Online Business Advertising On Entrecard
Making money online isn’t easy if you don’t have complete control over all the elements that comprise your online business.
Entrecard provides an excellent free service, which can really kick-start a new blog, and revitalise one that’s a bit wilted. Also, they listen to what their customers want from them and, for the most part, provide it. Entrecard has embarked upon an ongoing program of upgrades to the service and the website, and understandably is developing into a very successful online business… a real success story.
I haven’t advertised Reward Rebel on other websites, other than via Entrecard, but does anyone else find organising their Entrecard advertising as difficult as I do?
I try, really I do, but because of the way advertising scheduling is set up on Entrecard, I quite frequently find that I have too many ads being displayed one day, and not enough on another. Hopefully, every blog featured enjoys satisfactory returns from their advertisement, but some will be more satisfied than others.
Of course, I’d prefer not to dissuade prospective advertisers from promoting their website on Reward Rebel, so for absolute honesty, here’s a screenshot of the most recent incoming Entrecard dropping activity on Reward Rebel.
And a shot of Reward Rebel’s Alexa ranking statistics graph showing its rise in traffic over the past few months — currently, it ranks at 89,142, although the past week has averaged at 54,688, which is very encouraging.
I’m not so naive that I expect this level of traffic to continue, should I cease my activities on Entrecard, however, I am happy to have accumulated additional readers, as well as friends, whilst exploring Entrecard’s community.
Recently, a website with a very high profile on Entrecard placed an ad on Reward Rebel at a cost around 300 credits. When it had completed its scheduled run, the owner contacted me to express his delight at the 193 click thrus his site had received, and submitted a second ad at a cost of over 300 credits.
Can you guess what happened? Of course, you can. Yep, the second, more expensive, ad generated an ROI of only 30 hits! Why the huge disparity between the ROI on Ad 1 and Ad 2? Erratic scheduling of Reward Rebel’s own advertising, and too many disappointing returns.
When we submit an ad for approval, Entrecard provides a guide to how long it should be before it’s displayed. However, it’s rather a vague guide, because it doesn’t take into account how long it may be before the request is approved, or how many requests there may be awaiting approval.
How can Entrecard and its clients develop a system of scheduling advertisements that allows the advertiser to deploy them accurately?
I’m no whizz at figuring out this kind of logistical exercise, and so I don’t have a solution to offer, but I’m interested to hear your own experiences and ideas for improvement.
On the other hand, if I’m the only Entrecarder experiencing this advertising stats roller-coaster, perhaps you could let me know and I’ll shut up!
I’m in the process of contacting site owners who have recently advertised with me, to try to ascertain the true value of advertising on Reward Rebel. I’m considering adding a number of independent advertisement spots to the site, and need to gauge how much to charge.
Making money online wasn’t an original objective of this blog, however, it’s now enjoying enough traffic to warrant its inclusion as an earner in my online business empire-in-the-making!
When I have collected the data regarding Reward Rebel’s ROI, I’ll most likely be posting a follow-up on Entrecard Advertising.
In the meantime, how do you organise yours?
Reward Rebel
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Filed under Advertising, Blogging, Entrecard, Making money online, Online business, Working from home |
18 Responses to “Online Business Advertising On Entrecard”
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I don’t know that we can “organize” our ads. It’s frustrating, like you said, to plan your advertising out. I for one, prefer to run my ads mon-thu, the busier web days, but we don’t get to choose. I have no idea how Entrecard could change this to improve it. I feel that when we submit to advertise on a site, it’s anybodies guess as to when it will run until it’s approved by the blog owner.
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I have the exact same issue and I’ve just thrown up my hands in resignation and hoped for the best. For tomorrow I’ve managed to score exactly zero ads, but the next day I have six running.
feefifoto’s last blog post..Into A Nearby Telephone Booth …
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… anyone else find organising their Entrecard advertising as difficult as I do?
Perhaps my main problem is time, it takes time to browse for good sites to advertise on, as in value for EntreCredits. I am a thrifty spender.
… too many ads being displayed one day, and not enough on another.
Can’t help this. Unless EntreCard adopts a system similar to Project Wonderful in which the highest bidder earns that spot.
… expect this level of traffic to continue, should I cease my activities on Entrecard …
Damn straight you are right about that. EntreCard works at collecting traffic from fellow EntreCarders because of the “You visit mine and I will visit yours” mindset.
… considering adding a number of independent advertisement spots to the site, and need to gauge how much to charge.
You could give Project Wonderful a try. Let the advertisers decide how much to spend.
… how do you organise yours?
Erm… Organize what? -_-
Deimos Tel`Arin’s last blog post..EntreCredits Raising Campaign - How much EntreCredits would you donate to a fellow EntreCarder who recently lost a loved one? Dedicated to Heidi @ shopdogdiaries.com
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Hi Lynne,
Like you, I’d also like to be able to switch off the ads at weekends, and wonder whether some kind of activate/suspend toggle would be possible on Entrecard (other than the all or nothing toggle that already exists) or tick boxes to specify which days of the week the site wants to run ads.
