Ode to Adgitize - Goodbye my friend, goodbye

On Tuesday, Ken Brown announced that Adgitize is abruptly closing on January 1st 2012. After three continuous years of service, this World Class Advertising network is calling it quits.  Unfortunately, the costs to operate the service exceed the revenues generated. And, with a 3 year IRS rule that requires small companies to earn a profit else lose the ability to deduct its losses, Adgitize like many, is forced to close.

Compounding the problem is that the Adgitize network required a 24 by 7 support effort. Its owner, Ken seemed to never sleep. He was there to help everyone open an account, approve the ads, answer questions, collect and forward payments and more.  (His wife was probably ready to divorce him).

Yet Adgitize was a great service for all of us bloggers. It brought many of us together and forged many friendships. Being required to click on 51 or 100 blogs a day, many of us became regular visitors of other blogs. We looked forward to reading new articles and watching them grow.

Being awarded points for publishing an article forced most of us to write new posts daily. We learned how to think of new topics, and write concise and interesting articles on short notice.

We are going to miss the organization that Adgitize brought to our blogging lives. There is my:

Ode to Adgitize

There will be No more:

Member's Lounge,

Preferred Publishers,

Leaderboard,

Conversations in the Forum.

We'll miss:

Daily Earnings

Clicks Earned Today

Page Views Today

Ad Views Earned Today.

And Gone are:

Total Points Earned This Month,

Blogs Not Clicked Today.

and More.

But most importantly,

we lose the

Adgitize Portal

and

Ken Brown Administrator.

Although I've only achieved 

Mentor status in the Forum, 

I'm sure the Marketing Masters,

Teachers, Scouts, Tenderfoots, and Students,

will all miss the Forum.

While you may may gone,

You will never be forgotten.

They say the good die young

and we will continue to make you proud.

So until we meet again, 

Goodbye my friend,

Goodbye

CMF Spikes Rock!

During this past week, I decided to experiment with the CMF ads Spike advertising feature to see if I get a boost in traffic.

For those who don't know, a CMF member can purchase 50 Spikes for $0.20. Each spike is worth a single visit from a participating member. After you receive 50 visits, the spikes are gone.

In my case, a set of spikes lasted one day, so I kept buying Spikes for each of the past 7 days.

To my surprise, I discovered that: CMF Spikes Rock! Nearly 40 of the 50 spike visits were registered as actual visits by Google Analytics. By comparison, very few of the Adgitize visits are registered.

Thus, I will probably continue to purchase Spikes for a while as this advertising tool helps to increase my blog's traffic.

Thanks CMF,

JL...............

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bloggers: Join Adgitize & Place an Ad to Get $3, $7, or $14 Rebate from Us (asktheblogster.blogspot.com)

Bloggers: Join Adgitize & Place an Ad to Get $3, $7, or $14 Rebate from Us

Adgitize, a leading blog advertising network, is conducting a membership drive promotion through the month of October.

To help them succeed, we are offering all new bloggers who join Adgitize through our affiliate link and purchase a 1, 6, or 12 month standard ad a cash rebate at the end of the ad's term.

To qualify, all you have to do is join Adgitize with our link and purchase a 125x125. We suggest that you ask us to verify that you have joined properly and qualify for our rebate before placing your ad.

Our rebate schedule will be as follows for those who qualify and have purchased a:

• 1 Month Ad for $14, we will pay you $3 back when your ad expires.
• 6 Month Ad for $78 ($13 per month), we will pay you $7 back when your ad expires.
• 12 Month Ad for $144 ($12 per month), we will pay you $14 back when your ad expires.

Payment will be either: a direct transfer to your PayPal account; or, as an Adgitize Gift Certificate (your choice).

Besides having your ad displayed and receiving new visitor traffic, you will automatically have the opportunity to earn a daily cash reward from Adgitize directly. In fact, most advertising members receive monthly payments nearly equal to their monthly advertising cost.

This means that after the initial cash outlay, perpetually free monthly advertising is very realistic.

So, Join Adgitize Now

Conditions for Receiving a Rebate from us:

1. You must be a new member of Adgitize
2. Your blog/account must be listed as one of our Sponsored Affiliate with Ads
3. Only regular 1 month, 6 month, and 12 month ad purchases qualify
4. 7-day, 14-day, Monster ads DO NOT QUALIFY
5. Payment will be made after expiration your your ad.
6. You may direct us to either remit payment to you via PayPal or through Adgitize.

