Prepare your site for new readers

I found that Entrecard can suck a lot of time easily. It's supposed to be a business card. So I decided to drop cards after I have a new post up. This way, if the recipient decides to visit, I have a new post. I also save time by dropping cards when it can make a bigger impact.

I'm not stalking you - honest!!! I just seem to be very opinionated. LOL.

I tend to agree with the entrecard dilemma. I always start with reciprocal drops and then do some general surfing from card to card on days when I have time. It does surprise me when regular entrecarders don't post all that often. Then again, I seem to have plenty to say (says she who has 4 blogs!!!!) so I often have an issue with holding myself back to one post a day on my highest priority blog (don't want to overwhelm my readers and scare them off).

Vincent - that's a good idea with dropping when you have a new post up. I currently have 2 sites with entrecard and alternate days for my drops (mostly). Keeps me plenty busy enough anyway.

As for whether or not I'd be a regular visitor to my site if it wasn't mine? Of course I would - it's in my favourite colour. ;)

I did take on board your suggestion about going to 1 sidebar but deliberately have 2 as blogher ads require a spot above the fold and I wanted my subscribe button to also be above the fold. Just so you know I wasn't ignoring your thoughts. ;)

This is a very helpful post.

I have no idea whether someone seeing my site for the first time would come back other than to drop their Entrecard, but I have found a lot more blogs that I like (& at which I regularly comment) so for that reason alone, I LOVE Entrecard.

But then, my blog is personal. I'm not trying to make money...so I guess I don't really care about the high bounce rate, LOL.

Excellent post. I agree with everything you've said. I do exactly what you do when dropping Entrecards (which is what I'm doing here now). I've added a few to my reader, but too many I just drop and run because there's nothing new.

First I drop on those who've dropped on me - listed on my Entrecard dashboard.

Next, I have a couple of bookmark folders of regular blogs I love to read and so I drop on these guys next...which is what I'm doing right now. I found your blog through Entrecard and have now added you to one of my "special" folders ;).

I think that many bloggers start out really motivated and with great intentions. But, too often - due to whatever - they realize that maintaining a blog or website is really a lot of work (like anything else).

Cool, lots of comments to reply to. I like comments!

Hi Vincent, that's an excellent idea - thanks for the tip. It certainly takes up a lot of my time but I'm always looking for ways to use my time more effectively, so the suggestion is very welcome.

Hi again, Lightening. :) Different people use Entrecard in different ways, that's for sure. I just can't understand it when people appear to spend more time dropping cards than they do on updating their blog. It's like putting your house on the market before you're ready to sell, and turning people away because you're not ready yet. Bizarre.

Hi Angelika - glad that Entrecard is working out for you. I love it too. Glad you found the post useful, too.

Thanks, Kin, for the positive feedback. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty for not adding more sites to my reader, but realistically, I couldn't add them all even if I wanted to. Hopefully my tips will make up for not commenting on everyone's blog...

madWAHM - thanks for the add. ;) Check your Entrecard Dashboard, I sent you something. I think the sites who experience "blogger burnout" might have done better with a little planning and some realistic goals. People think it's easy to maintain a site until they give it a try. I'm here to help potential bloggers and webmasters overcome the technical barriers, but hard work and dedication cannot be taught. You have to WANT to build the site and have the time to spare, otherwise there's not much point trying.

MadWAHM, I do the same thing but a lot of the sites I've added on my blogroll or even in my bookmarks were actually found on Entrecard so it gets annoying when I click on the same site 3 sometimes 4 times in one sitting.

Ben, I like this post. I'm glad someone finally emphasized some reasons why some sites don't succeed. I get annoyed when I get to some blogs and see people complain about how Entrecard sucks because people just come by to drop their card and then leave... but they never think that maybe there's a problem with their content or even their layout.

Before Entrecard, my regular readers consisted of about 3-5 people... and I didn't mind. I joined Entrecard because I was bored, jobless and it was in my face everytime I visited my friend's blog. Now, my regular readers (that comment, I don't care enough to track others lol) have gone up to about 5-8. It's not much but heck, I'm not exactly writing for other people... if it happens that other people find what I have to say interesting then it's a great bonus!

I don't know why on earth I just shared so much, but I just felt like talking. So there :P

p.s. Scheduled posting rules!! :D

Hi fragileheart, thanks for the comment. :) Glad the post hit a note with you. I just wish some more people would read this post and think "hey, maybe I should start writing good quality content, remove a few ads or widgets, and perhaps try and target people who might be interested in what I have to say".

It's fine if people are of the opinion that they don't need to appeal to a lot of people. If they write for themselves as you do, then there's no need to worry about how much they go off-topic (to give one example). However, I think some people don't even know what THEY want from their site. They say they just write about anything, but then they complain about not getting many readers. Something's not right there.

And go ahead, say as much as you like, I always read it. :)

I wish the same thing too! It's frustrating when a page takes forever to load because someone has so much clutter all over the place. It's also frustrating when someone has their videos or radio or something to play automatically.

I noticed you are very good at reading and replying to all your comments and I have to commend you. I don't get the commenter volume you do and I find it difficult some days to get back to everyone! So I commend you on all your hard work!! :D

Welcome back! Thanks for the "commendment". ;) I like to reply, it can generate a good discussion and shows I really do value all the comments I get. Not a lot of people reply to my replies, but that's OK - much of the time I'm just agreeing and elaborating a bit. The aim is to keep my readers happy, and hopefully attract more readers to my site. When I review my stats for this month, I'll have a look at how well I've done with my objectives...