Monday, September 8, 2008

My love/hate relationship with Entrecard


I have a serious love/hate relationship w/ Entrecard. When I got back into blogging after a long break, I signed up for it as a way to get traffic to my blog. I started out slow, but I have build up a good network of "droppers".

I am a firm believer in dropping unto others as they have dropped onto me (does that even make sense???). Anyway, now I am close to 300 drops a day. This takes forever! As a result, I spend most of my time on the computer in the morning and at night card dropping. I work full time out of the home, so I can't drop cards during the day. I am in such a hurry to drop all the cards back, that I can't spend time reading and commenting as I would like. I also have been neglecting my blogs.

I know, I could stop using Entrecard. I don't wanna though (yes, that was a whine). It has brought some awesome readers to my blog and introduced me to some awesome bloggers.

I will continue to use Entrecard. I just have to find a way to manage it all and not let it take away from my writing.

Thanks for listening!!

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23 comments:

Bridgette said...

I don't have anywhere close to 300 a day, but the few I do have takes up a lot of time. I hear there is a Entrecard toolbar that speeds up the process. Do you have that?

CoconutPalmDesigns said...

I completely know where you are coming from. Like you I joined Entrecard to bring more traffic to my blog and now I am spending up to 3 hours a day dropping cards.

Anyway, I like your blog!

Heather said...

I love it too! It's so addictive though. 300! I don't think I've ever done that many!

My name is Kristie said...

Have you tried using the Entrebar with Firefox? I just downloaded it today and it now takes almost half the time to drop on those who drop on me.

http://entrecard.com/page/ec_toolbar

Kristie

Tena said...

if you find out a good way to get it all done in a smaller amount of time, please pass that info along to me, because I have the same problem/concern!

Teena in Toronto said...

I still don't understand Entrecard ... but you made it a big clearer. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

hi! download entecard toolbar, it will make your dropping easy but you need to use Firefox, it only works with firefox :)

Ken said...

And I thought I was the only one who have this dilemma :-)! My solution right now is to drop about 150 ECs a day ... 75 in the morning before going to work and 75 in the evening before going to sleep. If I have some more leisure time, then I'll drop some more making the total close to 300. But as long as I drop about 150 a day, I am happy :-). Good luck!

Ken said...

Oh, btw, I forgot, I love the title of your blog. Unlike you though, I am a regular Coca Cola addict. :-(.

The Mom Jen said...

Totally the Blogger's Lament!! We blog and secretly wish for more and more readers...then we spend hours responding and networking and reading them, then we join more forums for more networking and reading...and now dropping...LOL it's a full-time job with no pay. Crazy isn't it?!

Anonymous said...

it's actually the same with me. I stopped dropping for a few months but my loyal droppers and readers continued to drop on me and so I am religiously dropping back again. :) and I'm officially back on the blogging track and ec dropping almost 300 a day and getting a drop back of about 200 is good enough for me.

Anonymous said...

it's actually the same with me. I stopped dropping for a few months but my loyal droppers and readers continued to drop on me and so I am religiously dropping back again. :) and I'm officially back on the blogging track and ec dropping almost 300 a day and getting a drop back of about 200 is good enough for me.

Lux said...

Er ... we know exactly what you mean! ;-)

Channah said...

Oh thank goodness - I thought it was just me that felt like EC took over my writing time!

Anonymous said...

I just published an article about this after reading your post. I hope it helps save you some time!

http://www.whathuhstudios.com/press/2008/09/09/entrecard-reciprocal-dropping-speed-tips/

Anonymous said...

This is my problem, also. As I stop to comment while dropping cards. LOL I'm taking tomorrow off from the computer all together and think about it and other blogging things too. I've bookmarked ya' and will be back.

Anonymous said...

cool. i sometimes think of getting rid of it. some days i don't care, other days i'm dropping. i do what i can. i have 5 blogs and only drop for 1. one of my other blog gets ad requests and i don't do dropping at all.

its very time consuming

Sheila said...

I don't get 300 a day, yet it takes over an hour to drop on all of my friends as well as all those who dropped their card on me. I have found some really great blogs through EC, I just wish it didn't take so long to drop. My husband uses FireFox, but I am still reluctant to convert. There are some things that still only work correctly in IE. *sigh*

Anonymous said...

I've been dropping 300 cards, just about every day, since last May. Sure, I took time off for vacation and for weekends that I was away from the computer, but I've done pretty well at it.

Yes, it does take a bit of time. Three hours seems about right. Sure, there are ways to do it more quickly, but if you do that, you lose the chance to interact with blogs, leaving comments, etc., and that is very important, at least to me.

However, the most important part that I always talk about is that it must be fun. Do as much dropping as is fun. I frequently have more than 300 people drop on me, so it is rare that I get to drop on everyone that has dropped on me, but I try.

I think, if you have fun, it will show in your blogging, in the comments you leave, and so on, and it will be much more effective than just powering through 300 drops a day.

As alway, my humble opinion, your mileage may vary.

Momstart said...

I found you through entrecard, but i do have the same problem and I don't have 300 a day. I only have 100. I think my blog has fallen apart before it even began, so I'm trying to start over and clean it up.

Unknown said...

I have done my EC dropping in spurts, had trouble when I first downloaded the Entrebar...but just got the new beta version and it has TOTALLY made things easier. Plus I still have time to scan posts and occasionally even comment (like now!)

Good luck to you! I think today will be my first day topping out at 300. Entrebar is really the only reason why. I got sidetracked otherwise, LOL.

Tara @ Feels Like Home said...

I have the same love/hate relationship with it. You said it so well that there's not much else to say. :)

Kendra@My Insanity said...

I feel the same way, although I have never dropped anywhere near that amount of cards. I feel like my blog has a specific audience, and so I try and find blogs that are similar to mine to drop and comment on. I sometimes neglect EC because I never want it to be more important than the things I am posting about.

 
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