Website Promotion on Zion5

Sometimes a social network that looks so plain turns out to be a pretty effective way to market yourself online. Zion5 is the perfect example. Call me nosy but I like knowing what other people are promoting online. Sure, I can see what they are promoting by visiting their profiles on social networks, visiting their websites or blogs or being bombarded with a ton of emails the same program over and over again. But on Zion5, I can see who's in what program, how many people are in it and how popular it is.




The first column are my personal websites I have added to my Zion5 profile. The second column is the most popular programs Zion5 members are in and the third column is the most recently added websites. I find this information very resourceful. Sometimes, I see a program promoted every where or at least, it seems that way. But then, I see it on Zion5 and only 3 people are promoting it. It kind of makes me wonders if there is something bogus about this program especially if my originally perception was a ton of people were in it and it was a money maker.

I can click on any link in the three columns. When I do, I will see who added the program first and I will be able to see what other members are in the same program. If I am the first one to add a website to the Zion5 database, my link will be the one that everyone clicks. If someone else promotes the same website, everyone in my downline that clicks will still click my link and everyone in the other persons downline will click theirs. People that are not in either downline will click my link because I listed it first!!

I absolutely love that perk! Currently, there are close to 8000 members and everyone seems to be scrambling to be the first to add their website links. I can't blame them, I am too! I haven't gone pro yet but it is very tempting. The reasons why I was considering upgrading my account is because I would have the opportunity to earn commissions every single month, get unlimited advertising and really build a contact list.

I recently received an email in regards to revenue sharing and some other membership perks to be added soon. Zion5 seems like a really good program whether or not I decide to remain a free member or upgrade to a pro member.

Entrecard Has Been Good To Me

I have been using Entrecard for a little over a month. It has definitely made a difference in the amount of traffic I received to my blog on a daily basis. Most importantly, it has exposed me to some pretty awesome blogs. This is priceless to me because I am just starting out as a blogger and making plenty of mistakes. I love reading the tips and tricks the more seasoned bloggers have to share. A lot of them have even posting tips for making the best of my Entrecard membership.

Entrecard generates traffic to your site via card drops. Everyone who signs up gets a 125 X 125 ad space (card). You can create a standard entrecard ad in your back office, design your own or you can have someone else create one for you.

The beauty of the program is you receive visits from other Entrecard users who drop their card. Each card they drop earns you a credit. For every card you drop on another blog, you will receive a credit too! You can then use your credits to obtain a 24 hour advertising spot on a blog of your choice. Well, if they accept your offer. Some people will reject your request for an advertising spot.

I have had a few rejections. I don't take them personally. Some people only want to display ads which are relevant to the content on their website. Although, someone did reject my request for advertising because it didn't fit into their blog design. I was amused because my ad wasn't the right color! I'm not picky about the advertising on my blog. I don't see a reason to be so anal about who does and does not advertise on my site. In actuality, it's a 24 hour spot! It's not a permanent link exchange.

If you happen to look at my stats, you will see my average advert is approved in 5 hours, 0.00% of advert requests are declined and 1.82% of approved requests declined. Awww, you must be wondering about the 1.82%. But wait, I can explain. I'm not the self proclaimed chronic entrecard dropper like some other users are. I average about 150 cards a day. The chronic droppers drop the maximum allowed everyday which is 300. So, my credits are precious to me. If I request advertising on someone's blog and they don't respond in 7 days, I cancel my request. That's a pretty generous time frame because most people probably wouldn't wait an entire week for a response.

I'm a little more careful about where I advertise now. I am now paying closer attention to the drop rank. Besides letting me know what kind of card dropper the person is, I get a good laugh at the actual rankings. I mentioned chronic droppers but it's not the term used in ranking. Someone who drops a lot of cards like Yimto actually has a drop rank of "Deeply committed - Deadly serious. A drop master!" Chris (1 Million in 365 Days)currently has a drop rank of "A dedicated dropper with a hint of addiction" and like I said earlier I am active everyday but hardly ever reach the 300 maximum per day. My current drop rank is "Takes dropping Very Very Seriously". What's your current drop rank? Care to share?

Since it's the end of the month, I want to give kudos to the top 10 card droppers on my blog.



Thanks for stopping by so often and to show my appreciation, I decided to add a permanent list of my top ten card droppers for the month on my blog directly under my entrecard widget. The current list will be on my blog all month. On February 29, 2008, I will update my list to reflect the new top 10 entrecard droppers. A special thank you to Stan Haye author of Fantasy Baseball for messaging me when my entrecard was missing and to let me know you had trouble finding it on another visit. Thanks for looking out for me.

Thanks to ArahMan7, Sam, Colin and Mike for their recommendations. A big thank you to Shari Thomas (blogs) Ask Me Why... Work From Home (Internet Marketing) Let's do Business with Real Online Companies (Make Money Online) Shari's Gone Country (Personal Diary) Ask Shari About PGA Tour Fantasy Golf (Sports) Success Notes (Books} I placed an advertisement on her page and I WON 200 credits! She has set up her very own "Advertisers Loyalty Program". It's her way of showing her saying thank you for doing business with her.

I Love Social Networking but

For the past couple of weeks I have been reading quite a few blogs about website promotion. I have learned some valuable tips about increasing website traffic, linking to other sites and how to rank high on Google.

I'm such a huge fan of social networking. It's how I do the majority of my website promotion. As much fun as I have social networking, I know it's not in my best interest to ignore other options available to promote my website either.

I have considered search engine marketing. It seems like a good advertising option for me to consider but I'm not really sure what the right keywords would be for my website. I know there are all kinds of tools and gadgets for keyword selection and analysis but even so I'm not sure it's how I want to spend my time online.

The whole "links" topic gives me a complete headache. Links to my site are good but they have to be high quality links. The links should be compatible with my site and should have a decent PR level. I can swap links but then I would have to check up on the links. I know it can't be too complicated but nonetheless I'm not interested in doing all the legwork.

One of the things I do want to invest a little time and money into is an Email List Management Service. I know it's important for me to have a list and manage it well. It's something I definitely want to make happen real soon.

The biggest question for me at this point is whether or not I want to invest the time and energy into promoting my website entirely by myself or if I want to obtain the services from a reputable company. I think it's time for me to stop procrastinating and make the decision.

Something new and A little off topic!

This morning while I was browsing blogs on Entrecard, I came across RSS Hugger! I love their logo it caught my eye and besides who doesn't want to be hugged? Anyways, I decided to check it out.

I liked it! It's simple, easy to use and I especially loved the TOP 100. Most lists I have seen usually consist of bloggers who have been a member since day one or the professional bloggers who know exactly want it takes to be on top! How can I compete? I want and need traffic just like any other blogger out there.

Yes, I have issues with wanting to be number one! LOL That's exactly why I love RSS Hugger because their TOP 100 resets every month. This is great news for the newbie (underdog) blogger like me! I have a fighting chance.

Take a look at the TOP 100 and make sure you add your blog while you are there!