Note: If you haven’t read my first Entrecard Basics Guide, please do so before you read this one.
First of all, welcome to Entrecard again. I’ll try to cover what you need to do after you join Entrecard to gain popularity or be noticeable by other Entrecard members.
Change your default Entrecard Banner
First of all, replace your Entrecard profile banner (the 125×125 image banner)! It will be your identity. It must be unique. It will be.. YOU. It’s the only way (trust me) to recognize other Entrecard members. Have you ever seen a profile being dropped to your inbox and thought “Hey I know this one, I saw it a couple of times” or “What a gross and ugly looking profile image”? That’s how you are being remembered by everyone else on Entrecard.
If you are not a designer, you may want to use your own photo as the banner. I’d suggest not too, though, unless you really have to or you are very confident about yourself :) At first, I had to put my own photo there because I don’t know what else to use. If you don’t know yet, there are some Entrecard members willing to design the banner for you! Some will charge you, some will ask you to do a favor, and some will just design one for your, completely FREE!
This was my first Entrecard profile image that I used when I first joined Entrecard.
I’m not a Narcist and certainly not really proud with how I look, but I’m not a designer and I didn’t have a clue on designing a good one at that time :(
Then, Mark Lloyd (he’s nowhere to be found now :( ) designed one for me for free:
As you can see here, it makes quite a big difference!
Mark and I tried to get rid of the photo (I asked for it) and had come up with a few other designs.
However, we’ve ended up with this one. Hope you guys don’t mind seeing my face there lol
Back to topic, the Entrecard banner matters!
Here is a list of sites that I know (most are Entrecard members), who are giving FREE Entrecard banner designs:
- http://dietpulpit.com/125×125-designs-free/
- http://free125cards.com/blog/
- http://www.romelo.com/2008/04/07/generic-cards-for-entrecard-members/
- http://marcroger.com/free-entrecard-designs/
- http://www.scribblesandwords.com/free-125×125-banner-ad-or-entrecard-design/
(Note: If you are giving away an Entrecard banner design and want to be listed here, please contact me. I need to see some of your designs first to make sure that you are “worthy” to be put here :))
Put your Entrecard Widget on the top of your blog/site, above the fold
I like blogs that have their Entrecard widgets above the fold (meaning, you don’t have to scroll your browser window to see it). I hate it when I have to waste my time searching for the widget, hidden among advertisements. Entrecard members are bloggers, we don’t normally click on ads, so no need to fool us (Unless if the ads are really interesting or when we are trying to help you out a bit by clicking on an ad)
It’s true that there will be a lot of people who drop like a mad to your widget and don’t even bother to look at your posts or write comments. By putting your widget above the fold, it will make things easier for them. Sounds bad? Not really. If they love your site, they will come back for it, hopefully daily. One day, they may become your loyal readers. They will also contribute to increase your site/blog’s Alexa rankings because of the traffic :)
Some people suggest putting your widget at the bottom of your site, so that those droppers will have to go through your site to find it (forcing them to read your posts). I don’t think this will work. When I’m in a dropping mood, I’ll scan your site/blog for the widget and for the widget only. If you put your widget on top, while I click on the “Drop” button, I’ll have a skim through of your top post’s title. If it’s interesting enough, I’ll stop, read the post, and sometimes write comments. If the widget is at the bottom, goodbye.
Always Reciprocate (drop back to those who drop their Entrecard profile to you)
Don’t get confused when you get these drops to your inbox. Don’t be skeptic, either.
When people drop their card to you, they will get 1 credit. If you drop back to them, they will get another credit. Get the idea? We, Entrecard members, love it when we find someone who always reciprocates drops. It shows that you are active on Entrecard, it shows that you care and notice them too. It works both ways, you see. Now we understand that not everyone can spend their time hours in front of the computer, but unfortunately, this is one way to gain popularity.
If you look at your Drop Inbox, you will see those cards that have been dropped to you. Cards that are surrounded by yellow/gold lines mean that you have already dropped your card to that blog/site today. So, click those that are surrounded by a black border and drop your card back to them.
New Drop (Drop yours back to them!) VS You’ve already dropped your card to them today
Write Comments on other people’s site/blog
Writing comments to other people show that you are reading their posts, you are interested on their blog/site, and you are interested to get to know the blogger/communicate to him/her. I know it can be a pain to have to rewrite your name, email, and URL every time, but the effort is not a waste. Your comments attract traffics to your blog and definitely attract the blog’s owner. Sometimes you’ll get a comment back from the blog’s owner, but don’t put up an expectation. Comment because you like the post or to show that you care with other bloggers too.
Some blogs will have this:
This means that the blog’s owner has “swear an oath” to comment back to your blog/site whenever you write a comment on theirs. It also means that for every comment you make, you will get a back link to your site or “no follow” link turned off (which is good for search engines, especially Google) – thanks Miranda, for adding this info on the comment section.
Of course, just like in real world, an oath or a promise can be broken ^^ By joining the movement, you’ll also attract more commenters to your site. If you want to join, go to Randa’s blog.
Don’t just Reciprocate, be active and initiate your own drop
Don’t just wait until other people drop their cards to you. Be initiative and pro-active!
Where should you drop your card to, you ask? Some pointers:
- Drop to those who have commented on your blog before as a token of appreciation and a reminder to them to make another comment on your new posts :)
- Drop to the top people of their categories (they are the ones that are most active on Entrecards)
- Drop to those who participate a lot on the Entrecard forums (they are the Entrecard’s “geeks” :D)
- Drop to the people on the same category as yours. They are most likely the bloggers that have the same interests as yours.
- Drop to those who has joined the “U Drop I Follow” movement like above. They will have one of these tags:
Like the “U Comment I Follow”, these people have sworn to do reciprocate drops. If you think you can reciprocate all drops (or at least most of them), feel free to join the movement at Lee’s blog.
Be active on the community
Join those movements as well. Participate on the forums. Advertise your site here and there through other people’s widget. Send messages to other Entrecard members. Give out genuine recommendations to other Entrecard members.
Be known, be nice. That’s the only key. There is no quick shortcut, you have to work hard for it, unfortunately :)
If you think that this post is useful or can be of any use to someone you know, please help to spread around this guide by bookmarking it!
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