Don't Chaindrop the Same 300 Entrecards Every Day!
Recognizing that a rework of the ranking system is in the offing, I'm addressing this topic for the here and now. A recent forum thread included discussion about the ratio of cards dropped to cards received, with the most common result being 3:1. I mulled that over for a while and looked at my own Statistics page and came to the conclusion that chaindropping the same 300 cards every day is not the best strategy. It's efficient and I've got my 10 year old hyped up to get paid a penny a drop starting this week, but there are a couple of reasons why that chaindropping plan can be improved upon:
1) Not everyone drops back the same day. Time zone differences, the 300 card daily limit, missing your dropped card as it came through their Inbox, or non-obsessive Entrecard activity where one only checks their Entrecard account once a day or less frequently, can mean that your 2nd or 3rd dropped card might have been better used on another site.
2) Chaindroppers are going to do their thing regardless of whether or not you drop back on them. While I might be shooting myself in both feet by saying this, your Entrecard is likely in a bookmarks folder and as long as your site loads quickly and your Entrecard is above the fold, and your blog is updated regularly, you are going get some card drops every day. The chaindroppers are hoping you will drop back on them, but do they really want to spend the time to check? There are so many chaindroppers now that you aren't going to crack the Top 10 Card Droppers list on their accounts and it just isn't efficient for a chaindropper to follow up with who has dropped back and who hasn't.
3) The Entrecard community continues to double in size every month or so, with the current number of accounts having just passed 2500. If that growth rate continues for even two more months it will mean 10000 accounts in the Entrecard community. The point being that there will be plenty of active sites to drop your Entrecard on and I suspect at that time the emphasis will be shifting (and as a result of the new ranking system) to more strategically chosen sites on which to drop your Entrecard. Perhaps Turnip or ahkong.net will still be providing great lists of drop sites, although if it were me I would be tempted to sell the lists in the Entrecard Store. What if you had a list that yielded a 2:1 or 1.5:1 return drop rate (your cards dropped : cards dropped on you) instead of the typical 3:1? You would be more efficient and a higher ad value (under the current system) would result, in addition to having that much more traffic to your site!
4) Dropping a card back on someone who just dropped one on you is a nice thing to do, but it doesn't always make sense. For example, if Ken at You Can Learn Series drops a card on me (which he does on a regular basis...thanks!) and I turn right around and drop one back on his site, he can't return the favor until the following day.
What I have decided to try is to stagger my chaindrops by using two different lists and allow 2 days in between visits. Unless the Entrecarder writes long posts (like mine at times), I'll still be able to easily peruse two days' worth as I cruise their site. And as I'm subscribing to more and more blogs via email or feed, I'm getting access to the good stuff when I'm in the mood to read. I'm also going to follow up on the suggestion to scoop up all of the cards dropped on me via a feed reader and make a greater effort to drop back, although it might not happen until the next day.
To be candid, I'm not yet worrying about making money with my BizBeacon blogs. I'm having fun and I'm going up the learning curve, and I don't think it would have happened outside of the Entrecard community. Thanks to the Entrecard Team for their efforts and for creating this great community!
January 21, 2008 at 10:05 AM
I disagree. Chain-dropping on the same sites does mean that you will get onto their top 10 list. Card counts reset every 30 days, so then you can start over, and by dropping each day you are guaranteed to show up. It also means you get to follow the same sites every day and are more likely to stop and read their articles.
January 21, 2008 at 11:47 AM
I've gotten to the point where my bookmarks are at capacity as far as the 300 limit goes, so to accommodate new Entrecarders who've dropped on me, or whose blogs I've visited, I am going to have to split up my drops. I can foresee where I will have to have a favorites folder that I drop on daily, then divide the rest throughout the week.
January 21, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Thanks for the linkie love. :)
I'll be frank and admit that I have not used the two (2) lists that I produced (based on Turnip's original list) for quite some time.
Hence, those two (2) lists are kinda outdated. :p
Am referring to the:
Above Fold
Almost Above Fold
EntreLists, aye.
ChainDropping on the same 300 EntreCarders' EntreBoxes is actually the path to EntreSuccess if those same 300 EntreCarders reciprocate those EntreDrops.
Kinda like those 300 EntreCarders are in an EntreGuild all 300 EntreDrop on one another.
Cheers!
January 26, 2008 at 2:02 AM
Thanks for mentioning my list. I wanted to make a few comments about the history of it. I created it by going through every single entrecard at the time. It was an excercise in trying to be more efficient with my time. Every single card. Those above the fold got in, those who weren't even close didn't. If people want to play "where's waldo" with their entrecard, then I want nothing to do with them, and certainly don't want to advertise on a hidden card. When I finished my first list, I considered selling it. Only problem was the shop wasn't open yet, and I had an A-hole in the forums campaigning against my blogs. I released the list for free, and kept adding names from the "most recent" category until I had nearly 350 names. I then deleted all blogs that hadn't posted in over 30 days. I also deleted obvious spam blogs. That dropped me under 300 again. When my blog got popular, some people started asking how they could get on the list. I had always added anyone who asked, but decide to ask for a technorati favorite or subscribe to rss as a return favor. There never was any clique as I here some people claim. Recently I created 2 new categories, favorites and new blogs. By dropping blogs that seem inactive, and adding hungry new blogs, my list should give you a very high return drop rate. The problem is you have to do it every day, comment, and post in the forums so people actually notice your name.