If you are an avid user of Entrecard then you may have noticed they have been having some growing pains. I joined Entrecard as soon as I heard about it, which was a time when the site only had a few blogs. Now there are over 5000 blogs listed in the system. I don’t think Graham and crew really expected it to grow as fast as it has. Well with this growth you should expect some issues. And there have been some. Whether its would sluggish response of the system to temporary time of drops not getting counted. The issues get fixed, but you still have people complaining on the forums.

I for one do not really understand the complaints. Yes the system does work, but a the same time, its not like it costs you anything. Some people are even earning money by selling credits. My personal opinion is since I know a little about programming, that the guys are doing a really good job of incorporating enhancements requested by the users as well as the constant battle the face from the people you want to spam the system for personal gain. Whether these are attempts to gather credits in other ways than how it was designed or whether its just spamming members with your latest join this program message. As the system grows also grows the number of people trying to use it for their own gain without regard for people who want to use it as it was designed which is to allow bloggers to obtain advertising on other blogs.

Several high profile bloggers have commented that Entrecard traffic is worthless. In someways I agree with these people as the traffic does not convert, but that really does not mean its worthless. It just may be worth less than traffic you get from the search engines through a long tail search.

The one real weakness I see in Entrecard is the basis of how the system works and this is not really Entrecard’s fault. Its the spammers who are trying to game the system. To earn credits in Entrecard you must surf sites and drop your card. Many of the spammers have realized this so they are putting up popups or pop unders to try and gain some revenue from the Entrecard surfers. Some of these ads have even been of a pornographic nature. Of course then there are the blackhaters who will attempt to install spyware or adware on your computer. Of course the people at Entrecard will kill off these sites when ever they are discovered, but the spammers will just come back with a different email address and another site. So when ever I surf Entrecard sites I make sure my Spyware definitions are up to date and I always use Firefox to drop. Now firefox is not a sure way to combat these items, but its is a lot safer than Internet Explorer. I wish there was a way to get rid of these sites, but I don’t see anyway technically to do it.

Overall, I think Entrecard is a great site with a lot of potential. It can really help a site launch into the blogsphere, but some pains should be expected. For those people who constantly complain, just give Entrecard a little break. The service is provided basically free and the only cost is your time( which is a cost). Perhaps it should be called a Beta, but it is coming along and as long as they can keep the doors open, the service should really become a true asset to the blogsphere.

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This is a guest post from LaTease Rikard of TEASA’S BLOG MARKETING TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Know Who You’re Dealing With

It is difficult if not impossible in some cases to know if an affiliate program is established, credible and trustworthy just by looking at the site and reading a corporate profile. That is specifically the reason why it is necessary to research the company behind the affiliate program using tools provided by organizations such as BBBOnline, TrustGauge.com and Alexa, all of which offer some form of rating or feedback on companies from affiliates and general users alike.

Offer the Best To Be The Best

While most individual affiliate programs or publisher networks do not allow you to test or try out the product or services free of charge, it is crucial that you know what you are selling is in demand and of good quality. Otherwise, you will not be able to accurately describe the benefits to prospects or if it is a product in a low demand industry you will simply not be able to sell enough to justify your investment of time and resources. Search in the same manner as a consumer would if they were looking for the product or service

Showing You The Money

The reason website owners integrate affiliate programs into their site in the first place is to make money. The payment or commissions you receive, whether it be a per sale, per lead or per visit (click), should be a deciding factor but not the ultimate factor in your affiliate program selection process. Most affiliate networks limit which affiliates or publishers can receive which type of commission structure, usually reserving the per click option to highly productive publishers.

Time To Choose
Now that you are more prepared to make an informed decision you can start researching what will work best on your own site. Search through affiliate program directories such as associateprograms.com or join popular publisher networks such as Commission Junction or pepperjamnetwork.com.
You will easily find a program or group of programs that work in tandem with what you are already selling or that work seamlessly with existing content. If you choose correctly, affiliate program riches may be yours. Good Luck.

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I’ve been neglecting this blog as of late and I need to work on that. The main reason that I have not been spending much time here is because its not really one of my money maker sites and my time has been limited lately. Well it looks like my time is coming back from the day job and I will be able to put a little time in here. Lately I’ve only had a few hours a week to spend on my sites so I’ve been putting that time in on other niches that have historically provided better results. for you long term readers its no secret that I market to females. The main reason I market to females is I can get a better CTR from females audiences than males. I don’t really know why this is, but I have noticed the trend.

Perhaps the differences come from women are just more inquisitive than males and more likely to investigate links or whether they hate my writing and need to click anything available to get away. What ever the reason this is what my testing has shown my to be effective. For this reason I tend to spend more time on my sites that target a female audience. Part of building a decent online business is the ability to listen to your visitors and give them what they want. Any marketing book you pick up will tell you the same thing or imply this fact. If you find a hungry crowd who is seeking a particular piece of information or service, then you can derive success from filling that need. This is true whether your product is information such as a blog or whether its some tangible good such as a Golf Club that allows someone to hit the ball longer and straighter.

This will be a short post today, but there will be more coming. I need to get back in the zone for writing for this blog. I’ve got some ideas for topics, I just need to flush out the details.

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