network there is an active social network, complete with a forum, messaging system, and more, that our members are actively taking part in. Bloggers have great information to share with each other, and we’re happy that so many are choosing Entrecard as an outlet.
When you place a free ad on someone else’s blog, how long does it run for? Are there other ads in rotation?
When you place an ad one someone’s blog with Entrecard, it runs for a full 24 hours, solid, with no other ads in rotation.
Following is a screenshot of the Entrecard Dashboard:
Where did the idea for Entrecard come from?
I’d have to say the gears started turning when I witnessed the massive launch of BlogRush. The take home message for me was that bloggers everywhere were craving a widget that could bring free traffic. My ensuing thought process went something like this: First, I thought of those fish-bowls in restaurants where you drop off your business card to win a free lunch. So I started thinking of a system where bloggers could drop their digital business cards to each other to earn some sort of reward. Then, I thought about how some “brick and mortar” businesses actually let other small businesses around town advertise their business card on their cashier counter, or on a window sill.
Once I translated this thought process to the world of blogging, I knew what I needed was a widget that could simultaneously serve as a way to not only exchange cards, but advertise other members cards. A Credit system, with varying cost to advertise based on the size and popularity of one’s blog, was the final piece of the puzzle, and thus, Entrecard was born!
You launched two months ago – how’s it been going so far? What milestones have you hit? Can you give us some insight into how many bloggers are using it and what benefits it’s bringing them?
Our launch has been nothing short of amazing so far. We’ve hit the following milestones:
- Over 2,000 free ads are now placed daily through Entrecard.
- Since launching, our members have exchanged over half a million cards with each other.
- As of writing this, Entrecard proudly offers free advertising on 1700 unique blogs.
- We’re now consistently ranking under under 2000 on Alexa (I hate to use the ‘”A” word) daily.
- In the last 30 days, we’ve done over a million page views on our website.
In terms of benefits, reports are abound on Technorati and Google Blogsearch that bloggers are not just receiving significant traffic, but also an increase in comments, a boost in Alexa rank, and more RSS subscribers. Not bad for a free widget that takes up just a little more space than a 125×125! However, I will say that results vary depending on your level of involvement in the program.
What type of blogger will benefit most from it?
Without a doubt, the small to medium size blogger will see the most benefit from Entrecard. It is an excellent system especially for bloggers trying to attain their first 2000 RSS subscribers. It’s not the only system these bloggers should be using of course, but it will absolutely help. Most of our users report traffic of around 20 visits per day, and as many as 150 to 200 per day with particularly effective ad campaigning. While this amount of traffic may not be significant to some of the top bloggers, many bloggers would find themselves greatly benefited from this source of traffic.
Are there any restrictions, limitations, or guidelines for joining the Entrecard network?
Yes, we have a number of basic guidelines for Entrecard membership. We only allow blogs of reasonable quality into the network, so if you only have one post, or if your site is considered “spam” it will not be allowed in the network. We also only allow blogs written in English, though we hope to expand to facilitate all languages as soon as possible. Finally, you cannot have adult content on your blog.
We rely heavily on a flagging system, where users can flag any blog in the network that appear to be spam, offensive, or of poor quality. All these flags are reviewed promptly and proper action is always taken to keep Entrecard a high quality network. So far, this system has served us wonderfully, and has given an equal voice to everyone as to what they do and do not want to see in the Entrecard network.
What tips would you give bloggers who want to get the most out of Entrecard?
With Entrecard, you get out what you put in. So you’ll want to spend some time leaving your card for bloggers in your niche and in related niches to get them visiting your site. You can start buying as many ads as possible on related blogs. Finally, you can hold a contest on your blog and give away Entrecard Credits. This is becoming a very popular trend for our members, and provides a terrific incentive to get others commenting on your blog posts.
Another fairly large element that plays a role in your success with Entrecard is your blog’s content. Members with quality content, well written and useful articles with images, will find that Entrecard enhances their statistics more so than blogs with lesser quality content. And of course, blogs with terrible content simply get removed from our network. But if your content is good, simply participate as much as possible, and I can guarantee you’ll be happy with your results.
You’ve just opened a ‘marketplace’ (pictured below) – what’s this?
The blogger marketplace, which we call the Entrecard Shop, is the next step forward with the Credit economy we’re establishing. Cumulatively, our members are earning thousands of Credits every day, and while it’s nice that you can spend your Credits to advertise on over 1700 blogs, we have a bit of a larger vision.
So we’ve opened a shop where bloggers can buy and sell blogging related products and services for Credits. We have people selling exclusive Wordpress themes, Blog reviews, SEO consultations, Blog makeovers, unused domain names, and more. The benefit for the seller is that it dramatically increases the amount of credits you earn, thus increasing your purchasing power as well. The benefit for the buyer is that now you can buy much, much more than network advertising with your Credits.
What is the most unique item available in the shop? What is the most useful?
I’d have to say that the most unique item in the shop is a Shakespearean Sonnet. A blogger, who recently enjoyed a class in Shakespeare, will write a sonnet about your blog for 50 credits, and post it on her blog. As for the most useful item, someone is selling a complete hosting package for your Wordpress blog. This gives bloggers the opportunity to finally move off Blogspot or Wordpress.com and onto their own hosted account, and pay with credits instead of money. I find it really satisfying to see such unique and useful items being sold in the Shop, which is only just a week old.
