Everyone that gets involved in a program has their own way of looking at things and some are very volatile and vocal in the way they think that program should be used and even go so far as to tell others the right and wrong way that they should be using it. Unless you are violating TOS it’s really none of their business how you choose to use any program. Not everyone has the same objective as them so they really don’t have the right to tell anyone what to do unless they are asked for advice, just thought I’d get that off my chest.

My Entrecard 10 dollar experiment is over and the results are below even though the click through was at 514 for 3 days I received more than that probably because so many were checking to see if they wanted my ad to run on their blog and decided since they were there they might as well click on my widget which was fine with me and made my traffic spike. I have no clue who might have rejected my ad and it really doesn’t matter to me. I cant do those campaigns very often, but it was an interesting experiment.

impressions 43507
cpm $0.2298
clicks 514
cpc $0.0195
ctr 0.0118

I really don’t think regular people other than Entrecard people even bother to click ads unless they see something that interests them. I would hate to see a get rich quick scheme catch someones attention on my widget though because I was a sucker many years ago before I got seasoned with what was going on. I made many mistakes and spent a lot of money I didn’t have because it sounded so good, but we all know if it sounds to good to be true then it usually is.

Almost everyone knew this was coming with the ads, but most didn’t really read up on the whys and why-nots and just assumed they would benefit from the new changes and they will if they decide to sell their ec’s back, I understood this from the start. I am concerned though because no mention has been made about filling out tax forms because they will have to issue 1099 misc forms if people get paid over 400 dollars a year.Perhaps they really haven’t delved that far yet and will make a cut off limit before anyone cashes out after a certain amount.

Who knows what the plan is maybe they really don’t know themselves yet and will change it as they go, but I really think they need to get a CPA and lawyer on board that will advise them of all the legal ramifications if they don’t follow the law. I’d hate to see them shut down before they even get started. I use my credits to back some contests because it gives me backlinks, but no one says they have to keep them after the contest.

I don’t advertise a lot with ec’s, but I do drop for credits and I’m not a speed dropper or whatever they call them. I leave comments, but not on every blog, but I try to read the post of the people I drop on some are of interest to me and some I just skim over especially if it’s long. If it’s just an advertisement I drop and skip right on pass unless it’s a blogger that I like then I’ll type a few words. I had accrued a few credits before I knew that Entrecard was going to buy them back.

I will sell some back, but it wont be a lot especially if the price is really low. I will use them further down the line for more contests and the market place. It really bothers me when people are spewing a lot of sour grapes because they don’t have any ec’s to sell and they think everyone else is evil because they have some and might make a couple of bucks. It is very sad how greedy money makes us and brings out the ugly that the ego tries to hide and cover with a smiley face, but we can see beyond that. I wish the best for us all.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 12:28 am and is filed under Marketing Online. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

10 comments so far

 1 

Thanks for sharing about your advertising experience. I’m still considering if I should do this or not.

Karen, author of “My Funny Dad, Harry”’s last blog post..Foolish Things–Where Does the Pizza Go?

April 8th, 2009 at 4:36 am
 2 

It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. There is a “strike” going around on some blogs–encouraging everyone to not drop on Friday.

Lin’s last blog post..1-800-FIXY-CAT

April 8th, 2009 at 7:52 am
 3 

Thanks for sharing your results. I’ve been with EC since 11/2008 and it’s been such fun. I don’t intend to cash out credits, but I DO want EC to earn enough money to survive, plus it would be nice if they could fund some of the improvements that we’d like to see.

Janet’s last blog post..National Championship

April 8th, 2009 at 8:01 am
 4 

I’m holding off on everything–buying, cashing in, advertising, until I see more how it’s all going to work. You are so right about getting the lawyer and CPA; they really didn’t think things through very carefully. I hope they will work out the glitches because I really do love Entrecard and enjoy meeting people this way.

Patricia’s last blog post..

April 8th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
 5 

Thanks for the info. I’m just sitting tight at the moment also, but it’s good to know your experience. I love dropping, reading and visiting and without entrecard I wouldn’t get to do that!

Jan from BetterSpines’s last blog post..This doctor makes sense!!

April 8th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
 6 

Your blog is interesting reading.Once I did some research and found out why they decided to start the adds. It does not bother me now. I will say,with so many adds in my Que and not so many advert it will take time for the adds to run. I am starting to control the number to make it more equal. Was glad to help in your experiment:-)

Auntie E’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday#3

April 8th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
 7 

Very well thought out analysis. I agree that it does not look like EC thought hard about the ramifications, either the human or financial. There also appears to be no input from professionals. I am a long time member, but my blogs come first. I’ve probably made many of the mistakes you alluded to. I’ve finally learned. I had over 75 widgets in my queue before I woke up, realized the damage, and stated canceling like crazy! I don’t know if they have the personal fortitude to step back and honestly review the damage.

April 8th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
 8 

Thanks for posting this…. I was curious about the results, especially in comparison to the ads that I bought on today.com (which have yet to receive a single click last I looked)

April 8th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
 9 

Thanks so much for sharing this. I have been wondering what it would be like to experience the paid side of EC and you gave good solid evidence of your experience.
I’m not against the paid ads at all. I realize EC needs funding to continue. I just don’t care for the fact that all the paid ads are taking the place of the ads placed with EC credits. I’m seeing a drop in the number of drops and definitely a drop in the number of ads using EC credits. I have also noticed an influx of spammy sites just wanting advertising space. That part of it, I don’t care for at all.

Lynne’s last blog post..Charter Sweepstakes – Win a Flat Screen HDTV

April 8th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
 10 

What can I say about the whole issue? Correct me if I am wrong, as I am often, in the whole current issue as with past events in EC, it seemed that the team never planned properly. They seem to be more keen to roll out what they had in mind then to put it in plan properly. As in the current case of the paid ad, ever since the system rolled out, I have been experiencing frequent intermittent downtime. Could it be that they did not expect this issue or simply because they just want to roll it out and catch the bugs when they come up?

That I wouldn’t know. But what I do know is, if they are in serious business right now, the money that they are earning may not even be enough to compensate all the clients for the frequent downtimes and instability.

Given they are a young team, I reckon chances should be given but should not be taken for granted. Every challenges that they are facing now are actually big opportunities for them to possibly bring EC further. And if they don’t grab the chances, then maybe we would see the downfall.

BK’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: Blooming Red Flowers

April 8th, 2009 at 10:32 pm

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