Have fun and Thanks!

JL.............

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• Adgitize's Summer Sizzlers (asktheblogster.blogspot.com)

Spottt Goes to Doggie Heaven

Image via CrunchBase

This morning I read in the CMF forums that Spottt, a free Link Exchange from Adbrite was officially retired. After visiting the official Spottt.com site, I discovered that this was indeed true. The Spottt service is no longer offered.

I feel bad about this because Spottt was the first network exchange banner system in which I became involved. It was introduced in beta in September 2007, and was officially launched in February 2008. Initially, the folks at
  were were extremely involved, but the enthusiasm waned a few months later.

While it never achieved the success of Entrecard, Adgitize, or CMFAds, I always left its widget on my blogs because I loved the cute little mascot.

If you had been displaying a Spottt widget on you site, you will notice only a void where the widget once appeared. Spottt is gone, and you should remove its code to avoid any access violation when attempting to reach the superceded url.

Bye-bye Spottt, we'll miss ya.

JL...........

Adgitize's Summer Sizzlers

Perhaps my favorite advertising network is:

Adgitize

because I can basically advertise my website for free.  To do this, you must first join the network, upload you widget image, install advertising widgets on your site or blog, and then purchase a $14 monthly ad (for 31 days).

Then, to get your money back, all it takes is to write a blog post and click on 51 member widgets a day!

Each day you'll be credited with a small network proportional income. At the end of every month, your earnings will be totaled, and credited to your account. Active members have always received a minimum payout of $14, thus paying for your advertising costs.

Now, Adgitize introduced an exceptional Summer Promotion (running until July 31, 2010) and a:

Discounted Purchasing Plan!

Phase 1 of the Summer Promotion guarantees a minimum daily earning of $0.47, or $14.57 for a full 31 day month for those members who earn at least 300 points a day.

Phase 2 targets lesser active members, and guarantees payout of $0.34 per day for advertisers scoring over 200 points a day.

But, the discounted purchasing plan allows members to buy:

• a 6 month ads for $13 per month; or
• a 1 year ads for $12 per month.

Together with the Summer Promotion, advertising members of Adgitize and guaranteed to earn a profit! In my opinion, these are indeed noteworthy

Summer Sizzlers!

And remember, Adgitize accepts both websites and blogs as members.

Report Trojans, Virus, Pop-Ups, Hackers & Malicious Sites Here

Perhaps the most common obstacle that our Blogging community faces when trying to visit other member sites is the unwanted encounter with a malicious site. How many times have you clicked on a site and all of a sudden, the screen flashes, and various windows pop-up.

The typical attack presents alert boxes asking you to "click here". You're afraid to do that for fear of infecting you computer and cannot close the annoying and dangerous attacks.

Worse, you feel all alone. Who do you tell? Did anyone else know about this?  Was this preventable?

During the past week, I had such an encounter on Adgitize. While I was able to close all the browser windows, my laptop failed to shut off. I was able to turn the power off and then force a "reboot" when powering up again.

I did report this, but as far as I know, the culprit is still there. I know the problem isn't on my machine because I performed a full scan after each attack and nothing was detected.

This isn't a problem isolated to me. CMF Ads has a noteworthy thread about this problem. And after reading it, you will find that many experienced bloggers are often the victims.

Whenever you click on Entrecard sites, Adgitize ads, or CMF Ads, you are at risk. Turnip recently reported that he disabled one such site on CMF. Entrecard's blog states that they made a complete scan of all blog members and eliminated many. And, Adgitize removes sites when they are found.

However, these three organizations are combating the malicious attackers in isolation. Unfortunately, they are not working together to share the list of evil-doers, and we, the blog clicking community remain vulnerable.

Therefore, I'm asking all members of each network to report a malicious site here, in a single place, for others to read and be informed. With that data, I will validate the claims, and report the offenders to each of the three networks.

So, if you have a problem, and can isolate the name of the bad site, leave a comment here. 

We've got to work together to patrol our community and keep each other safe.

JL...........

PS: 

• I didn't list the site I encountered here because I haven't identified it yet. I think it is fired off when I close the window which is already too late.
• Also, many CMF members recommend Sandboxie.  I haven't checked it out, but intend to do so.
• Lastly, it's important to remember that many of the offending sites may be victims of hackers. As such, they are innocent, but need to be quarantined  until they are sanitized and safe again.