Are there any criticisms of Entrecard you would like to address?
Well the system isn’t perfect, and although we’d like everyone to read a full post and leave a comment before dropping their card, some people simply don’t. Some users will stop by your blog just to drop off their card, and then go off to the next one to rack up credits. Now this doesn’t include everyone; we have a lot of quality readers out there on Entrecard. In fact we’ve found that the majority of our users have reported discovering new blogs they now read regularly. But you could very well find, because of some chain droppers, that across all your Entrecard traffic, the average time spent on your site is slightly lower and the bounce rate slightly higher when compared to the rest of your traffic. Regardless, this is still real traffic and you still have the opportunity to command their attention when they stop by. And finally, even for the Entrecard members that do stay only just long enough to drop their card, you still earn a credit for each one of these “chain droppers,” which you can put towards advertising, graphic design for your blog, blog reviews, SEO consultations, hosting, and much much more in the Entrecard Shop.
The best thing our members can do to minimize the chain dropping, is to understand that this is not Entrecard’s intended use, and to really make an effort to read a post and leave a comment on blogs they visit while dropping cards.
Where do you hope to take Entrecard in the coming year? Do you have any more features planned that you can tell us about?
Over the next year, we’re going to expand the social networking features to include favorites, a news feed, and even more bells and whistles. We’re going to enhance the advertising network by adding greater control and analytics. Finally, we’re hoping to expand the marketplace to hundreds, if not thousands of items, and roll out a seller feedback system similar to eBay’s. By the end of the year, I plan on securing either an angel investment or venture capital. I’ve already had some interest from a few angel investors, but I’m looking for an investor who is well connected in an industry that would be of benefit. From the looks of things so far, Entrecard could become big. Very big.
Note from Darren: As a little companion post to this interview in the next day or two I’m going to do a little competition to give away my own Entrecard credits (there’s over 3000 of them). Stay tuned for how to win some of them for yourself to help promote your blog.
114 Responses to “Interview with Entrecard’s Graham Langdon” - Add Yours
Arpit Tambi
January 10th, 2008 7:03 am
There is some formatting problem with the last question, correct it…
esvl
January 10th, 2008 7:07 am
Entrecard is pretty cool. Especially the shop.
Chris Vincent
January 10th, 2008 7:07 am
Well that was a long thing to get through…. but well worth it!
It’ll allow me to see if i can improve my own internet business prospects with my own future project
Hyder
January 10th, 2008 7:09 am
I think the service is great, but it can get boring after a while. The shop sounds like a good idea and looks like it will bring momentum back.
Currently, we are in development of something that will rock the widget world. I’ll give you first dibs, Darren ;-)
Ben
January 10th, 2008 7:11 am
I have a blog that is lagging in traffic. Sounds like I should give this a try. Thanks for the info.
Rebellious Arab Girl
January 10th, 2008 7:20 am
I love Entrecard.. It is a great way to visit other blogger’s sites. :)
mcangeli
January 10th, 2008 7:26 am
I’ve seen a good increase in traffic from entrecard so far and it only looks like its going to get better. Of course, the amount of sub-par blogs I’ve come across as well is higher, but I’ve found a couple of gems as well.
I’ve managed to drop 600 cards in the past two days which has helped me build up some pretty good traffic that actually hangs around and looks at the stuff on my site too.
EntreCard is worth the effort.
Andrew G.R.
January 10th, 2008 7:33 am
I found that the code snippet was slowing my site down a bit so I removed it after a short test.
Also, if this venture becomes successful, maybe Graham can pump some money back into the Million Dollar Wiki. That thing’s been pretty much left for dead.
aksn1p3r
January 10th, 2008 7:48 am
Entrecard has been the most motivating widget for me this year. I’m dropping as many as I can. I’m also enjoying the various types of link-loves and contests being held.
Ninja Steve
January 10th, 2008 7:49 am
I have also benefited greatly from Entrecard. I can network more.
I have found more interesting blogs.
I can advertise.
People’s ingenuity is amazing. Many people are giving away credits in order for people to sign up to their RSS. Clever.
Justin Dupre
January 10th, 2008 8:04 am
Entrecard is a joke. I feel like it is flopping just like BlogRush did. I refuse to put this rediculous contraption on my site because the quality of the traffic is so insignificant. I would feel lucky if I got 5 RSS users from it, but I didn’t. I think I will actually give away my credits in a contest I am running now.
Justin Dupre
http://www.blogosis.com
Stephan Miller
January 10th, 2008 8:04 am
I have been blogging for a while, but haven’t got into to the traffic dynamics until recently. Of everything I have tried, Entrecard is by far the best and may be one of the only ways a new blogger can get a shot at appearing on a blog like this one.
I have to admit I chain drop, but I do read the posts. It’s just the easiest way to navigate the system. And since it’s an active system unlike Blogrush, I kill two birds with one stone. I get traffic via Entrecard and my actually visiting the blogs, more chances to comment.
Both my comments and traffic have increased at my blog since signing up.
