EntreBlast

Archive for October, 2009

Entrecard currently has a deal running for those who want to purchase some Entrecard credits. Right now, you can buy credits for half price. So the new prices are currently:

4,000 credits = $12
8,000 credits = $23.20
16,000 credits = $44.80
32,000 credits = $84.40
64,000 credits = $166.40

They didn’t specify when this offer expires, so if you want to purchase some Entrecard credits, now is the time to do so!

So, I was checking up on the Entrecard forums, and saw this message posted on the homepage:

Forum closed:

Please email support@entrecard.com. All emails are answered within 24 hours.

It looks like the Entrecard forums have been closed indefinitely. I’ll admit I wasn’t very active with the forums, so who knows how long they’ve been closed. It’s pretty disappointing they never got a lift off and weren’t very active, but maybe they will reopen them in the future. As for now, it’s closed.

On September 22nd, Entrecard announced they would be implementing a sponsor ad program.

Now, some people like the idea of being able to pay to opt out of the ads, some loathe the whole paid ads system, and others simply just don’t care. I’m in the last group because like I said, the company behind Entrecard HAS to make money in order for Entrecard to stay alive. It’s a BUSINESS people! And the service is still free! They aren’t forcing you to pay $50 to continue using the system. So what if there are a few sponsorship ads in between ads you’re receiving credits to run?

Right now, Entrecard’s only source of income is from the ‘Earn EC’ section where you can earn credits to fill out offers or from purchasing credits. They do not make enough from that to stay alive.

And to those who are criticizing the staff because they are just trying to make money- so are you! You use Entrecard to earn credits and promote your blog so you can gain readers and traffic in order to make money from your blog through CMF Ads, Adgitize, or private advertising. Even if you didn’t set out to make money from blogging, you’re still trying to anyways. So, give them a break because they are still providing a free service to bloggers that may never have been noticed without Entrecard.

I’m accepting the sponsor ad program because Entrecard is still a free service and I understand that to run a site and service like Entrecard, it requires a lot of staff and money. They have to pay for staff to deal with customer service, coding, and adding new features. Server bills for a large site such as Entrecard are expensive as well. I think this would never have been an issue with members if the sponsorship program was implemented from the get go, instead of waiting a few years to finally add something like this, because members would have been accustomed to the idea of Entrecard using some of the ad space for sponsors.

So, it’s either Entrecard shuts down or Entrecard takes a small bite from your ad views.