Blogversary Contest Extended to March 18th

For the past week or so, I've been writing a number of articles in response to Kay & Pehpot's Blogversary Contest which was initially planned to end on February 28, 2010. But, it has been:

Extended to March 18, 2010

As per Pehpot's post (hyperlink above), there is still both: time to join; and, earn extra points by commenting on contest sponsor & member sites.

When I first wrote about this Contest, I was rather skeptical. But since that time, I've gotten into the spirit, and tried to fulfill many of the requirements for earning extra points.

So, it you want a chance to earn a little extra, then you've got to join now. Besides the possibility of earning some money, you'll also get a chance to visit and read some very good blogs. And, along the way, you'll probably make a few more sincere friends!

Blog Review: Mom Conversations

Introduction

The fourth and last major sponsor of  Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary contest is the blog:

Mom Conversations

It is written from a mother's viewpoint, and I can only assume that it's author is a mother. The focus of the articles vary from child problems to pregnancy related health topics.

Design

This blog sports a minimal design, primarily consisting of the posts only. Accompanying the written posts are well place navigation menus, tabs,  clouds, and links to recent posts.

This is one site that does not display any ads, from any source. Therefore, the reader is not distracted nor tempted to travel on to another site.

Theme & Content

Presently, the 3 main page blog posts discuss early childhood problems that a new mother may encounter. The post Why Do  Kids Whine - The Whys of Whining discuss the irritating behavior of a whining child. Advice is given on how to cope with this frustration, and especially how to prevent it.

Writing Style & Grammar

Regardless of the topic, the author writes about 6-8 paragraphs on each topic. Thus, the topic is well covered from start to finish. Take, for example, the Training the Picky Eaters article. It begins with a statement of the problem, followed by measures a parent can follow to ensure that the child has a well balanced and healthy diet.

Trivia

Did you know that the habit of fibbing is especially prominent in adolescents? After reading The Truth about White Lies you will learn the which lies are harmful and which are simply part of growing up. What many parents consider to be lies may only be the fantasy expressions of an imaginative child.

Drawbacks

The one problem that I found with this blog was that many of the tabs and category links all pointed to a single article: How to Treat Hemorrhoids - Hemorrhoid Relief. You get there from the Photos tab, the Featured Category, the Health and Fitness Category, and more. I never realized this was such a popular topic.

Recommendation

If you are a new mother, or a parent of facing a stubborn child, Mom Conversations is a great place to begin looking for advice. The articles here are well written, on target, and informative. If you begin reading this blog, you will look forward to the publication of each new article!

Seiko's Diary - Blog Review

Introduction

The third major sponsor of  Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary contest is a blog titled:

Seiko's Diary

It is written by a working mother who is devoted to her family. Her four children are all girls, and her husband is always helping them out.

Design

The blog uses the "Fashionholic Template", which is fitting to a woman's diary. The background is white with black text, and the titles + links + border are pink.

While the site contains tabbed pages, two of those are RSS feeds. One is a feed of the posts; and the other is a feed of the comments. (The other two tabs are Home and Edit.)

Along the right, is a wide sidebar containing a variety of Link entries, network communities, awards, and other goodies.

Theme & Content

The theme of the site centers on Seiko's viewpoint, wishes, desires, and experiences as a women. Her latest post, Girls Talk: Me As A lover describes her devotion to her husband. From the title, one might think it's about sex. But, it isn't. It's an article about a woman in love with her husband, an touches upon her differences and frustrations.

Writing Style & Grammar

Seiko's writing style is very fluent and descriptive. The CC: Brfeakfast In Bed post shows her wonderful husband cooking breakfast for his hard-working wife.  Seiko expresses her secret desires to enjoy an hour of privacy & silence, and enjoying Breakfast in Bed allows her this luxury while her husband is cooking.

From reading her blogger "About Me" page, we learn that Seiko is in the Marketing Industry and lives in Japan.

While her blog contains a few typo's and grammatical errors, her grasp of English and written expression is extremely good.

Trivia

In the official contest announcement of the 4 major sponsors, it is written that Seiko is a mom of 5 children. However, all her pictures and writings only refer to 4 children.