LiveCrunch
January 10th, 2008 8:08 am
Darren,
You forgot to ask him:
“Will EntreCard ever sell some premium accounts or vip accounts OR will it be always FREE”
arun
January 10th, 2008 8:10 am
even i got good traffic using this entrecard….. thanks entrecard to give such services..
Michael Martine
January 10th, 2008 8:12 am
The comparison to BlogRush is unfortunate. BlogRush is a failure, in the opinion of many people and myself. I’m glad I read this interview, because now I see that it’s not like BlogRush at all.
Toni
January 10th, 2008 8:18 am
Yes would be nice to have read about his future plans for Entrecard.
Also i prefer the term I heard used in the forums, “drive by dropper” to “chain dropper” :)
Toni x
Gary R. Hess
January 10th, 2008 8:30 am
Honestly, I love Entrecard. It is a great way to get traffic.
To those who say the traffic is worthless, I say traffic is only worthless if you don’t know how to monetize it. What did you do to make this group of people stop and think “Hey, this is cool! Maybe I should subscribe or comment.” In most cases, you did nothing. And that is your problem, not Entrecard’s.
I have had hundreds of comments from Entrecard users, quite a few Technorati favorites and some great RSS subscribers. Why? Because I monetize it. Entrecard works great for me and my website.
Maybe those who bash it should step back for a second and ask themselves why it isn’t working, and improve on it from within their website first before going public and claiming the service sucks.
Jessica Quackers
January 10th, 2008 8:43 am
Being a teenager with a blog doesn’t seem that easy, trust me. There are those who believe that we love nothing more than using “txt spk” and Myspace, that’s not the case with me. As a girl who’s just started her journey to becoming a problogger (in August), it’s amazing how one month of Entrecard has made a difference. Not only are my rankings way up in the 700,000’s, but I’ve been able to establish myself and now am close to making money in the $1,000 mark. That’s not bad for a not even nineteen computer geek!
Mark Fulton
January 10th, 2008 8:51 am
Excellent review! EntreCard is an amazing community of bloggers and despite criticism of traffic quality I have made numerous friends and recieved hundred and hundreds of unique visitors… many of whom now read my web magazine on a daily basis!
Darren, PLEASE start approving / rejecting your advert requests, there are alot of us who would love to advertise on your widget!
All the best,
Mark Fulton
DotSauce Magazine
http://www.DotSauce.com
Tim
January 10th, 2008 9:24 am
Entrecard has totally helped me to kickstart my blog. Sure, I “chain drop”, but I also leave plenty of comments and read a bunch of really great posts on related blogs.
This has helped me contact a lot of new and cool bloggers, and I’ve really enjoyed it. To me, this is more important than the traffic aspect.
Now, I have a small readership that is developing, and my blog is growing everyday!
Definitely a must have for all serious new bloggers.
Warren
January 10th, 2008 9:37 am
What a great idea! I love it but on their end I see a small problem. How are they making money? If everything works on credits, they cannot really take a portion of transactions and convert it to cash. I don’t see the profit potential. Any ideas?
Ben Barden
January 10th, 2008 9:38 am
My site is nearly two years old but the current focus has only been around for a couple of months. Entrecard has helped my blog immensely by doing the initial promotion and attracting a decent amount of traffic to the site. I know it’s quality traffic and not just “drive by droppers” because my feed subscribers have increased and many of the visitors leave a comment.
If a blog don’t get any good quality traffic from Entrecard, perhaps they should ask whether their content is up to scratch or whether they are writing in a niche that is already too popular. People will only leave a comment if they read a post that provokes them to comment. If they’re not commenting, don’t blame Entrecard!
Affiliate Confession
January 10th, 2008 9:49 am
Darren, where is your Entrecard? I can’t find it any longer in the Entrecard interface.
Brian Purkiss
January 10th, 2008 10:04 am
What I would like to see is a better looking widget.
The current golden ‘drop yours’ clashes with my web site something terrible.
I’m trying to keep my blog professional-grade, and I don’t know if I can get that to work. :-/
Possibly have a text version of the ‘drop yours’ ?
But still keep it below the ad.
That way it would be the 125×125 ad with simple text link below the ad (styled by the site) saying ‘get one/drop yours.’
Or, if someone wasn’t selling ads at the moment, a text and/or image way to still have a card dropped through the web site?
Like I said, at this point I don’t want to put the ad on my site because that golden ‘get one/drop yours’ doesn’t work with my site.
If there was multiple versions and/or a text version, then I would defiantly add it to my site.
Oh, and here’s another idea.
What about the ability to leave custom ads for a particular web site?
For example, I may want a web site to advertise on my site, but not with their current ad’s look. While that ad’s look may not be bad, it just might not work with my site’s color scheme. If they were able to give me a custom ad that works with my site’s color scheme, then I would allow their ad on my site.
(I’ve already denied one such ad)
Also, a referral program would be a good thing to have. Refer someone, get points.
That would offer more incentive to spread the word and put the ad on a site/blog.
There.
I’ve given my three cents.
Those first two particulars (mainly the first) are keeping me from placing an Entrecard ad on my blog.
