Thursday Two Questions Meme - Entrecard & Adgitize

There is going to be a rant along with two questions.

You'd think I would know better by now. I recently created Collectibles Mercantile which I made to help spread the word on my new eBay store of the same name. It has been quite a while that I've had to use any of these promotional sites to advertise a blog. I no longer use any of these on Poetic Shutterbug. Since my Collectibles Mercantile is so new, I thought why not try Entrecard again. I was obviously having a memory lapse and warped sense of judgment when I had that thought.

I opened an account there again and started dropping. Lo and behold first 15 minutes of dropping and I get a virus - a trojan horse which closed my browser, redirected me to other sites and basically caused complete havoc on my computer. Luckily I have virus protection and was able to clean it up. Harsh memories of the EC virus infested blogs surfaced and I thought to myself, it just isn't worth the stress. I transferred the credits I had to a friend and canceled the account with Entrecard. I am using Adgitize on Collectibles Mercantile but am being very careful as to where I drop. Adgitize is much more safe than any of the other sites I've seen.

By the way, check out my new blog and follow if you so choose. We'll be having a giveaway soon.

So here are my two questions:

1. When trying to promote a new blog which free promotion sites do you use?

2. Which ones work for you?


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Poetic Shutterbug 'Music in Nature" Contest

As many of you know I have been on a roll lately winning contests. So, it's time for me to give back. The Poetic Shutterbug announces it's "Music In Nature" contest. Music in Nature can be interpreted in so many ways which is the essence of this contest. When you hear the phrase "Music In Nature" what is the first thing that comes to mind? You will email me your entries at joanneolivieri@sbcglobal.net You may email anything you like as long as it reflects your feelings on this phrase. It can be poems, quotes, thoughts, essays, photos etc...

All I do ask is that whatever you do send, it must be your original work. I know many of you are photographers as well so a photo reflecting your thoughts on the subject is fine. You may attach a jpg. image to the email. Many of you are artists so if you've created something which fits the theme then please send me a photo of what you have made. If you are a musician, a link to your music fitting this theme is also welcome. If you already have a blog post which you feel fits the theme, then please go ahead and send me your link. All creative matter relevant to "Music in Nature" is most welcome.

There will be only one winner and the deadline for entries is December 8th at which time I'll go through all the entries and make a decision on December 9th. Please make sure you email me with your entries to: joanneolivieri@sbcglobal.net with "contest" in the subject line. Do not leave your entry in a comment. Thanks.

Now to the prizes.
1. You will receive $10.00 cash
2. You will receive Sony Holland's second CD - Out Of This World - click for info Although you will find mp3's on the page, the winner will receive the CD.


3. If you have Entrecard, you will receive 500 EC's from me. If you don't have EC you will receive a small gift comparable to the price of 500 EC's.

The winning entry will be posted on Poetic Shutterbug with a link back to your blog. This contest is open to participants worldwide so spread the word. If you have any questions, please email me. Thanks and good luck.

Thank You To My Top Droppers

Dropper	# of drops
anns snap edit scrap	30
Margie and Edna's Basement	30
Secret forest	30
BetterSpines	30
Secondary Roads	30
Photography by KML	29
My gypsygoods	29
The Everyday Adventurer	29
NancyAfink	28
AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles	28

Entrecard

This is just a short tidbit. Since I removed Entrecard and stopped dropping, I noticed a huge decrease in traffic. Granted my bounce rate decreased but I did not like the decrease in traffic. So, I again went back to EC. I will be dropping on blogs that I know to be safe, without virus warnings etc... It also looks as if we have choices as to what paid ads will be shown on our blogs so I am feeling a bit better about the entire situation. I just have this love/hate relationship with EC that I cannot shake :D

I also wanted to let all of you know that since adding meta tags to my blogger template that my Google traffic and other search engine traffic has slightly increased. So, you will all see me back on EC albeit with a different color widget as seen above this post.

The Entrecard $50 fee implementation

While dropping EC's, though for the life of me I don't know why, I checked out EC's latest blog post and here is what I found posted below. A $50 fee for not accepting paid ads? Are you kidding me? As a result, I will not be accepting any more ads beginning today. Those of you who have already bought ads on my blog, your ads will be honored. I am going to take a wait and see on this and figure out what is best for Poetic Shutterbug. In the meantime, I will be going through as many blogs as I can on EC to follow the ones in which I am interested. Below is the latest on the EC blog.

Implementation of sponsor ads program postponed until Oct. 5

Written on September 27th, 2009 by Cindy

Hello Entrecarders,

We just wanted to update everyone that the sponsor ads will be postponed for another week, until Oct. 5, 2009. When it is implemented, users will have the option to opt out of the sponsor ads program completely for a small fee. For just $50 a year, you can have your widget free of sponsor ads. We have provided this option for those of you who are concerned about the sponsor ads. Thank you for your support.

