The NEW "New Entrcard Economy"

Friends, I have bad news to report; the ladies at BadGalsRadio are pissed. Then again, I can see their point. They declare their anger in this post, a fundamental blast against the Entrecard "drop and run" technique. To be fair, EC does not endorse "d 'n' r", nor do they encourage it. Then again, in a system which allows, no, requires the acquisition of vast numbers of EC credits [which can then be used to advertise on the most popular EC blogs], what did they expect would happen?

To be fair, Graham and Co. have tried several ways to get droppers to linger and comment. Limiting the number of drops per blog in theory should give EC'ers the time to leave a comment or two [of course, serious 'Carders simply started multiple blogs, then shifted credits around as needed]. SezWho seemed to be a step in the right direction, but went nowhere [technical issues at the launch didn't help]. Comment contests were nice, but only for the host blogs [and, if memory serves me right, most of the comments were, at best, "Great blog! Hi..."; at worst, they were an excuse for link requests and monitization offers (obviously people who, again, weren't even reading the blogs).]. Nothing seems to work.

Another issue BadGals is aggravated by is this weekend's announcement by EC that, starting very soon, it will sell advertising on blogs, reducing [in theory; see below] the maximum number of ad impressions to 50 % in some cases [if paid ads run on specific blogs]. As EC's in-house J. Arthur Crank, you'd think I'd be bothered by the whole thing myself. Truthfully, though, I'm rather blase about it. Of course Entrecard needs to find a revenue stream to support itself; selling advertising is a reasonable way for the company to do so [with tens of thousands of users, it certainly has an audience]. And, for the vast majority of EC blogs, nothing will change. Let me explain: enterprises spending money on advertising will want the biggest "bang for their buck" [or Euro, Australian Dollar, or, well, you get the idea]. There is already a whole sub-industry on the Internet concerning keywords, ideal ad placement, etc. "Real-world" advertisers already have experts advising them on where to spend a shrinking advertising budget. EC ad buyers will almost certainly want to purchase space on the most popular blogs, within their field of interest. Sure, there will likely be some experimental "mass buys", wherein an advertiser will consider buying space on a large number of blogs within a category. But I expect these to be few and far between.

One point I disagree with the BadGals on; those blogs that are chosen by "money" advertisers will receive compensation, at least to the degree they are willing to sell acquired credits back to EC [I'm assuming "selling credits back" is not mandatory; it shouldn't be. None of this should be mandatory...]. Will EC get the lion's share of the compensation? Of course it will; it created the mass of audience, and it's handling the sales of space.

One point I agree with BG on; there should be no penalty for rejecting advertising. In the above paragraph I said, I think rightly, that EC created the "mass of audience". It did so by creating the social network that is Entrecard. But the most popular blogs within EC are responsible for creating their own following. Just as a radio or TV station, newspaper or magazine can choose to turn down advertising not consistent with its philosophy, EC blogs should be free to refuse advertising they are for any reason uncomfortable with, without penalty, save the loss of compensation. We the bloggers own our blogs. It is our toil, tears, and sweat that power them [no matter what Blogger thinks; of course, with their "I power Blogger" buttons, they've shown that they get the message].

Once again, Entrecard is rolling the dice. Unlike some of their previous attempts, I believe this one could lead to a stronger Entrecard framework, which will make the whole network of blogs more secure. Let's see who comes to the table. Let's see who chooses to sell ad space. Let's see who rejects it, and why. Let's be observant, patient, and willing to let this brave new EC world play itself out for a while.

-Mike Riley

Think Tank: EntreCard And The New Blog-Based Economy (III)

As noted in previous posts in this series, the social/business networking service EntreCard will begin buying/selling EC credits in the near future. This reflects an acknowledgement of a "grey" market in EC credits that already exists. So who'll buy, who'll sell, and, most importantly, who'll make money?

In the short term, anyway, I think this is a seller's market. Those who have credits to spare will off-load them to buyers at the best rate possible. I still think 5 US Cents per credit is as good a starting place as any [I got this figure by looking at rates for the similarly-sized ads of the Wonderwall service].

If you've been an EntreCarder for more than a month or so, try a simple experiment; go to a blog you formerly advertised on. Then check what its current ad rate is. In most cases, you'll find the rates have gone up [in some cases by 100 % or more]. When I first noticed this, my reaction was, "Boy, I must have picked blogs just before they began to peak in value [I always try to buy my EC ads at a low rate] !" But then I thought about it. Nobody is that good at picking blogs to advertise on, or that lucky. Then I realized that inflation was at work. In the days before any new economic system kicks in, the value of the form of exchange frequently rises.

Who'll be buying? People who can market the credits. My personal model is something like that of ad agencies, which in the real world frequently persuade the potential sponsor to advertise, create the advertising, then purchase space to promote it. Who'll want to advertise on EC? At first, anyway, people who are already used to marketing their products or services in that way; I have no crystal ball as to whom, but look around at the ads you see on the Internet now, and I suspect they'll be among the Usual Suspects.

Long term, I'd guess [and it's only a guess] that businesses that are well-known already would be next in line. If EntreCard holds to its "blogs of distinction" philosophy, companies would have to establish blogs to be linked to the EC ads. (If you handle marketing for a national fast-food restaurant chain, for instance, this doesn't sound too complicated. A blog that features "Great Moments In The History Of [your restaurant here], for instance, with an internal banner linked to the REAL commercial they want to present probably would fit within the EC guidelines. Of course, the viewer would have to click on the banner. But a free coupon should make that happen)

After that, the options seem endless. How about regional advertising? If EC can tell you which bloggers are "nearest" to you by location, you can tell an advertiser in your town where to advertise. In fact, I'm sure that people more clever than myself are working out the details of this, and other advertising possibilities, while I type these words.

As I've said throughout these posts, I'm really not interested in exploring any of these possibilities. But the changes that they will inevitably bring to EC intrigue and, to be honest, worry me. I hope we can all stay friends when EVERYONE is playing for money...