Although I’m still signed-up, I’m not taking full advantage of the service. Do something about the first and I’ll be the first to add an Entrecard Ad it to my blog.
Looking forward to where Entrecard goes!
Brian Purkiss
January 10th, 2008 10:05 am
Oh, and getting points for reviews would be good too.
Then there’d be more incentive to write reviews.
houndsgood
January 10th, 2008 10:17 am
Entrecard is helpful and highly addictive!
Jennyjinx
January 10th, 2008 10:40 am
I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Entrecard. I’ve gotten a HUGE amount of traffic and not just chain droppers. The average EC visit stays for three minutes and visits 2.53 (?) pages. I don’t consider that bad at all considering most complaints I’ve seen of the service is that people aren’t reading the content and/or staying longer. Of course, I have no ads to click, so I can’t rave or complain about that particular aspect.
I do want to address two things from Brian Purkiss:
There is a way to do this. The potential advertiser can switch out their card with a new one for as long as it takes you to approve their ad. Then they can change it back and the new and improved ad will appear on your widget.
Entrecard doesn’t want their to be incentives for leaving recommendations. They prefer that recommendations be made honestly and without benefit to whomever is leaving the recommendation. This is a benefit as far as I’m concerned because I’ve got some excellent recommendations from bloggers and I know that those opinions are truthful.
Jeff B
January 10th, 2008 10:42 am
I like the fact that a small to medium blog can potentially advertise on the larger blogs, such as yours.
I try to scroll down a blog to see what it is about before I drop and run. I have encountered some blogs I liked and have subscribed to there RSS.
I don’t leave as many comments on a bloggers Entrecard as I should that can be a goal for 2008.
Ben
January 10th, 2008 10:48 am
I must agree EntreCard is highly addictive. I have found some really good sites through Entrecard and it has given my traffic a boost.
BuzzBop
January 10th, 2008 10:52 am
EntreCard is both a curse and a blessing. A curse because it’s an addictive, obsessive/compulsive enabler that attracts other similar types to your site. A blessing because it does increase traffic and, every once in a while, allows new and interesting blog discoveries.
Sam Freedoms Internet Marketing CONTROVERSY Blog
January 10th, 2008 11:02 am
Since the first day I put ENTRECARD on my blog, I’ve been doing nothing but supporting it. I have written, at least, a half dozen or more articles on how people can maximize their efforts and newcomers are finding them very useful all the time.
The football you see in the graphic above is mine – it’s the most unique, and lucrative, form of contest going so far but all the others are still fun and definitely worthwhile.
All in all, it’s been good but there’s been so many more people who have been WAY more helpful to Entrecard than ProBlogger so I’m a bit mystified why those others have not gotten this kind of helpful attention.
Sam
Ankit
January 10th, 2008 11:04 am
I just love Entrecard !! it give good traffic!
best thing is that some sites ask for Money to place a 125X125 Ad, whereas entrecard does the same thing for free !!
great concept !!!
Ankit
Frugal Dad
January 10th, 2008 11:13 am
Great timing….I was surfing ProBlogger for ideas on gaining readership. I’ll give EntreCard a try. Thanks for putting this infromation together.
Bob Angus
January 10th, 2008 11:46 am
The Credit economy is what’s interesting to me. We’re all desperate for traffic, but many social blog networks fade once the initial frenzy and traffic benefit fades. The Credit economy is their long-term, sustainable advantage, not the traffic alone.
You will know it has hit the big time when you get a buy Entrecard Credits spam like the whole World of Warcraft gold sub-economy.
Samuel
January 10th, 2008 11:57 am
I was pretty skeptical of Entrecard at first as it seemed like another banner link exchange program from the ‘arly days of the net. But now that I’ve tried it out, I’ve discovered that the value of EC is not where I expected it.
I joined to get visitors, but to be honest, unless you can manage to get into some of the bigger sites’ queues, the time it takes to earn the traffic you get would be better spent crafting great articles for your blog.
The REAL value I’ve found is in the EC community that is intrinsic to the ad infrastructure. I’ve found a few sites in my niche that I now read, and they have reciprocated. It’s a very basic and ad-driven form of stumbleupon just for blog owners.
Anyways, I’ll stick around primarily for the other blog owners because the ad-for-time value (unless you’re a smaller blog as Graham mentioned) is not there yet…
Shari Thomas
January 10th, 2008 12:08 pm
I’ve been with Entrecard for a little over 3 weeks and can identify increased traffic.
I’ve discovered blogs I’d never have found if not for the need to “drop cards” to increase my EC amount.
I believe that Entrecard will return what you put into it… sometimes in credits, more often in knowledge, and even more often because you’ve meant some awesome people.
Caribwebdev
January 10th, 2008 12:56 pm
entrecard gets my vote for widget of the year!
Sanjo-chan
January 10th, 2008 1:07 pm
I love Entrecard! I’m so happy I found out about it! It’s better than the other blog traffic exchange networks I’ve used. This was an excellent idea. I’m looking forward to more features to this service.
Daveyblog.com
January 10th, 2008 1:28 pm
I love this service and it makes you check out other blogs to get ec points. Great Idea!