Cindy

Entrecard /Adgitize /Project Wonderful /Google Adsense

When I began blogging over a year ago now Entrecard was the first advertising method I used. I loved the idea of having my own business card widget and being able to advertise on other blogs just by using the credits I earned from dropping on different blogs. I have never paid for credits with EC. I always just earned by dropping and I think I only once dropped the maximum 300 which at that time I said to myself I would never do again. It literally took hours. I normally drop around 100 and receive about half back.

As with Adgitize there is the constant problem with receiving virus warnings, browser takeovers and all the other annoyances that go hand in hand with dropping EC. Now with their latest news that alerts all of us they will no longer be providing credits for drop backs I'm asking myself why should I stay with them? EC has said that the credits to advertise on other blogs will decrease as a result of this change and therefore we will all be able to take advantage of advertising on some of the premier blogs. However, let's think about this for a minute. Even if you drop 300 per day it seems to me that you will still in the long run need to actually buy more credits in order to keep advertising. It is not a winning situation for us bloggers but rather a winning situation for EC. They will be making more money and we for the first time will have to pay for our advertising.

I remember when I first began blogging I read an article by a woman, sorry I don't remember her name or blog name, who wrote a post for newbies. In that post she created a time line of what a blogger should be doing at different stages of their journey. One key phrase stuck in my mind and that was a successful blogger is one who has built his or her blog to a point where these extra advertising gimmicks are not needed because you have built a loyal following through networking and building friendships with other bloggers. I am now at that point where I believe she is right.

My thinking is, I normally visit, follow and drop on blogs that I enjoy and which I have some interest so instead of spending all this time dropping for the sake of dropping why not spend my time interacting with the blogs I follow? I can keep EC for dropping and advertising with my favorites and therefore my time much more productively spent.

I have decided not to do any advertising and limit my dropping with EC until after Sept. 1st so that I can evaluate the new decreased credits for each blog. I will however spend the next few days checking out all the blog categories which interest me and make sure I'm following the blogs I like.

Another positive on this is that it will also decrease the bounce rate and allow me to spend more time on writing and taking photos, which is why I blog. It may result in less page views but it is a weight off my shoulders.




I've been with Adgitize now for a few months. I signed up as a publisher which basically means that you provide them with your blog information, you then place a code on your blog which displays advertisers blogs and then each day visit 100 blogs in order to receive points which are transformed into cash. You also receive points for posting on your blog each day. I have been doing this religiously now since I signed up and I will be receiving my first payout next month.

I have however been wondering if having to visit 100 blogs each day is really worth my time. I've noticed as with Entrecard, there are many blogs which have pop up windows, scripts on their pages, viruses and on some occasions blogs which basically take over your browser when you visit them. Not to mention the ones that take too long to load. All of this, including the time factor for visiting tells me it's really not worth my time. They, being Adgitize will tell you that if you also advertise with them at $14.00 per month that you do not have to visit that many blogs. However, though the advertiser's payout is monthly, they are only receiving a few dollars above what they paid to advertise. So, again, what is the point? Granted this is a better system than Entrecard because you are getting paid to drop/visit but it is mind numbing and so monotonous that I really wonder is it all worth the trouble?




Now this is my kind of place. I signed up as a publisher with Project Wonderful, got my widget on my blog and earn cash each day. People bid to advertise on my blog and all I have to do is approve or reject the bids. The threshold for payout is $10.00 and I am very close to that amount. They are also great to deal with in that they are professional, organized, helpful and friendly. PW is a keeper.



Google AdSense is the staple when it comes to earning money on your blog. Granted the average blogger or website owner makes pennies per day however it does not require you to do anything other than add some code to your blog. The ads shown have relevancy to your blog content and if someone decides to click, you've earned $$$ that day rather than pennies. I just recently had to update all my information and provide google with taxpayer info in order to receive my payments when I reach that threshold. It certainly takes some time but is well worth the payout when the time comes. Also a keeper.

Top Entrecard Droppers For June

I want to thank all of my EC droppers. I very much appreciate your loyalty. Here are my top droppers for the month of June.

Dropper # of drops Free Stuff in Las Vegas Baby 31 60 Were Enough 31 Photography by KML 31 Stock Recomendations 31 NARESH 31 Denford Magora's Zimbabwe Blog 31 Go Las Vegas Baby! 31 Learning Corner 30 vanillaseven.com 30 The Everyday Adventurer 30

I'd like to thank my top Entrecard droppers for the month of May.

Dropper	# of drops
The Everyday Adventurer	31
Go Las Vegas Baby!	29
Mom's Place	27
Photography by KML	26
Free Stuff in Las Vegas Baby	25
vanillaseven.com	25
West of Mars - the Meet and Greet	23
Searching for me	22
Richard's Journal	22
photodito	21