Perhaps the reason that people think she has 5 kids is that she is often in the pictures with them. And, since she looks so young, visitors would assume she is one of the children too.

Drawbacks

The site has two major drawbacks. First, it contains a music widget containing a list of her favorite songs. These begin playing as soon as the blog loads, and the songs can't be stopped.  As a result, this is annoying, not only because of the noise, but  because it slows down the loading and consumes our computer.

The second drawback is the Entrecard widget. When pressed, we get the "No such user" message. (Perhaps because the music widget violated Entrecards Terms and Conditions?)

Recommendation

Besides the drawbacks, Seiko's Diary is an enjoyable blog to read and visit. Here, you will learn a little bit of what "women think"; watch and learn about a wonderful family; and lastly, learn a bit about another culture!

Anak Ni Kulapo - Blog Review

Introduction

The second major sponsor of  Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary contest is another blog written by Buraot called:

Anak Ni Kulapo

It is primarily written for the Filipino community and is written in the Filipino Language. Since many of our various blogging communities are from the Philippines, writing in their native language is selectively limiting to a single geographic and ethnic culture.

For this reason, I have no idea what it says, but can pick up an occasional word here and there. Therefore, my blog review is only limited to my opinion, which may be way off base.

Design

The blog template is the "Firebug Theme by Blog Oh! Blog". It is a black background white titles and text. The comments, tags, and links are all in vibrant red, blue, and green shades. The black background provides a very effective to the illustrative pictures.

The site contains 5 seperate pages. The Home page contains the posts. This is followed by a FAQu! page, and others. Ads, Social network widgets, and links to posts are organized on the right-hand sidebar.

In general, the design is very professional looking.

Theme & Content

The theme of the site appears to be irony and humor. When visiting the main page url, the user is greeted with a number of posts on the left. Each has a picture and a description. The May Nag-Text post features a man on the side of a street trying to speak into a huge nokia cell phone. I guess that since phone booths have all but disappeared, they need to be replaced by, what else, streetside cell phones. Quite odd.

Another post titled Juice Ko Po! shows a picture of packaged buns with the brand name Jussipussi. Hmmm, regardless of the language one speaks, most men can immediately see the humor.

Writing Style & Grammar

As an English speaking visitor, I do not understand the Filipino language, thus, I cannot comment on the author's writing style or grammar.

However, the posts are littered with "Quoted" phrases, which are intended to have the reader feel as if someone is actually speaking.

Trivia

Words in different languages can certainly bring a smile to the viewer. If you read the Kahit Gaano Kalaki post, you will immediately chuckle when you see the big bag of Grill Flamed Megapussi. Apparently, pussi is very big in the Philippines.

Recommendation

Anak Ni Kulapo is a blog that everyone should visit. If you understand Filipino, you will experience Buraot's humor first hand. But, if you are like me and can't understand this language, you will be entertained by looking at the pictures and making up your own interpretation!

Blog Review: I Am Buraot

Introduction

As part of  of Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary contest's bonus requirements, entrants are asked to review the 4 major sponsors. I have chosen to review these in the order of the links they presented, and thus, begin with a review of

I Am Buraot

This blog is written by a skeptical pessimist, who focuses on a variety of antisocial topics ranging from Entrecard, blogspot, to the road to nowhere.

Many fellow bloggers are already familiar with the  Entredropper section of the blog. This is the area where one can register their blog's url, and pick up the "Entrecard generator" widget to paste on their site. It is a free service that the author provides to help folks pop-up and multiple EC sites for the single purpose of saving time in performing the monotonous 300 drops per day.

Design

From the site, we find that I am Buraot  sports a free "Wordpress Agregado Theme". There is a menu across the top, allowing visitors to easily move from section to section.Underneath is the blog Title, followed by the content section and footer.

Of the pages I visited, each page presents a consistent format, making visitors feel comfortable and welcome.

Theme & Content

The theme of the site oscillates between Entercard dropping lists, and philosophical essays.  While the blogger's intent  seems to focus on the essays, it is apparent that the EC dropping list has dominated the content.

Writing Style & Grammar

But, don't be fooled, the author is a polished writer, with a natural gift of expression. One of the most interesting posts that I read was entitled: The Paradox of the Road to Nowhere. It is written in the "first person" and full of imagery. Quite reflective, every reader will relate to the road of life.