Dave
January 10th, 2008 2:00 pm
I really like Entrecard. I am a chain dropper but I am trying to stop longer and read post and comment on them. I found some great blogs by dropping cards.
Entreholic Dave
Sue
January 10th, 2008 2:26 pm
I have found Entrecard to be an excellent tool for a new blogger like myself who is trying to build some traffic. I find it sort of sustains itself after the initial output of time. I have gained a lot of subscribers and found a lot of good sites along the way. I can not recommend it enough.
JEMi
January 10th, 2008 2:34 pm
lol I had to check the date of this posting because I felt like it was posted specifically for me (theres that ego centric thinking..)
lol I say this because I only realyl started to use Entre Card last night.. problogger being my first card drop of course
I was thinking about how neat of an idea this was and wondering what I should do on it.. came home.. and saw this posting awaiting
I love this idea.. I hope it really helps the traffic on my blog seeing that I am putting real heart into it :)
Drew
January 10th, 2008 2:40 pm
I have found entrecard to be an amazing addition to my blog. I am so happy that after less than 15 days my blog is at the top spot in its category. I drop 300 cards a day and advertise all over. Such a great program!
Kent Tee | Internet Riches Exposed
January 10th, 2008 3:25 pm
Great interview with Entrecard !
If you want to get more traffics to your blog, this will be the one tool that I suggest to you.
But in condition, you must participate in the community and play your good role in your blog (good contents).
This is another good example of Web 2.0 !
Kent
Rosli
January 10th, 2008 3:25 pm
At first I was skeptical about entrecard but I just do it (like nike!) and after 1 month I begin to believe in the system. why? because you could advertise in other blogs without any rotation for 24 hours. This is really cool.
The best part is a lot of good blogs and seasoned bloggers are here too so I learn a lot from them including you, problogger.
Cheers and Happy New Year from Malaysia.
Allen johnson
January 10th, 2008 3:57 pm
I love entrecard I think it makes about i/3 of my traffic now everyone has to get on entrecard and see how well i am doing
Shaun Carter
January 10th, 2008 4:19 pm
One thing I am interested to see in regards to Entrecard is how Graham will actually make it profitable. I think that is the step that many web startups struggle the most with after they hit these levels of success.
Wanbu
January 10th, 2008 4:50 pm
During the publishing of this post, it is my blog’s entrecard that is being published here in Problogger.net. I thank Darren for such an opportunity. I drived near hundreds of visitors to my site.
Sueblimely
January 10th, 2008 4:59 pm
I have been pleased with the results of Entrecard. This is a novel application which is much more pleasant to use than other link/banner exchange type programs, because of its interactivity and being able to contact other members. I like the ability to choose who advertises on your site and vice versa. I can pick sites with content of the most relevance to my readers.
The only problem is that certain sites I would really like to advertise on are full (eg Problogger) and not accepting any more ads as yet :-) I need visit them more regularly on Entrecard, methinks
Now I know some of the Problogger readers that are on Entrecard I am going off to drop mine on their sites now.
Nick - road2blogging
January 10th, 2008 5:41 pm
Wondered when you’d be talking about entrecard Darren. It has brought me some good traffic, some subscribers and allowed me to find some really great blogs that I don’t think I would’ve without it.
The University Kid
January 10th, 2008 7:31 pm
It’s a great idea, but is spoilt by the idiots who stop 300 cards a day – seriously, the point of it (I presume) was to help bloggers find other blogs, and those that drop 300 a day aren’t doing too much of looking I’d think.
The shop idea is a great one, and I’ll be using my credits on that :)
66tx
January 10th, 2008 7:40 pm
Currently, we are in development of something that will rock the widget world. I’ll give you first dibs, Darren ;-)
Colin King
January 10th, 2008 8:56 pm
EntreCard is the best tool available for a new blog. It is not a magic bullet it requires work, not just dropping cards but also taking part in the community and providing quality content for the readers. But isn’t that what you should be doing anyway?
Katie
January 10th, 2008 9:18 pm
Add me to the list of those who have seen a real benefit in traffic to my blog with entrecard. It will be interesting to see how it goes over time. I am noticing a higher calibur of blogs starting to appear which is encouraging because it is true that there are many blogs on the network that are of little substance. That said, I have found a few gems to add to my reads and have gained some subscribers to my blog which is worth so much.
Melo
January 10th, 2008 10:01 pm
Can Entrecard credits be sold for real money?
CatherineL
January 10th, 2008 10:58 pm
Thanks for the great explanation Darren. I’ve been hearing plenty about Entrecard but this really explains how it all works.
I didn’t join blogrush, but i think I’ll try this one out.
Frank C
January 10th, 2008 11:22 pm
Don’t put EntreCard on a site where you’re using AdSense. If you do, the low converting “drop and go” traffic will cause your entire Adsense account to be “smart priced”. This will cut your Adsense earnings on all sites by 90%.
Kelly C
January 10th, 2008 11:28 pm
I’ve been a member of Entrecard for a few weeks now and have found many new blogs I would not have known about. I look forward to seeing how it all plays out in the future.
