I’ve experimented with Entrecard during August to determine my return on investment for the time I spent doing Entrecard.

I first varied the number of cards that I dropped and then dropped consistently more than I did in July. The top graph shows my August results. The graph beneath it shows my July results. I explained how I did the graphs in July.

At first glance you may not notice the difference. But if you look at the numbers on the left side of the graphs, you’ll see that the August graph goes to 350, while the July graph just goes to 100. The one thing that is consistent between the two graphs is the colors:

Blue = Cards dropped on me
Red = Cards that I dropped
Yellow = Ad clicks
Green = Organic clicks.

August Entrecard Graph

July Entrecard Graph

Return On Investment From Entrecard Organic Clicks,

Both graphs illustrate that the number of drops I received remained substantially lower than the number that I dropped. In fact the organic clicks remained quite consistent throughout August. The low was 14 and the high was 53, for a range of 39 drops. The average was 34.5.

Yet my drops varied considerably. The low was 0, and the high was 300, for a range of 300. I averaged dropping on 111.3 blogs per day. So the average that I dropped was more than three times the average of organic clicks that I received.

Top Ten Entrecard Droppers

I am grateful to my top ten droppers, who dropped considerably more than my top ten for July.

People You Need to Know 29
HRM Business Practices and Notes 23
Turnip of Power 23
Software Outsourcing to China 23
The Success 23
Cheap Keywords 21
CDubMarketing 20
Bizphere 20
Gain, Make, Earn Money Online 19
Search Engine Panel 19

Return On Investment From Entrecard Drops With Ad Clicks

Ad clicks did improve the total drops slightly. With them, the low was 20 and the high was 109 for a range of 89. The average increased to 53.3. The total drops reached 1,652. Even with the ad clicks, I dropped an average of more than twice the drops that I received.

Top Ten Entrecard Blogs For Clicks

Listed below are the ten blogs providing the most clicks and the best return on investments by credits for clicks:

Return On Investment From Entrecard Time Invested

One statistic that I kept for August that I didn’t keep for July was the amount of time that I spent on Entrecard. I did forget to record my time on three days. Still I logged 1,759 minutes or almost 30 hours dropping cards. So each drop that I got on my blog cost me more than a minute of my time.

Return On Investment From Entrecard Comments

I also left 32 comments on Entrecard blogs during the month. I received only 7 comments from Entrecard blogs, and two of them were from the same blog. So I left an average of 4.6 comments for everyone that I got back.

My blog provides dofollow for comments. In case you don’t know, that means that if you make a relevant comment on one of my blog posts, you will get a linkback.

Return On Investment From Entrecard: Analysis

With these statistics, I have to seriously doubt the effectiveness of the time that I’m spending on Entrecard. If you haven’t kept similar statistics for what you are giving to other Entrecard blogs in return for what you are receiving, you may want to consider doing so.

After all Entrecard is marketing for your site. As business people, we should always calculate the return on investment for marketing activities.

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Posted 9-2-08: Interpreting Entrecard Statistics - August 2008

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One form of marketing research is keeping records of your marketing efforts and their results. On July 8, I joined EntreCard. So today I want to post my statistics for my first month and interpret those statistics to see how to improve.

Converting Four Entrecard Graphs Into One

To get this multiple line graph, I took the data from the four graphs on Entrecard’s “more stats” page. I typed the numbers into a worksheet in Microsoft Word, then went to the graphing menu and selected a line graph.

Too much trouble, you think. Read my interpretation to determine if this kind of marketing research can help your business.

Relationship of Entrecard Drops and Organic Search

The most notable relationship on the chart is between the number of cards dropped on my blog (the blue line) and organic clicks (the green line). In fact they follow the same path so well that you can’t really see the blue line except at the three times when I ran advertisements.

This relationship is expected. I didn’t implement my first ad until the 21st. I got 3, 30 and 53 drops on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively. This was the result of ads purchased with Entrecard credits. The other ads raise the blue line slightly above the green line for the last three days of the month.

The Results of Ads That I Ran

This table tells me that UnconventionalMarketingBlog brought me the most traffic for the least amount of credits per drop. This is provided in two tables in Entrecard, but I like having the two together. I wouldn’t go to the trouble for just one month, but as I continue to keep records and advertise on different sites, these statistics will help me to get the best return on my investment.

Relationship Between Entrecard Drops That I Made And Those Made To My Blog

Now back to the line chart. I see a slight relationship between the number of cards that I dropped and the number dropped on my blog. While my dropping has been a bit inconsistent, it has generally risen throughout the month. Drops on my site indicate a steady rise, but not nearly as dramatic as the rise in my drops.

You can see that when I decreased drops the last three days of the month, drops on my blog also dropped with about a day’s delay.

Summary And Insights From Entrecard Statistics

So what can I learn from this analysis.

First, there is a slight relationship between dropping and getting dropped on, but the number dropped on me tails my drops. This indicates that as I drop more, I should get more drops.

The question is if the number of visitors that I’m getting is worth the time that I spend dropping. So next month, I’ll keep track of my time so I can see how many drops that I get in return for my time. Once I determine the average number of drops per hour, I can compare that to other traffic methods that require time instead of money. Then I can compare which method provides the best return for an hour invested. You can see the results for August, by clicking the link below:
Interpreting Entrecard Statistics - August 2008

You can use a similar approach to interpret your entrecard statistics and improve your business in the process.

Top Droppers

People You Need to Know 17
Internet Business Ideas 16
Article Specialist 16
The Success 14
Online Social Networking 13
A Marketer’s Ramblings 12
CDubMarketing 11
Money Maker Times 10
BloggerHitz 10
impNERD 9

Thank you top ten droppers.

If you’d like to be listed in one of my posts with a do-follow linkback. Check the numbers by the top droppers. If you can beat it next month, you may get one of their spots in my Top Ten Entrecard Droppers list.

For more on entrecard, see

Blogs Get a Boost With Entrecard and Sezwho Partnership

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