Trivia

While it seems that a blog offering a Entrecard Dropping Widget may not be popular, many would be surprised to learn the number of lists that are currently active. At present, there are 47 lists, each containing 10 sites. Wow, that's 470 registered members!

Recommendation

If you haven't already visited this site, you must. The EC widget is displayed on so many blogs that you already know.  And, while you are there, you should visit the home page and read a few of the enchanting posts.

Kaye & Pehpot's Contest Sponsors

As a follow up to the contest announcement, we have  listed the primary sponsors for your reference. Please take a few minutes and take a look at each of their blogs.

Below are the four MAJOR sponsors of Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary contest:

I Am Buraot
A blog about politics, the environment, religion, philanthropy, and everything else that is life. Author is known for his generosity in sponsoring contests. The home of the famous EntreDropper.

Anak Ni Kulapo
Yet another blog of Buraot. If you want to die laughing, then go visit Anak Ni Kulapo. His life in the US and hilarious stuff about his home country are only two of the must-sees in this blog.


Seiko's Diary
The blog title says it all. This is Seiko's journal about being a mom to her five gorgeous kiddos, her take on life in general, and random musings of a woman who loves life.

Mom Conversations
A new blog about everything concerning mothers: pregnancy, health and fitness and babies are the current categories, under which are detailed articles containing tips and valuable information for moms everywhere.

Please drop by these blogs if you have the time and see why they are worthy of a special mention. :)

My 2010 Resolution: Redo the Sidebar

During the past several months, I started to take notice of the various Social Networking widgets that I had on my blog's sidebars. I noticed that 2 were not being updated and became concerned that they were just wasting space. I contacted the site owners, and received immediate replies, confirming my suspicions.

Then, 2 days before Christmas, I learned that another large provider was considering eliminating their Social Networking Service as well.

So, I for My 2010 New Year's Resolution, I decided its:

Time to Redo the Sidebars

Below are the 3 sites that I am reviewing and watching. I've provided a bit of background and let you know what my action will be.

MyBlogLog

If you do a Google Search for this keyword, you will see an article: Yahoo to Shut Down MyBlogLog that was written on 12/23/2009. The author cites Marshall Kirkpatrick's Yahoo! Will Kill MyBlogLog Next Month. Neither of these provides much detail, my concern is that many of us participate in this network. If Yahoo! does close up MyBlogLog, we would have wasted a great deal of time. Yahoo! confirms it is reviewing the future of MyBlogLog, but says it has not made any decision yet. My Conclusion: Wait & See, but Don't Waste Much Time on It.

 SlogBite

This was launched a couple of years ago by Mel Kaye.  Many in the EC and Adgitize community became very active in the pre-launch design activities. However, after about 1 year, Mel announced that he has found another job and would simply let SlogBite flounder. Now another year later, the widgets still display, but many of the links return 404 Not Found Errors. My Conclusion: Remove Widgets.

BlogNetAwards
This is a blog that featured Blogs in various categories. Every month, it would award the Best Blog in various classes. Then, at the end of the year, it would announce the Yearly Winners. The concept was great and many participated. But, since last summer, the site has not been updated. I contacted the owner and found that they are experiencing marital problems. I tried to be patient, but realize that their devotion is to their children, and not to this site. Thus, My Conclusion: Remove Widgets.

I wish all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year and would like to hear your resolutions as well!

JL............

Entrecard: Great Concept, No Business Plan

The underlying concept of Entrecard was genius: To provide a vehicle where bloggers thoughout the world could interact and advertise Free of charge! To accomplish this, a fictitious economy was created, rewarding members for visiting other sites and advertising. In this, Entrecard's success was unparalleled. At its peak, some estimate that over 30 thousand members participated.

To be truly successful, however, it is important to capitalize on one's efforts.

Unfortunately, it appears that Entrecard failed to create a viable Business Plan which would address the methodology of earning income while providing its founding services.

As if in a panic, Entrecard resorted to selling membership ad space and delivering it to the captive membership. This resulted in alienaiting members and losing its base.

Under new Entrecard ownership, the paid ads were eliminated, and membership began to grow again. But, not having a Business Plan, Entrecard is reinstituting their Paid Ad delivery system. It was initially planned to be implemented beginning September 28th 2009, but, this date is now pushed back to the week of October 5th.