Alfred Saforo
January 10th, 2008 11:30 pm
Entre card is a brilliant concept.Imagine being able to place an Ad for free on a top Blog or a high traffic blog for free. That is priceless. A tiny Blog like mine can actually get a shot at immortality.
archondigital
January 11th, 2008 12:06 am
Entrecard not only helped us find new ways to reach our objective of generating more awareness for our small site, it also made us new friends in the process.
Guardian Angel
January 11th, 2008 12:44 am
For me, this is the best part:
“The best thing our members can do to minimize the chain dropping, is to understand that this is not Entrecard’s intended use, and to really make an effort to read a post and leave a comment on blogs they visit while dropping cards”
Honestly speaking, I do this sometimes if the blog content is not worth to read, and many will agree with me. So no matter how attractive your Entrecard is, if your content is nonsense, then expect to be great blog for dropping an Entrecard only.
Rome
January 11th, 2008 1:34 am
I’m now up to 400,000+ on alexa because of entrecard. :)
Alfa King
January 11th, 2008 1:51 am
I joined Entrecard yesteday without a clear picture of what it was. After reading your post I now have a better look of what it is. Thanks for the explanation.
Turnip
January 11th, 2008 2:20 am
My biggest complaints about entrecard are too many visitors and the gold color clashes with my frilly undies.
Scott
January 11th, 2008 2:26 am
Entrecard has been great at bringing me some new readers, increased comments left, and has exposed me to a lot of blogs that I wouldn’t have otherwise found. I am very pleased with it.
SB
Jo
January 11th, 2008 2:28 am
Thy :)
Great article and perfect explanation :) Seems to be a big thing at the states.
Do you know if there are any plans for Europe ?
Cecile
January 11th, 2008 2:46 am
I love Entrecard! I have found some great blogs and even added some to my reader. It has increased my traffic. I also like that I can advertise on blogs in my niche and outside my niche.
Will
January 11th, 2008 4:49 am
I find that the chain dropping is not a problem on my site. Yes many leave right after dropping their card, but they do have to stay long enough for the widget to record the drop. If my latest post catches their interest, then they stay and read.
As with all blogs, the key is good content. Also understanding that interest in your site, no matter the topic, will be limited simply by the vast and differing types of people that will see you posts. In December, I had 5,000 visitors, a new high for my site. I had only 12 posts that month. I received over 100 comments on those posts, many by regular contributors.
I think they key to determining your blogs success is to evaluate if you have regular commentators that are really taking an interest in your content. If you are as blessed as I am to have that, then it just builds from month to month.
Entre card is a great tool to find an occasional new visitor that will then return regularily.
-Will
Madlab Post
January 11th, 2008 5:23 am
Initially, when reading that visiting other blogs is required in order to earn Entrecard points to enable bloggers to advertise, it started to appear as one of those numerous traffic exchange websites that require its users to visit other blogs in order to receive visits in return such as those 3:1 etc. ratios.
However, Entrecard seems to be worth checking out and of course….it doesn’t hurt that it is being mentioned on ProBlogger. If it were some run of the mill blog or even just one that doesn’t have this much clout, I probably would not pay too much attention to Entrecard. Thanks for profiling this website Darren.
Matt Ellsworth
January 11th, 2008 6:17 am
I’m a big fan – it seems to work pretty well.
Graham Langdon
January 11th, 2008 6:49 am
Sounds like I’m on to something…
:)
jesie
January 11th, 2008 2:12 pm
A friend suggested I signed so I did. I was busy and there was inaction on my part because I didn’t understand how it worked.
Today I started to drop my card and see some traffic coming from Entrecard. I have also discovered some new sites. I think the introduction of Entrecard gives us a reason to visit more bloggers who we probably would not.
I believe nothing comes easy. We have to visit others and do some work to see the results.
Thanks for so much information and comments from this post which are so helpful.
shanec
January 11th, 2008 2:25 pm
Entrecard has been great for me! Can’t wait to see what else is in store for it…
Sergey
January 11th, 2008 5:18 pm
i wonder if graham really read all the comments left. )
OPEN GIGA
January 11th, 2008 5:28 pm
thanks for the information and maybe this will work for me on right way…
SEO Rob
January 11th, 2008 7:04 pm
My page views have went down %48 but my traffic has increased 1,914% in the last couple months. I’m getting tons of backlinks and I never used to get comments, my latest post has 28 comments. I love Entrecard!
Zakaria Chowdhury
January 11th, 2008 7:18 pm
I am getting more and more readers just for Entrecard.
Thanks a lot for the interview.
kid blogger
January 11th, 2008 7:47 pm
I created a blog yesterday, made some friends and got 50 visits from entrecard. You are the best ever.
Dutchboy
January 11th, 2008 11:48 pm
I love it. Not just because of the fact that my blog’s traffic has increased by about 2000%, because let’s face it, my blog isn’t that good, but also because of the interesting blogs that now lie at my fingertips with all the cards that are dropped on me.
Leon
January 11th, 2008 11:52 pm
I’ve used Entrecard for just under 2 days now, and I have to say I’ve gotten more traffic during this time than my three blog exchanges have given me in 3 months!
Paul
January 12th, 2008 2:01 am
I have definitely noticed an increase in traffic.
As with anything in life, you only get out of it what you put in.
