Recently Entrecard released a major update to it’s site. Let’s take a look at the changes, followed by my commentary on each:
ADD MULTIPLE BLOGS TO YOUR ACCOUNT - The ability to add more than one blog to an account, referred to as the “add new blog” feature. Starting today, you can add all your blogs to Entrecard simply by going to your Dashboard and clicking “Linked Blogs” in your Dashboard navigation. You will be able to choose whether to link your account with another EXISTING account, or to register a NEW BLOG with Entrecard, and automatically link it to your account. You can switch from one blog to another, and drop or advertise as either one, from the very top right of your Entrecard screen. Where your email address is displayed there will be a link to “switch” to another account of yours.
This long requested feature arrives months too late. It also has no teeth to it. Time for Entrecard to either put up or shut up about splogs. Entrecard should FORCE people to use one login per IP and thats it. If you are too ashamed of your blogs to link them together, then they shouldn’t be in the system. I already know the bullshit answer “my wife and I both blog, and my wife is a cheating whore whom I can’t trust with my EC password.” Well then shoot the bitch and get on with your dropping. (not that I ever advocate violence) This upgrade is nice for the bloggers who have multiple blogs and want to simplify their accounts. Nothing more. Watch what would happen if Entrecard ONLY allowed credit transfers between linked blogs, or using the Official Entrecard Exchange. About 5 cry babies would post their Goodbyes, maybe 2 more spammers would post how they cheated the system all this time and now were leaving, and the rest of the people would continue on as if nothng had changed. Only difference is that the Economy would be completely restored.
ENTRECARD OFFICIAL EBOOK
I reviewed the ebook the other day and found it to be a positive marketing tool for entrecard.
BLOG POST CONTEST - WIN 2000 CREDITS!
We are holding a contest to help us spread the word on our “add new blog” feature and our new E-Book, so anyone who posts on their blog, mentions our new “add a blog” feature, and posts a link to our new ebook on their blog wins 2000 credits.
We are holding a contest to help us spread the word on our “add new blog” feature and our new E-Book, so anyone who posts on their blog, mentions our new “add a blog” feature, and posts a link to our new ebook on their blog wins 2000 credits.
Even Entrecard like backlinks. Hell, I even modified this post to qualify, so I guess it worked. Good contest, if not overly original.
MULTI BLOG CONTEST - Add just one more blog to your account, and you’re automatically entered to win 15,000 credits!
Great for encouraging non-blogs to be signed up. The buzz about the update already translated to an increase in signups. This contest wasn’t needed.
NEW HOMEPAGE-If you haven’t been around in a while, then you haven’t seen our new homepage! It automatically posts links to YOUR posts, every time you update your blog.
A much needed step in the right direction. Emphasize the positive rather than get into never ending arguments and silly rule changes over the negatives.
NEW CAMPAIGN PAGE TABS: On your “Campaign” page We added simple quick jump tabs to the campaign page, to easily see the newest, cheapest, and more at just the click of a button. The “Search” tab on the end of the campaign navigation will bring you to the browser that you are currently familiar with.
A cosmetic change, but better than the old look.
TOP DROPPERS RSS FEED - The people who visit your blog more frequently than any other members are known as your top droppers. We just created an RSS feed, found on your “Statistics” page, that will allow you to subscribe.
A minor change that allows people to create “top dropper” widgets. Long requested and helps get Entrecard into people’s sidebars.
Changes Not Listed - Additional changes were made to the look of the Entrecard forum.
While better than before, the forums still lack real functionality. I’ve read all Phirates arguments for the way things currently work and disagree. Rules and FAQ do need to be stickied. Posts do need to be “bumped”. The argument that every day a new set of noobs can ask “how can I add another blog” and then a new set of vets get a chance to answer is just lame. An interesting forum discussion in community gets pushed down the page within 48 hours, while a post in “Post critiques” lasts there 2 weeks because nobody cares.
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28 users commented in " Entrecard Update: My Impressions "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback **********Hi there! You’re on my Top Ten List of Entrecard droppers again. You can see the link to this blog on my sidebar. Used the new entrecard rss plugin thing to get it there.
I wrote about the Entrecard new features on my blog too, but I suppose I’m too much of a newbie to have the same opinion as you have. I’m just thankful for the traffic for now.
Thanks for the drops!
Bambit: New opinions on Entrecard are just as important as the vets. The management have heard from the old timers many times, but haven’t heard from new people yet. I’ll stop by and check out your site.
I don’t think Entrecard wants to get rid of the splogs because they (the splogs) have been at for months and I haven’t seen things go in the right direction. If anything, they’ve regressed. Why Entrecard doesn’t want to push the splogs out is my question to you, Turnip? Are the splogs pushing the numbers and Entrecard is scared the true numbers (only a thousand real users) will scare off potential investors?
There are many happy but silent users. These make up the bulk of Entrecard. During one of the chats, phirate mentioned how many users had actually dropped a card in the last couple of days. I forget the number, but it was pretty high. The splogs do push the numbers, but lately most of the people joining since the update have been quality blogs. Let’s see what direction the next major update takes.
I believe that there are quite a number of splogs who keeps dropping on me, and they have been around for quite some time.
I do not think them splogs are going to get deleted any time soon. -_-
As always, you’re pretty much on the mark, Turnip.
I think this contest thing is attracting more splogs, though — judging from what I’ve seen in the “new” tab when I go to look at any of them to advertise on, over half haven’t had a new post in months if not years and are obviously abandoned blogs. Why would I waste a drop on them much less waste purchasing an ad from them?