The new system will occupy 15% of the network inventory. If, however, a member wishes to opt out, he can pay $50 per year to be ad free.

Reading the comments in their blog, members have mixed opinions about this whole thing. And we did too.

So, we decided to analyze what this means:

1. Entrecard allows members to receive credits for dropping on 300 sites maximum.
2. Assuming that a member meets this maximum 300 days of the year, there will be 90,000 ad impressions that one visits.
3. Multiplying 90K times 15%, the user will be exposed to 13,500 ad impressions.
4. Since one can opt out for of the 13,500 impressions for $50, we calculate that Entrecard expects ad impressions to cost $3.7037 per 1000 impressions.
5. We think this is a lot of money!

Another way of looking at this is by membership:

1. If 1,000 members agree to pay $50, Entrecard receives $50,000
2. If 10,000 members agree to pay $50, Entrecard receives $500,000

Wow, Entrecard can get a lot of money from a captive audience!

So what do we think? Entrecard will continue to be the sought after delivery vehicle for New Bloggers who are trying to build an audience and learn the ropes.

However, seasoned members will go elsewhere for their primary audience. Why?

1. As time goes by, followers are developed.
2. Bloggers begin to willingly purchase Paid Ads on other networks.
3. As they grow, they will devote more time to their content, and less to dropping.
4. Most blogs derive income from displaying ads.

 Since a blog's ad space is valuable, why  would one display Entrecard for free?

And, if one already purchases their own ads, why would they want to display Entrecard's for free?

Based on this simple economic evaluation, we believe that Entrecard does not have a Business Plan of their own. At present, they are simply attempting to piggy-back on others. This type of strategy will not succeed since it is simply parasitic.

While we will not be dropping Entrecard from our arsonal, we will be demoting their widgets to less important portions of our blogs. Many others may just drop them flat out. This means that the expected revenue that Entrecard is hoping to get will not be there, because advertisers will not want to  pay top dollar for poor quality ad space!


JL...............

EC Drops Paid Ads & Cashout

As the new Entrecard team begins to take shape, a number of changes are beginning to be announced.

First, a new Director of Business Development was appointed. Her name is Cindy and she will be communicating with the Entrecard user base via the Entrecard Blog which is accessible as a menu choice along the top of the EC pages.

Second, in her first post on Wednesday July 22nd 2009, Cindy informed the community that the "Paid Ad" program will be discontinued. This is great news to EC members because it means that everyone's Free Ads should now be showing on the EC widgets. She didn't say what the time frame of the phase out would be, and as of yesterday, paid ads were still displaying. Hopefully this change will become effective soon.

Third, the "credit cashout program" is being eliminated. EC will try to fulfill the outstanding redemption requests with the available funds remaining, but makes no promises on fulfilling those requests.

So, what does all this mean to members of the Entrecard community?

Primarily, it tells us that EC is going back to the original business model of providing a free advertising vehicle for bloggers, and nothing more.

Unfortunately, the blogging landscape has changed. Companies like Adgitize and CMF Ads provide cash incentives for active members. This means that EC is now left behind.

Further, EC places an expensive "Rake" on members wishing to advertise. When an advertiser agrees to purchase an ad, 1/2 of the EC credits go directly into the pockets of the EC Corporation. Additional "taxes" are placed on purchases in the Marketplace and in EC transfers.

Even though EC credits are now declared worthless, there is an underlying value that is not communicated to the membership. Why in the world would EC wish to rake off commissions unless the credits had some definitive financial value? How many credits are we talking about?

Well, assume that EC has only 5,000 active members who purchase a single 32 credit ad daily. Of this EC gets 16 credits per ad, and the publisher gets 16 credits.

If you do the multiplication, you will see that (5000 ads * 16 credits * 365 days ) = 29,200,200 is deposited in the banks of the Entrecard economy per year. And, this is only a drop in the bucket since EC membership had peaked at 30,000 members and many ads are valued at 64, 128, 256, 512 and more credits.

So while the new Entrecard managerial policies are formulated, we recommend that you hold onto and amass your EC credits, rather than spend them frivously. If the new company goes public, we think that credits belonging to Entrecard members will be awarded actual cash value on par with those in the vast holding of the Entrecard banks.

If however, the new EC Team insists that the credits are worthless, then all advertising rakes and taxes should be abolished, as there would be no incentive for EC to accumulate them.