If we were given access to the returns achieved by the ads, where appropriate I’d even give a proportionate refund. Maybe I’m being overly concerned about this, I do tend to over analyse every lil thing;-D
Hey Feefifoto,
Frustrating, huh? That’s the point at which I start scouring the ‘Available’ slots and buying ads that don’t stand a chocolate teapot in hell’s chance of success;-D
Hello you crazy Deimos,
No wonder you are short of time if all your comments are as detailed as the ones you leave here… keep ‘em coming, you lovely man;-D
Project Wonderful looks like it’s really taken off, but I do get a tad bored of seeing the same ol’, same ol’. However, I’m going to give this some consideration if only to establish the value of advertising on RR.
Thanks for the input, crazy dood;-D
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haha man im featured in the last photo of this post. it says thecuso -4 hours ago
Im also having a nice experience with entrecard though i find it difficult to get people advertising in my site.
Im dropping about 100 cards a day and get back like 30 or so only. but for ads is harder… i sometimes dont display any add in my widget
hugs from spain
thecuso.info
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I think sometimes an ad gets lots of clicks the first time it runs because it is new and unseen. The next time, your regular readers would have already seen that ad and be less inclined to click it? I’m not sure, because I have also had ads that got few clicks the first time, and then many clicks the second time it ran. I have not been able to develop a good strategy either for visiting/dropping, or for planning my advertising campaign. I am having fun though.
Daisy’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: Catch!
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Hello theCuso,
Yep, free advertising! Can’t be bad;-D
Regarding trying to increase the number of cards dropped on your site, have you tried using Deimos’s list of sites which reciprocate your drop? Visit Ahkong.net
Also, the ‘U Drop, I Follow’ campaign has a list of reciprocal droppers. Visit Lee Doyle ~ U Drop, I Follow
The question of enticing advertisers is trickier, your traffic ranking isn’t bad, and I suspect you’re having difficulty because your site is so specialised.
Try investing more time dropping cards to sites that do reciprocate, so that at the same time you’re increasing traffic, you’ll be putting your site before more people and pumping up the chance of them advertising with you.
Good luck;-D
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Welcome Daisy,
So glad you’re having fun with your blog, that is what it’s supposed to be about, after all.
With the advertising, it seems the biggest impact is due to where you are advertising. If you have an ad that generates oodles of clicks to your site, whoever is advertising with you is going to benefit. It is kinda arbitrary, but I too enjoy the Entrecard experience;-D
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I’ve had some good traffic from Entrecard, and picked up a number of subscribers as well. My biggest gripe is that you can’t have more than one site with them. So, if you are running more than one blog, you can only focus on one at a time.
Also, on the days when you have a lot of adverts scheduled, it’s helpful to publish your best posts. Use the mass advertising as an opportunity to show your best work to people.
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Jeff Buckley: Grace
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Hiya Melissa,
Dunno where you got the info, but there are loads of bloggers on the Entrecard network managing multiple sites. You register each individual site separately, and administrate each one from a separate dashboard. So… go get’em girlfriend;-D
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I love entrecard so much that I can not stop dropping cards.
Can I advertise on your widget?
jojo’s last blog post..Breaking News : Musician Britney Spears Found Dead
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I must admit - I often times missed dropping my entrecard recently due to some really hectic sked on a project. And Reward Rebel is one of those consistent droppers of my site. Thanks a lot! Maybe I should get one adverts on this site to return much of the favor - I accumulated lots of entrecredits on my two sites. Thanks for a very enlightening post here. More power!
bloggista’s last blog post..Stumbled upon: my first Stumbleupon traffic experience
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Hi Jojo,
I do think Entrecard has developed a real community, and I’ve been able to enjoy it right from the start — boy does it seem bigger now;-)
Hey Bloggista,
l forgive you. Dropping cards is very time-consuming, and I think it all depends on your strategy, as to whether or not that time would be better spent working on longer term traffic seduction techniques;-D I do think the quick-build traffic Entrecard provides can be utilized or manipulated to build upon. I’m still pencilling-in the detail on that theory tho;-S
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I have the exact same problem as you. Too many adverts going on at once vs none at all … weekends are notoriously low but you have no choice, especially if you want to place an ad on a top blog and just have to live with which day you happen to get.
Its something EC has to address.
Entrepreneur’s last blog post..Interview with the “Young Galliano of China”
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Entrecard has it’s place, and I think for many it’s a great way to learn how to network with other bloggers and get off the ground running. The trick is, as you said, trying to keep the level of traffic of once you’ve tired from the dizzying pace of “spinning all the plates” required to do entrecard marketing.
As for the ads and their value, I’m really jaded about that right now and for me I’ve removed them all. They take more time than they’re worth (managing) and I think my time can be better spent in other areas.
My mind has changed a bit about that, and I think sometimes when building a brand or online reputation that “less is more”. I may change that thought when I get 500-1,000 rss subscribers, but for now I choose to grow the content rather than encourage the weeds…
JTPratt’s Blogging Mistakes’s last blog post..7 Habits of Highly Successful Bloggers
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Hiya Entrepreneur,
I’m just relieved that I’m not the only one going thru this;-D
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Does Entrecard take you a lot of time? Just curious… most online communities are quite time-consuming at the end.
Zhu’s last blog post..St Malo — A Walled City
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Hey John,
It wasn’t my original intention to ‘work’ this site, but as I’m getting some traffic, figured I may as well leverage it.
I believe Entrecard is not a long-term traffic tool, but can be constructively utilized as a building block. But as you suggest, no amount of traffic is any dang good if the content isn’t in place;-D
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