I haven’t written my piece about the contest although I did sign up a new blog — well, it’s not NEW, but new to Entrecard.
Keep up the great writing!
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Thanks for the post Turnip. Very informative. I’m going to give that rss fee thing a try now.
Turnip, I know from your past articles that you don’t drop from your inbox. Well, I do drop from it and let me tell you, 30% of the sites that drop on me are splogs. I’m pretty sure Saph and Woobie are seeing the same shizz as me. They could do something. I can’t imagine Graham is out surfing that much that he can’t do something. I think when you’re looking for money, it’s better to say you have 12,000 blogs in the system, rather than 1200 real blogs with separate owners.
I don’t know how much these changes will affect most of us. As you said, much is cosmetic, and some stuff isn’t going to do much for me…I’m not a multiple blogger (wait, I take that back, I do have 3 blogs…but only one on Entrecard, and have no desire to get traffic going on the other two). I’m a “real” blogger, and my other blogs are also real, though more of a private nature.
the “switch” log in feature only makes it easier than ever to splog. someone can go from site to site, switch from one identity to another, and drop from each of the accounts. 300 drops become 1,500 (5 blogs) or however many. almost brings a tear to your eye with all of that heart-felt blogging. ;]
is EntreCard trying to go “green” through its support of Credit Farming?
As someone who runs multiple blogs (four of them; five if you count my personal blog), I like being able to register them all at once—thus that feature matters quite a lot to me, to the point where this feature does still have major teeth.
I think there are quite a few of the serious bloggers with multiple blogs out there—especially if one of your blogs talks about blogging.
Though right now I’m waiting out my ad queues on my secondary accounts before I merge them all back into one account. *That’s* annoying.
I also have 4 blogs. I’ve linked them in groups of two to test the new feature. I still have to reload the page even if I switch identities, so it didn’t speed up dropping for me.
For me, that’s far more preferable to logging out and logging back in; I tend not batch up my drops, and when I do visit certain blogs, I like to drop as one or the other, depending on what I want to promote that’s actually related o the blog I’m visiting.
This tends to mean a lot of logging in/out. I’m not so organized as some, so I guess that’s just my fault; but I use EntreCard much more as a semi-casual social media thing, and not entirely seriously. It’d be different if I were.
Anybody Dropping 300 Cards a Day is Crazy*
thass just Power POOPing + thensome!!
;))
1 thing I would like that somebody had a while back was that Script for yer last 50 Droppers - now that was useful + those are the Peeps i’m interested in returning the Fava Fave!!
Anything like that around??
Billy: That widget is easy to make. Download and install the KB Advanced RSS Widget wordpress plugin. Then enter the recent dropper rss feed you can find in your entrecard stats. Thats all there is to it.
Turnip, I demand that you stop trying to make sense of this whole internet thingy. LOL, BTW, great post, you always come through for us little guys.
i really want those 2000 credits but i dont think i could post about it in my blog. Id feel too much like a sell out
the contest was real too.
I won 2000 credits.
right now i’m just sitting here looking at them and picking out where to spend them and giving my two other blogs a few to buy ads with.
I agree with Arachne Jericho, being able to switch is much easier than logging out and then in again. I’ve split my blogs into specific interests and each blog has its own trickle of drops so the multiple accounts switching really works for me.
Turnip, I only agree with some of your comments re: the forums.
If nobody reads the posts in the critiques forum then it doesn’t matter whether the posts are bumped there or not - assuming this is something that could be forum-specific.
I LIKE that posts do not get bumped over and over again - post critiques might be mostly ignored but I’m sure bumping would just make things worse. On the other hand, bumping in the features forum would be helpful for good ideas that haven’t been developed yet. Forcing people to re-post does not only make sure people are serious about the ideas, it discourages people from suggesting ideas in the first place because a lot of them get buried and there’s no easy way to give the staff a nudge - which a bump would do.
But maybe bumping isn’t the correct route there. I’d much rather have the ability to VOTE for the features we like and do so outside of the forums. Sometimes a forum just isn’t the best way to do things.
As for FAQs, sticky or no sticky, there will always be people who prefer to ask a question than go looking for answers.
Voting on new features would be a great idea, Ben. “Post Critiques” was put there so a very small minority wouldn’t promote their latest articles in the general forums. The fact that nobody cares or looks at that section suggests deleting the posts was the better choice. Ironic that none of the “Stumble Abusers” in the marketing section ever post their articles in critiques?
Thanks for the great critique, I am tired of running into so many blogs with all the same contest information out there, its boring and pretty much a waste of time. I have tried a few and sponsored a give away in 4 contests, 2 of which requested my prize… I don’t feel they bring quality traffic in, but thats from a newb.
thanks for the great info. i too am real tired of seeing the same ol stuff on blogs, contests, etc.
however, there is some traffic generated….
You have some damn good ideas turnip. Thanks for your input as always. Hope you’re looking for a job when we have more $$ to hire people
Graham: Are you suggesting that perhaps this marketing blog isn’t able to support my family at our typical level of luxury? Then you would be correct! I’d love to be a member of the team, paid or otherwise.
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i like the new changes of entrecard.. so ive placed the code back in my site..
LMFAOOOOOOOO, no one else could have said it better. You are awesome. I bow to the Turnip.
Nessa
I mostly agree with your ideas. Regarding forums, I like Ben Barden’s suggestions better (not that i’m a regular forum’s poster).
Regarding one login per IP, I don’t agree with that as it just could make things more complicated for people login in from dynamic IPs (as myself).
On a side note, I love my wife too much to shoot her
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