Exposed: Entrecard.com is Bad Business and Useless To Bloggers. Part I
Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert when it comes to running a business. The statements below are taken from my own experiences, both as a user of Entrecard.com and a Moderator, as well as other users/Moderators, during the 1+ year Entrecard has been “in business.” I have always wanted to be a journalist-I guess this is my first piece.
WHERE Is Your Money Going?
I was among the first group of users to sign up for Entrecard. In fact, User ID 245, (meaning I was the 245th account-or close to it). Entrecard was something new- a different approach to promoting one’s blog and finding blogs to read-all by simply adding a few lines of code and dropping your “business card,” on another member’s blog. Easy enough, right? Looks can be deceiving.
It didn’t take long for personalities to clash, arguments to occur on what was considered a forum at the time and chaos all around. But we already know this, don’t we? While the users focused on dropping their cards until they reached the maximum allotted amount, we should have had a keen eye on how the service itself was being handled. I will give a select few credit- they saw it and went on to form one hell of a service, CMF Ads. I went through two blogging hiatuses, with the Entrecard widget intact on my blog and still received traffic-mainly because people didn’t care about reading blogs, they only wanted to earn credits and become popular, regardless of the quality of their own blogs. When I returned, probably mid-October, I witnessed even more change-and not for the better. Bloggers out of control, an owner who didn’t care and volunteer moderators who were so overwhelmed with work-for no pay, (I actually had to ask, when I became a moderator, for credits), and they were leaving. I soon figured out why.
As a user, you assume everything behind the scenes is taken care of-from the testing of new features, rules, money- a system of priorities. Entrecard is far from a system of priorities. I would classify EC as a dysfunctional start-up business of a kid who thinks he knows all there is to know about the business world, yet can, according to him, barely keep it up and running. The site has lost who knows how many investors and sponsors, (we’ll never know, because Graham, the brainchild behind Entrecard, either doesn’t share the information, or only shares it with a select few who will agree with him on anything), which is why Entrecard is so strapped for cash, now offers the users the choice to purchase credits and the recent announcement, (one of the many reasons I stepped down and left Entrecard for good), of third party advertising.
Third party advertising would allow “approved” non-blog advertisers to purchase ad space, presumably by category, with the blogger accepting the ad receiving 75% of the profit and Entrecard 25%. But, who will be keeping tabs of the actual funds coming in? Once the available funds for bloggers on any given day has been depleted, this means no one can cash out until the funds are replenished, meaning advertisers have to keep purchasing ad space. I can tell you this- as a moderator, I had no way of checking anything, except user accounts. I do know one huge detail and yes, I do have the text to prove it- the money you pay for credits? The money any investors, advertisers, or sponsors spend? Most businesses keep funds in an account- be it checking, savings-however they choose, but Entrecard? Considers this a liability- and to paraphrase what will be in tomorrow’s post, “you might spend it and end up in debt.” Sound familiar? I wonder if this has anything to do with Graham’s latest business venture? How many of you know about it? He complains about Entrecard barely surviving, but yet, he has, at least, a little cash to start a new service?
Tomorrow’s post- I’ll tell you more-and provide a link to another blogger’s take on the latest money making scheme-videos included and why I chose to walk away.
Interesting post. The recent changes at Entre Card has made everyone sit up and think about what’s going on. I still don’t fully understand all the permutations but lots of people have left the network which must make it troubled times for those in charge of the network.
Entrecard has always been known for rushed changes/features, but never for profit. Before I left as a Moderator and a member, I handled at least 30 tickets from people requesting their accounts be deleted-and this was only in one section of the ticket system used. A lot of people were replying to the email that went out explaining the changes, (which is how the moderators found out about the huge rush to implement, even though we knew it was going to happen), requesting deletion- and these emails automatically queued in the Tech folder. I don’t know how many, I never bothered to count-but the numbers were surprising.
I find (lack of) accountability of funds accrued to be the most truly disturbing aspect of anything the Entrecard administration has ever done. Any potential advertiser EC member with half a brain should be demanding answers and copies of financial records from Graham.
Which is exactly what I’ll be asking tomorrow, Guiinevere- where exactly are the funds? Tune in to the next post, because it gives a good clue as to the possibility of the “where.”
