Sunday, May 10, 2009

Making Changes for the Better

Well, I've sat back and kept my mouth shut with all the debate going on about the changes Entrecard has made, and I'm still going to for a large part. I think only time will truly tell if the changes they've made will benefit the community at all. I've seen some things that I take as negative, and some things that could be positive, but aren't very much so yet. 

That's not why I'm leaving though. 

I started Entrecard as a means to drive traffic to my blog in an attempt to raise sales. Well, I have driven traffic to my blog, and I have made some new friends along the way.  I greatly value that! I've also made one sale. 

Wait? One sale? That's something to be happy about! Except I've been doing entrecard for month's now, and I know that really none of the rest of my sales in that time came from entrecard. 

Hmm...that doesn't sound very productive at creating business does it?

Now add that together with not having a very fast internet connection... Yes, loading all the blogs takes me hours and hours! I always multi-task while I do it, but I don't really think it's that productive a use of my time. Think of all the things I could be doing instead! Alternative methods of advertising, working on crafting new designs, writing, there's so many posibilities! 

I still really value my bloggy friends though. So I'm working on getting my google reader set up with the blogs that I actually read an comment on. I'll still be around entrecard for a bit this week as I make sure I catch all of them :)  Then, with a smaller range of blogs to visit, I'll work on building relationships with those people :) Because really, that's what the bloggy world should be about, not number of visits, but quality of visits and the friends made!


11 comments:

Kristin said...

"Because really, that's what the bloggy world should be about, not number of visits, but quality of visits and the friends made!"

Well said!! I could not agree with you more!

On a Whimsey said...

Totally agree! Entrecard has introduced me to some amazing blogs and people but at the end of the day no extra sales at all.

It's the friends made along the way that are the important thing in my book.

Well said!!

Meghann said...

I agree also. I've made some wonderful new friends, but the time (and spyware!) it takes to get enough hits, with no sales, is starting to irk me. I'll keep it for now, but I'm not going to try and drop 100 pages a day anymore. I'd rather be making jewelry!

Split Rock Ranch said...

Amen! I've found lots of interesting blogs, made some great friends and spent a LOT of hours dropping those cards daily. Now that weather is getting nicer, I'll probably reduce my blogging time each day. I don't think I've made even one sale due to blogging so I think some of that time blogging would be better spent marketing to those who might actually buy something. We'll keep in touch via FaceBook and Twitter!

Memories for Life said...

Quality over quantity...very true!

Anonymous said...

Well said, and I totally agree. Lurve the friends...

I was dropping 300 a day, 7 days a week, for months. The hits on my blog were fun, but never a sale.

BeadedTail said...

I've made great friends via EC too and am trying to visit everyone often. I have made a few sales from my blog so I'm not going to abandon EC totally just yet.

storybeader said...

I've found some great blogs that I would never have found otherwise. But it does take up lots of time (for me, about 50 drops/day, is a lot). Thinking some other social networks are more important (to me), like BlogCatalog and FaceBook.

One thing about an active EC account: I know I always look and see how many hits a site receives, before I'll advertise with Project Wonderful.

Patti said...

This is a fantastic group to concentrate on...I've learned so much from you and everyone in the blogging world. You all get me to think!

uniquecommodities said...

I have made a few friends but not many though i have not been consistent with EC. No sales though!

TiLT said...

I'm not so sure about sticking either - time to drop is a big reason - so are all the reasons you mentioned.
I have my Google set up for my faves to visit (I check on my blog dashboard daily)