I’m looking forward to what will be added, tweaked, and changed in Entrecard over the next year.
Shaira Aldama
January 12th, 2008 2:37 am
i am really satisfied with the traffic that i get from Entrecard. The service is much better than Blog Rush
JTPRATT's Blogging Mistakes
January 12th, 2008 2:42 am
For me, entrecard has been great, and I’ve had a lot more fun networking with other bloggers than previously with mybloglog, stumbleupon, blogcatalog, bumpzee, or the myriad other “social” blog services.
I’m hoping that the new car smell doesn’t wear off -and that it continues to shine for a few years…
The Little Dough Girl
January 12th, 2008 3:15 am
I love Entrecard. My blog is less than one month old and I have seen a great increase in traffic. I know for a fact a number of them have become regular readers and I have 20 subscribers. For a very small blog, I don’t think that’s bad.
Also, the community aspect of it seems genuine. The cream rises to the top. It’s easy to tell you is looking to making connections and who just wants to drop cards like crazy for the traffic.
Lastly, I’ve been introduced to a good number of blog of which I am now a regular reader. I don’t know that I would have foudn them before. I’m interested to see how it grows.
webduck
January 12th, 2008 3:19 am
I am totally impressed with Entrecard. My blog now has more traffic, and they have found that I actually write good and interesting blog posts in my genealogy niche. Spending a few hours a day dropping cards and making comments is practically effortless. By the way, thanks for doing this interview article. I see great things for Entrecard and I am proud to be using it.
Tom Bonner
January 12th, 2008 4:47 am
I have to say I am very pleased with Entrecard. It is the real deal. During the six weeks I used Blogrush, I only saw a hand full of visitors from their widget. In contrast, I have seen several hundred visitors from Entrecard in the two weeks I have been using it on my blog.
The system is diabolically clever, because it forces you and your readers to visit each other sites — over and over again.
Of course many of these are chain droppers, but I don’t care. I have discovered at least a dozen new blogs that I never new existed before Entrecard. I have bookmarked or joined the RSS feeds of these formerly unknown sites. I assume the same thing is happening when users come to my site. Many will just move on, but some will discover me for the first time and return. Some may even become regular readers.
The exciting thing to me is that most Entrecard visitors are other site owners. Most likely they won’t click on ads or buy anything. Because most of them are bloggers, however, there is a good chance that some of them may link to one of my posts. That is the real advantage of Entrecard in my opinion. By actively participating in the Entrecard community your site or blog will be on display to other site owners. They in turn, will blog about your site — which will bring in the kind of traffic you are looking for. The site owners aren’t your target market — but they can be the key to good traffic.
Entrecard is nothing like Blogrush. And that is a very good thing!
Tom Bonner
http://alphatracks.com
People in the Sun
January 12th, 2008 5:18 am
Just got into it. Pretty goddamn cool.
StanHayes
January 12th, 2008 6:05 am
Entrecard is as addictive as crack.
Descartes
January 12th, 2008 1:46 pm
EntreCard has been a very interesting experience. It is much interactive, and therefor addictive, than something like Blogrush which just sat there. EntreCard requires active participation, you have to go to other blogs, and that means finding some bad blogs and finding some good blogs and once in a while finding a great blog. I have found a number of blogs that I visit regularly that I would not have seen otherwise.
Not John Chow
January 12th, 2008 2:37 pm
EntreCard has taken over as my number one source of traffic. The down side is that the bounce rate is pretty high. the store helps and just the awareness of other blogs is great. What I wonder is will it last?
Greg Davidson
January 12th, 2008 4:06 pm
EntreCard is a great service! Keep up the good work!
Raj
January 13th, 2008 12:46 am
I am totally impressed with it.
BroTee
January 13th, 2008 1:43 am
Sincerely, Entrecard has been the best traffic provider I’ve ever had as a newbie blogger. It’s advantages are quite overwhelming. Whether someone drops in just to drop a card or spend time reading the posts and dropping comments is not top of priority to a newbie blogger. The first thing is the awareness that the BLOG even EXIST!
Also, I have discovered that even when you go on “dropping spree” you cannot but get attracted to some blogs or some posts with great contents that force you to pause long enough to read up the entire article and then drop your comment.
I guess, members should concentrate on working on means of arresting the attention of “professional droppers” instead of presenting it as a flaw in the system. Thumps up to Entrecard!
Chris M
January 13th, 2008 11:50 am
I’m a user and fan of Entrecard, but the only thing I find about Entrecard is that it kills your analytics bounce rates. So if you’re a bounce rate follower, then the service isn’t ideal, otherwise it’s great for extra traffic!
Well done!
Invest with Dax
January 13th, 2008 11:57 am
Entrecard has helped me in part to increase my RSS readership. At first I thought the visitors were useless as they come and drop cards, but I noticed that my viewership and RSS subscribers steadily increased since participating.
Rob Thayer
January 13th, 2008 11:50 pm
It’s a fantastic, addictive idea. The main problem is that the traffic you do get is not always targeted; people are really just visiting your blog so they can pick up an easy credit. Still, it is helpful in introducing other people to your blog so you can pick up a few regular visitors here and there. Well done, Graham!
