EntreBlast

I’m adding a new page to EntreBlast -  a list of blogs who reward their top droppers monthly.  Requirements for joining this list: post your top droppers every month and have done it for at least three months. The purpose of this list is to reward those who reward their top droppers and to encourage Entrecard users to drop on these blogs for some backlinks.

I need your help! If you reward your top droppers, submit a comment and let me know! In order to join the top droppers list, you must have done this for at least three months. I’ll check through your blog to make sure you have. If you haven’t, no worries! Start this month and three months will pass before you know it. It’s a great way to encourage daily dropping on your blog!

I received a PM over on the CMF Ads forums from Paul who owns Technically Easy, a tech blog, about a fix for a problem I, and apparently others, have been having with OIOPublisher. When I announced I was raising the ad prices on EntreBlast, I included a mini rant about how I can only charge 999.99 ECs max. Whether the ad price was set for 1,000 or 10,000 ECs, it would only charge people 999.99 ECs (technically 999 ECs)…

With that said, the price for a one month ad will be rising to 1000 ECs. Well, technically 999.99 ECs because Entrecard has ridiculous, annoying trading limits that I don’t understand.

I thought it was due to the 1,000 EC max trade limit Entrecard has used to have.  But, it turns out even after the increase to 25,000 ECs, the problem with OIOPublisher charged 999.99 still existed.

Well, there is a solution. And it’s simple too.  All it takes is a simple edit to one of the OIO Publisher databases and voila! However, I’m giving credit where it belongs so head on over to Technically Easy for the solution to the OIOPublisher 999 EC limit.

Thanks to my top droppers in July! As a way of saying thanks, here are linkbacks to their blogs. Check them out!

Today marks the official first day of my experiment with CMF Ads. CMF Ads is an advertising platform for bloggers, similar to Adgitize. A little while ago I ran a one month test with Adgitize and found really good results, so I’ve been sticking with them. However, I always am looking for new things to test out, and as with Adgitize I see CMF Ads pretty often on blogs. Thanks to suggestions from my readers, I have decided to test for a full six months. This is because the system is a bit different from Adgitize and I would get the best results of a long term experiment. I will report my results and findings every month and after the six months, I determine whether CMF Ads is worth using or not.

You’ll see a follow up post in a few days with more information on how CMF Ads works.

Check out the Forum Marketplace

Yesterday I mentioned that Ziprunner is trying to increase the activity in the  forums with the addition of the iTrader feature to the Entrecard forums. At around midnight, they sent out a mass e-mail to Entrecard members promoting the “new” Marketplace in the Entrecard forums. It actually has been around for some time now, but it’s pretty dead. What is interesting about this e-mail is that they are trying to promote the Marketplace section in the forums and not the ‘Market’ system that’s on it’s own. Are they scraping it?

Purchase Entrecard Credits and Get Bonus ECs

For a limited time, you can get a bonus amount of Entrecard credits if you purchase 10,000 or 25,000 ECs. If you purchase 10,000 ECs for $56, you’ll receive a 5,000 EC bonus. And if you purchase 25,000 ECs for $125.00, you’ll receive a 12,000 EC bonus! This offer is only until August 1st, which is just two days away! So if you want a nice boost in Entrecard credits, I would take up on this offer quick! Click here to purchase Entrecard credits.

Entrecard Trade Limits Increased!

Though this was only one sentence out of the entire e-mail, this is probably the most exciting news! (Well, for me anyway) To promote the use of the Marketplace in the Entrecard forums, Ziprunner has lifted the Entrecard transfer limits from 1,000 ECs to 25,000 ECs! This is one of the biggest improvements Ziprunner has made to Entrecard thus far. As you probably know, I was really vocal about lifting the EC trade limits. It was just ridiculous to limit users for transfering 1,000 ECs a week. I won’t go on and on about it, but I’m really glad they have changed this limit. Because of these limits, you can expect I’ll be planning to host a big contest soon.

Ziprunner, the new Entrecard management, (I will stop calling them by their company name Ziprunner and instead something like ‘Entrecard staff’ eventually) has installed a feature called iTrader on the Entrecard forums. It basically is a reputation system based on successful trades. For example,  if a user takes up the offer for stumbling for 50 ECs and the other person gives them the 50 ECs after they’ve done it, they would leave each other a positive iTrader rating. This would let other users know that the person is trustworthy.  By this, Ziprunner is really trying to promote activity to the Entrecard forums. If more members were to join, I’m sure it could be really useful. By putting your blog URL in your signature and posting often, it’s easy to not only get some visitors but also readers who might subscribe and come back.

With my old theme, I had a top commentators plugin that I used to reward my readers for commenting on posts. When I uploaded my new theme, I forgot all about the plugin. But, it’s back now. Even without the plugin, I’ve received a lot of comments lately and have had more participation in my posts than when I used the plugin! That just goes to show my posts are worthy enough to grab the attention of my droppers, and I appreciate that!

Now, there is some extra motivation for commenting on my posts. The top 8 commentators will be listed along with their website in the sidebar. The list will reset monthly so if you’re on there, you could be on there for a while. Just another way of saying thanks to my readers and commentators!

Well, Ziprunner has announced two changes that have more of an effect on users than the new homepage design. The paid ads system has been removed. This is a great move on their part because most Entrecard members hated the system and refused to allow the paid ads on their widget. However, the downside to this is that the feature of allowing members to sell their Entrecard credits is being removed as well. They will try and pay off as much of the Entrecard credits that have been waiting to cash out as possible with the funds that are left from the paid ads system.

Overall, this is probably a very good move on their part. The paid ad systems angered many members. However, it will be interesting to see how they will try to bring in revenue in other ways because if they aren’t profiting, Entrecard will surely go down the drain.

Looks like Ziprunner (Entrecard’s new owner) is getting down to business and working to fix up Entrecard. A noticeable change is the new homepage look. Okay, it’s not a drastic change but it IS different from what it looked like before. Personally, I like it better now.

For anxious users waiting to see what Ziprunner does, I think this is a good sign. It’s only been a few days and changes have already begun to be made. Let’s see what they do next.

When I decided to bring EntreBlast back to life after a few months of not posting anything – I set my ad prices to just 500 ECs in order to regain advertising interest. It’s been over three months and I have not increased the cost, meaning those who are currently advertising are getting a super cheap deal. The price of advertising on the Entrecard widget is around 256 ECs for just one day! That means by purchasing an ad on EntreBlast, they are getting their moneys worth (or ECs worth) in less than two days time.

EntreBlast has grown a lot in the past three months after coming back alive. EntreBlast now receives over 100 visitors a day and over 3,500 visitors a month. It has an Alexa ranking of 93,754.

With that said, the price for a one month ad will be rising to 1000 ECs. Well, technically 999.99 ECs because Entrecard has ridiculous, annoying trading limits that I don’t understand. However, the price in dollars will not rise. It will still be the extremely low low price of $5. Of course, I prefer to be paid in real money rather than Entrecard credits, which is why I’m not raising this price. Either way, you’re still going to get your money’s worth in just a few days.

The cost of a one month ad in Entrecard credits will become 999.99 ECs starting Friday, July 24th. This gives you three days to jump on the opportunity of purchasing a one month ad for just 500 ECs. When you have purchased an ad, it will be placed in a queue and will appear on EntreBlast once an ad spot opens up (starting the 24th). Your 30 days won’t start until it becomes live, so don’t worry.

Click here to purchase an ad on EntreBlast. Jump on this 500 EC offer before the price rises!