The false sense of traffic Entrecard provides is disingenuous to potential advertisers. It’s nothing more than a traffic exchange hiding behind an ad network. Even twitter recognizes that users can’t possibly follow the daily conversations of so many people. “it is unlikely that anyone can actually read tweets from thousands of accounts which makes this activity disingenuous.” If you can’t read a one line tweet, how can EC members possibly read 300 blogs? Their members don’t even try. Today.com got wise and banned this rubbish traffic, and eventually Adsense will smarten up and enforce their own ToS as well.
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You hit the nail on the head and what so many of us tried, when Entrecard began, to get across- blogging is about interacting and reading-not dropping a fake card for fake credits-and for what? Traffic that raises the bounce rate into the 80% range and blogs becoming popular only because they can spend 24/7 online dropping their little hearts out. All the while, behind the scenes, they haven’t a clue as to what goes on- and now- the big question, where will their money go-and, will they, as promised, make a little profit? Ask these questions people. For once, take a stand.
hi!
i’m glad i was able to read this post before trying ec. a lot of bloggers are suggesting it to me (though i doubt if it would work in my widgets)
thanks
sterndal�s last blog post..Taking Care of My Eyes
Sterndal- there’s always CMFAds.com
@Beth – couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the Courant Times
With Graham it will always be about him,and no one else just look back to the million dollar wiki he once owned.I still am active over at EC right now,and may get banned for my take on Graham,but I cannot hold back just what I think of him.He is no more than some punk ass kid IMO.
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Excellent post! I left entrecard three weeks ago at Graham’s not so subtle suggestion despite being 2 or 3 in popularity in my category and being a good daily dropper of 300 – 500 drops per day. Why I left can be found here http://tinyurl.com/ctw6vs. Any CEO who is so inclined to talk to those who helped build his business does not deserve loyalty of any kind. Since then I have battled with them to remove my blogs but they really don’t want to so obviously it’s part of their inflating the number of blogs in their system.
Graham does not inspire confidence. He is rude to users and too self centred to ever succeed at any business. He reveals to much like breaking up with his girlfriend and living on the streets for awhile. Then there is this whole issue of censorship and his heavy handedness using it. In business you do have to listen to both the good and bad from your customers. Ignoring the bad doesn’t make it go away. He lacks maturity that is costing him in the way of quality blogs and will ultimately be his demise. He definitely is not someone I would be putting my money on!
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I am looking forward to part 2. I’ve been with EC for about a year, and also use CMF ads. I certainly don’t know the cast of characters of either organization; on a first or last name, or by facial or vocal recognition. However, I have been entertained by the endless soap opera. And, unless you consider Lost a soap opera, I’m not a fan of the genre. I react from self interest. I hate to get screwed. I’ve been looking for a reconciliation from Entrecard:
http://forums.entrecard.com/showthread.php?t=11812
without any luck. You are spot on in your observations. I worked with start ups. I was the controller and accounting officer of one. When I joined we were ten people working out of a 200 year old barn. When I left we were a public corporation with a $ 750,000,000 portfolio. Entrecard acts like some of my accounts from my public accounting days. One women once proudly handed me her tax records. They were notes written on paper napkins True!
I’m certainly near the top of any list of EC critics, but I actually credit EC for two things:
1) Traffic when my site didn’t deserve any.
2) Introducing me to a bunch of great blogs and now friends.
That being said, I’ve been gone for a while and happier for it. As has been eluded to above but no one has quite come out and said, dude is an asshat.
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I’d come out and call people names too, but, then wouldn’t I be lowering myself to his level?
And I do agree with you-in the beginning-the very beginning, EC helped me establish a readership and find new blogs to read. But the longer time went by, the service became less of a community and more of a simple traffic exchange.
Great article.
I have never used Entrecard before for 3 number of reasons. One too many spammers, two traffic is not always targeted, and last i feel the credit system is seriously flawed.
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I couldn’t have said it better myself, Salwa!
Thanks for sharing your insight on ec, your post and these comments are a real eye opener.
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Hi, great post – i think its about time someone shared their experience with Entrecard.com.
Thanks
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I think entrecard is just for traffic exchange but traffic does not really convert.
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