John Hood
January 14th, 2008 9:07 am
Entrecard is adding further value to social media networking!
DulceNegosyante
January 14th, 2008 9:58 am
It’s amazing how Entrecard works for me. I’ve given already 2000 Entrecard credits in my previous contest. :)
Sue
January 15th, 2008 5:50 am
I am back again to say thanks for this great review of Entrecard. I truly believe in the system as it has created a lot of traffic for me that would have taken months to achieve on my own. The more traffic I get from Entrecard, the more people know about my existence and the word is spreading. The system is free if one does not mind a little work (dropping cards is not difficult) and we get a chance to see all the great things other bloggers are doing. The whole Entrecard system helps us build better sites and I applaud the people who dreamed this up and got it started. Well done Entrecard and well done interview by ProBlogger Darren.
Wogan May
January 15th, 2008 8:48 am
I remember signing up and Entrecard, and being completely lost as to how the whole thing worked. I eventually figured it all out, though, and set out to do what most Entrecarders do – drop cards.
I ended up subscribing to a whole bunch of RSS feeds too. Since Entrecard has that whole “Quality blogs only” thing, people actually make an effort to keep their blogs at a high standard. Which made it easier for me to subscribe.
All the card-dropping, adspace-purchasing and linked posts drove my brand new blog (less than 36 hours old) from 2 unique visitors to over 100 in less than 12 hours. And since then, I’ve only picked up the activity.
My AWstats won’t update for the next few hours, but I’m sure I’ve broken even _that_ record already.
I think that Entrecard is an excellent way to capture traffic, and I can easily see how it makes life that much easier for newbie bloggers.
Keep up the good work!
~ Wogan
Paul
January 19th, 2008 9:08 am
How about a head to head comparison with Arkayne?
I ask because I’ve used Arkayne and it rocks over BlogRush. Mainly because its based on content linking not traffic trading. Anyway I’d love to see a review.
For the curious: http://www.arkayne.com
Soner Ertim
January 20th, 2008 8:21 am
I didnt know what EntreCard is, but after reading this article and comments, I think its very useful traffic trader. I’m going to use it.
Calvin
January 23rd, 2008 6:10 am
I implemented similar idea much before Graham for Office Live website users and was thinking to implement for Blogs soon but did not get much time to focus on that project so left behind.
To prove this you can check I registered domain firstimpressionads.com on 2007-June-25 where as Graham registered entrecard.com on 2007-Oct-03.
You can see ad impression report which shows my network was live since July-2007.
http://firstimpressionads.com/Member_Login.aspx
Its good to see Graham has taken similar thought to much high level. Good luck to entrecard.com Team!
http://FirstImpressionAds.com
(first impression based FREE ad network)
JTPratt's Blogging Mistakes
January 26th, 2008 4:27 am
This was a great interview with Graham – I enjoyed reading it. I wish I had seen it when I wrote my review post on my EC experiences yesterday:
The Economy of Entrecard – Worth it or Worthless?
Ryan Detzel
January 26th, 2008 7:24 am
I’ve had a totally different experience with entrecard and only after two days of using it felt the need to post my review. If you’re interested in the other side of entrecard please feel free to shoot over to my blog and read about it.
Michael Aulia
January 31st, 2008 11:47 pm
I just joined in about a week ago.. it’s so addictive
You’ll also have the chance to meet and have a community of bloggers there. A few days after joining, more people come to my blog and finally can see some comments going on my posts lol
m. apip
February 11th, 2008 9:10 pm
I’m really newbie in entrecard community. Today there is increasing in my traffic and there are waiting list of advertiser. I hope this increasing will still happen in the coming days..
http://mydreamvillage.blogspot.com
bachrum
March 10th, 2008 2:24 am
I have join with entrecard, and i still learning about it. thanks for your nice post….
Daily Tech Impressions
April 18th, 2008 3:06 am
Ive been using Entrecard and Sitehoppin together to increase my readership and it works.
Felex Tan
April 23rd, 2008 12:18 am
Entrecard has increased high bounce rate to most of the user.I personal think that it depends on how you use it ,if you just drop and bounce ,definitely other users will do the same to yours”Cause and Effect”Normally i will try to interact with the droppers who drop to my site,try to find out his/her website and send some message to build up rapport.In the long run,you are not only receive credits but a constant traffics.
george tomas
July 2nd, 2008 9:37 pm
Many people are giving away credits in order for people to sign up to their RSS.
Atniz
August 2nd, 2008 10:34 pm
Alexa stops recognizing Entrecard traffic. But, who cares about Alexa anymore. With Entrecard, I’m getting about 400 – 500 visits everyday. I think it is worth of getting 500 or more visits just from Entrecard alone, just try to be more active on advertising channel in the family.
wow gold
October 25th, 2008 2:33 pm
You’ll also have the chance to meet and have a community of bloggers there. A few days after joining, more people come to my blog and finally can see some comments going on my posts lol
Ben
May 12th, 2009 11:07 am
I would consider the traffic given by Entrecard as pretty bad traffic. People drop their card and leave as fast as they can. However, if you have a blog that has little or no traffic, Entrecard could give you a happiness boost with all the added traffic. [:
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