Saturday, December 20, 2008

Opinions

I have been an Entrecard dropper, off and on, for some time now. It generates a lot of traffic (yeah, I realize these are meaningless stats), but more importantly, I have found a lot of awesome blogs to read. Probably 50% or more of my RSS subscriptions have come from Entrecard discoveries.

I also realize that the general opinion of this medium is mixed. I figure it’s about 50/50 from what I’ve read around the Net. Some people think that the traffic generated by dropping is empty, pointless clicking. People don’t actually visit your blog to read it, they simple do so to drop their card. Others think that it generates legitimate traffic and is worth the effort. My opinion? I think Entrecard has it’s place, but don’t put too much stock in your inflated statistics. I also think that if the only reason you blog is so that you can be giddy about the number of hits you get a day, you’re blogging for the wrong reason and will eventually get burned out and quit at some point.

I make it a point to read something off of every blog on which I drop a card. Okay. Maybe I skim a little faster on the blogs that are political, but I at least glance around. Like I said, I have found many great new blogs to read through dropping. I also think that actually reading the blogs is a way to make Entrecard work for you. If you read someone’s blog and leave comments, they are more likely to reciprocate. Blogging friendships are formed in this way.

Card dropping is also an excellent time waster. I spend many a morning zoning out while dropping cards. It’s therapeutic. It’s something to think about rather than contemplating how much weight the ceiling fan will hold. Ha. Just joking. It really is a good way to while away the time though.

Anyway, I hope people aren’t too judgmental about Entrecard. It’s fun, it’s harmless, and you get to meet fabulous bloggers along the way. And no. This isn’t a paid advertisement. It’s merely my opinion such as it is.

10 comments:

  1. I like Entrecard too for the same reasons you mentioned. I've "met" many nice people through dropping my cards on various blogs, reading as I go and commenting. I don't drop 300 cards a day though, I'm lucky if I get 150 dropped between my two blogs.

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  2. This mirrors my feelings and experience with Entrecard as well. I have found some nice blogs there that I follow, but there are definitely people there just for the clicks. But I also know that one or two folks have found my blog through Entrecard and left comments. Before I ran across this post (via Entrecard, of course) I wrote an essay about authenticity in blogging that may be posted as a guest blog next week.

    But after all is said and done, there are some blogs that I'm glad I found, that I might never have discovered otherwise, so as you say Entrecard does have its place.

    Nice post!

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  3. I don't even know what that is. But I don't care because I have a job.

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  4. Karen~~I don't come anywhere near the 300 cards a day either. I'm lucky if I make it up to 100.

    KindleDude~~I'll be watching to see if you post your essay. I'd be interested to read it.

    Thanks for the comments guys!

    Jennifer~~Yay! You have a job! Woot!

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  5. I've never even heard of Entrecard. Where have I been? LOL

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  6. LF~~Hehehe. It's fun but it takes time to read and drop. You should check it out.

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  7. I followed your link thru your comment on other blog about this. Mostly agree with you, that's why I still keep EC. However, just wondering if you ever experienced this. One day my EC stats said I got 60+ clicks from my ad on one site but there were only 40s drops in my inbox and most of them were from my regular droppers. I stop checking it since then.

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  8. I am with you on EC. I have found a lot of cool blogs using it, including this one! LOL!

    My dad was in the Marine Corps for 20 years, so I've been reading your military posts with special interest. I grew up with that lifestyle, but didn't have to put up with all of the military crap that my dad did (obviously). It makes for an interesting childhood, at least...

    Havs
    http://nonfictionlover.today.com

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  9. Hava~~First of all, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Like I said, I think doing that is what makes Entrecard more worthwhile than just pumping up your stats.

    As for the military posts, I try to keep them to a minimum because they are always so drama-filled. Sometimes though, I just can't hold back. ;)

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  10. Evan's Mom~~At best, EC stats are unreliable, lol. I've noticed that my hits can jump 60-70% on days I don't drop at all and on days that I drop 100+ cards, I barely notice an increase in stats at all. It's all pretty random.

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