Update: This was posted two years ago and I don’t use Entrecard anymore so consider everything here in this post as outdated.
A lot of people really think using Entrecard is useless and they would rather just get rid of it than get frustrated with the way it brings traffic to their own blogs. Although I wouldn’t argue much on how sporadic the traffic from Entrecard can be, I can, however defend that Entrecard has other benefits way more than just a tool for blog promotion. Btw, here’s a screenshot of how Entrecard fared with this blog for a couple of months.
As you can see Entrecard wouldn’t really bring you much traffic and traction directly. In fact a lot of people don’t even reach with over 100 hits with their Entrecard! The real gold within entrecard is on how you utilize the credits. If you look back on it a long time ago, it’s easy to notice that Entrecard has gotten so much better. They started having this ‘cashout’ thing where one can cash out his ec credits. They rebuilt their forums and marketplace w/c makes it more appealing to its users and more importantly they still managed to hold on despite all the critiques they have received the past year.
So how do you utilize your credits? Many, many things. Sponsor a contest with EC? Not possible? You bet it is! How many blogs and sites can start linking to you in exchange for just a couple of thousands credits? How many people would start clicking your link by knowing you sponsored this amount? The truth is, there are endless possibilities. I had few blogs that I’ve seen jumped from 0 to PR3 just by sponsoring couple of contest using Entrecard.
And how about their marketplace? If you haven’t paid a visit in their for quite a while then make sure to do it know. The new EC Market is just not about selling ad spots, reviews, stumbles and diggs or whatever (w/c is what it used to be before). The market also puts up good listings of actual goods that you maybe interested as well. And how about those talented designers who are willing to accept credits for their services? Yes the sky is the limit.
To conclude this one, we can say that Entrecard didn’t really meet up the expectations most people had. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a look or useless. Like whatever asset, it’s use and value can depend on how one utilizes it. How bout you? What is your experience with entrecard?