Entrecard Sold to ZipRunner

We received mail this morning from Entrecard founder Graham Langdon, announcing the sale of Entrecard to ZipRunner.

We would like to congratulate Graham & the rest of the Entrecard team on creating a fantastically free product which helped thousands in the blogging community to grow.

While many could criticize Graham for running the ship with an iron hand, he certainly provided a friendly environment for us to increase our traffic and make lasting relationships globally.

In the recent months, EC made many changes which affected the company immensely:

1. They raised $140,000 in Angel Money
2. They began selling paid ads
3. They placed a cash-out value of $1 per 1,000 credits.

Many members complained about the paid ads because: their own free ads were not being shown; the paid ads were unattractive; and cash out requests were not paid. As a result, many left outright and others simply became less active.

Companies like Adgitize and CMF Ads - Low cost, no-nonsense advertising took up the slack.

We don't know that the future holds for us EC members, but we are grateful to Graham for helping us grow, and wish him an enjoyable retirement.

JL..........

PS: For a little more information, read: Entrecard Acquired By ZipRunner

Along for the Ride - The Clickables #2

Several months ago, we discovered:

Along for the Ride

a free clickable service offered by: The Matthias Chronicles

You simply register your site and add their widget to your blog. They provide 2 types of widgets: one which you can mouse over, and the other which is clicked.

At first, we were skeptical and didn't think that this would bring any traffic, but we added the script to our Lottery Power Picks News/Blog and waited to see what happened.

While reviewing our Google Analytics recently, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that we were receiving over 100 visits per month from this service!

AFTR lists our site with 105 visits per month, while Google Analytics says 108!

So, if you're looking for a Free, Easy and Fun way to drive traffic to your site, we suggest that you add Along for the Ride by clicking on the link above. After a while, you just might be as thrilled as we are!

Adgitize - Clickables #1

The goal of every blogger and website owner is to have visitor traffic, write and present information, and more importantly, earn some income.

If these are your goals, then you must:

Adgitize - Get World Class Advertising on a Bloggers Budget

Why Join Adgitize?
First, this is a clickable network designed to assist site owners achieve the above goals. This is done by awarding members daily points for:

1. Clicking on other member ads
2. Writing a post
3. Page Views
4. Ad views
5. Advertising (for paid advertisers only)
   

These points are totaled and the daily points are then assigned a dollar amount. You, the site owner, is then credited with this amount of money (2 days later).

Should You be a Paid Advertiser Here?
In our opinion, the answer is: Absolutely YES! for a couple of reasons.

1. Advertising costs are a Flat $14 for 31 days. That's approximately $0.452 per day. Regardless how many times your ad is clicked.
2. Advertiser gifs are displayed on the Adgitize widgets.
3. Advertisers receive additional points, meaning your daily earnings from Adgitize are increased.

In our experience, we receive between 60-100 visits daily, meaning each click costs us $0.0075 - $0.0045 each. Compared to everyone else, that's incredibly cheap.

Additionally, Adgitize revised their point structure as of April 1, 2009. Meaning that those who are actively involved, earn more points and more money.

How Much Money Can You Earn?
Right now, that's a bit up in the air, but our guestimate is approximately $24-30 per month if you post daily, click the maximum number of sites allowed, and are a paid advertiser.

How Much Time Do You Need to Spend Each Day?
We believe that you will need to spend around 1 hour each day to earn the maximum from Adgitize. Writing a new post will take around 30 minutes, and clicking on the other member ads will be about 30 minutes as well.

How Do You Join?
Either click on the Adgitize link above, or the banner below. Once there, look for and click the "Register" on the left side of the page. Then fill out the form, and you're in!

How Do You Click on Sites?
Once you have joined, you should place the Adgitize advertising widget on your site. This will earn you points.

Next, you will want to click on all the member sites. In order to do this, you must visit Adgitize and log-in, otherwise you clicks won't be counted.

Then, rather than hunting around for sites to click on, we recommend you do one of the three:

1. Go to their "LeaderBoard" page and click on each of the sites listed. They will have ads for you to click.
2. Go to their "Reports" page, and then click on the "Publisher's Blogs Not Clicked Today". This will give you another list of sites.
3. And, lastly, you can add your site to the Mr. Linky list below. Bookmark this page, and visit the sites listed there.

Have Fun!