PublisherSpot

Updated - 07/11/2008

Go to www.entrecard.com

It can be very challenging for small-time bloggers to get the exposure that they need. Typically, it is also unaffordable for these bloggers to get adequate advertising through conventional means. Entrecard aims to alleviate this exact issue, because it is possible to operate within this traffic exchange system without spending a single penny.

In short, Entrecard publishers install a widget on their blog that displays advertising from other blogs in the Entrecard network. This earns the publisher an internal currency known as Entrecard Credits (ECs). These credits can then be spent in the Entrecard marketplace to purchase advertising from other Entrecard members.

Rather than offering a number of different advertising styles, the Entrecard network specializes in just one ad format: the 125 x 125 square. For each blog that a publisher includes in his or her Entrecard account, a single 125 x 125 ad is uploaded. This ad creative, which is also known as a “card”, can be changed at any time.

There are a number of ways for publishers to earn Entrecard Credits (ECs). These credits, as mentioned earlier, act as the currency within the Entrecard network.

• 1. Dropping their cards on other blogs in the Entrecard network: Visiting any other blog in the Entrecard network, a publisher can then find the Entrecard widget and hit the “drop” button. This places the publisher’s card in the dashboard area of the target blog. For example, if publisher A drops his card on the blog of publisher B, then publisher B will see publisher A’s card in his dashboard area. Each time a card is dropped on another blog, a publisher earns one Entrecard credit. A maximum of 300 credits can be earned each day using this method. Publishers can find target blogs for dropping their cards by using the “Campaign” page on the site’s main navigation area.
• 2. Writing new blog posts: Publishers earn 25 Entrecard credits for every new blog post published on their blogs. This method can be used a maximum of one time every three days, so any additional blog posts within that period do not result in additional credits.
• 3. Receiving advertising from other members: Advertisers spend Entrecard credits in the marketplace to purchase advertising. The publisher earns 25% of the purchase price (in the form of credits) when another member purchases advertising on his blog. The other 75% is automatically deleted from the Entrecard system. This is to prevent inflation in the Entrecard marketplace.
• 4. Selling items in the Entrecard shop: In addition to offering advertising on their blogs, Entrecard publishers can also sell virtual items through the integrated shop. These virtual items can vastly range in scope, including but not limited to blog reviews, text links, e-books, consultations, graphic design work, or more.
• 5. Winning contests: Publishers may discover that other Entrecard members are giving away Entrecard credits on their blogs. Some of these contests are highlighted in the Promotions section of the official Entrecard forum.
• 6. Purchasing credits: For publishers who would rather not earn their credits, it is also possible to purchase Entrecard credits directly from Entrecard. Payment is accepted via PayPal only. It costs $6 to purchase 1000 credits, $30 to purchase 5000 credits, and $60 to purchase 10000 credits. Publishers may also come across a “black market” for Entrecard Credits. Naturally, they should proceed with extreme caution when purchasing credits from third-parties.

With the placement of the Entrecard widget on their blogs, publishers are able to display advertising from other Entrecard members. This is the primary system for Entrecard and it is the one described in the third point above. Publishers are not able to set their own prices, however, as the price for advertising on any given blog is determined by its current popularity.

Advertising on Entrecard is always for a 24 hour period. The formula to determine the advertising price is 2 to the power of the number of advertisers in the queue. For example, if no one is waiting to advertising on blog X, then the price is 1 Entrecard Credit. If advertising on this blog is backed up for 3 days (i.e., there are three advertisers waiting for their ads to be displayed), then the current price would be 2^3 = 8 Entrecard Credits. There is no upper limit to this, so the most popular blogs may charge hundreds, even thousands of Entrecard Credits for a single day of advertising.

The Entrecard control panel can appear to be quite crowded, but most of the critical information can be found through the main dashboard area. This is the main screen where publishers can see all the cards “dropped” on their account, the current advertisers waiting to be approved, and the advertisers currently in the queue to advertise on the publisher’s widget. The Quickstats area on this page also shows core data like the total number of available credits, number of ads purchased, and the current price for advertising on the publisher’s blog.

Aside from the main dashboard, there are seven other areas in the Entrecard control panel and these can be accessed through the navigation links near the top of the site.

• 1. Get code: Publishers retrieve the code for the Entrecard widget in this area. There are three variations to the widget available: 127 x 148 slim widget, 200 x 127 medium widget, and 250 x 127 wide widget. These are usually installed in the sidebar area of a blog, though publishers are free to embed them somewhere else, so long as the widget is displayed on every page.
• 2. Campaign: Publishers can look for other members of the Entrecard network in this area. From there, publishers can choose to drop their cards on these blogs, purchase advertising from them, or do nothing at all.
• 3. Shop: With the official Entrecard Shop, publishers can use their credits to purchase account upgrades and other products. At the time this review was written, only the upgrades category was available.
• 4. Blog: Network news and other developments can be found on the official Entrecard blog.
• 5. Forums: Members of the Entrecard community can communicate with one another through the forum. This is also where publishers can promote their contests, report bugs in the system, and critique the blog posts of other members.
• 6. Statistics: Seven critical pieces of data can be found in this section. They are card drops, advert clicks, organic clicks, your drops, top card droppers, top clicks by widget, and best value by widget.
• 7. Help: The help area contains a number of useful guides, the FAQ, and user contributed guides.

Signing up for an account with Entrecard only requires the completion of a single application form. This form will ask for email address, category (for the blog), Entrecard style (uploaded 125 x 125 image), website URL, title, tagline, and description. There is also an anti-spam measure in place. Approval is nearly instantaneous, but publishers should immediately install the widget code on their blogs. Otherwise, they risk having their Entrecard accounts deleted.

Publishers should also take note of the Entrecard blog quality standards. Violating any of the rules warrants the deletion of an account. Some of the rules include:

• No nudity
• English only
• Minimum 5 quality posts in the last 3 months
• No full-screen ads or popups
• No illegal file downloads
• No auto-playing audio
• Blogs cannot contain over 50% in paid content, including sponsored posts, links to online stores, and affiliate links

This last rule is particularly noteworthy, especially if a publisher makes use of shopping-style ads (like those from TTZ Media) on every post. Use of such a template would violate the Entrecard blog quality standards.

In addition to the help area, publishers can also get support from Entrecard via email. There is no official contact form, though messages sent to support@entrecard.com typically receive a response in a very timely fashion, oftentimes within 24 hours. Inquiries regarding account deletion should be directed to deleted@entrecard.com.

As Entrecard is not designed to make money (directly) for publishers, there is no true payment system in place. Instead, the Entrecard Credits simply accumulate within a publisher’s account until they are spent on advertising, given away in a contest, or otherwise “used” within the confines of the Entrecard network.

Compared to some other traffic exchange blog networks (like BlogRush), Entrecard provides publishers with a fair amount of control over both how to earn credits and how to spend them. Publishers can approve and reject potential advertisers, and the price for advertising is directly related to the relative popularity of the blog in question.

It is not completely clear how effective Entrecard advertising is, but it does not cost the publisher any money directly. By the same accord, publishers cannot make any money directly from Entrecard either. For this reason, Entrecard may be a viable option for publishers with smaller blogs and limited budgets, but it is not particularly useful for publishers with larger blog and bigger budgets.

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