Harvester of Marrow
Predator Press
[LOBO]
This “blog,” while still somewhat of a pipsqueak, reaps some benefits Entrecard. Aside from an occasional random-seeming traffic burp, it averages 300-500 hits a day -roughly half of which are directly EC-related.
And I am what Entrecard users classify as a “Harvester.” Harvesters are the villainous and much-hated dastardly bastards that skim through sites at the highest velocity possible. The rate I “drop” versus the rate I read is hideous: when an Entrecarder blogs “I get a lot of new traffic, but they only stay for a fraction of a minute -clearly not reading,” they are complaining about me.
But let’s examine that for a second.
You got people to your site. Correct?
-And nobody reads your stuff?
So your conclusion is the failure to recognize your “brilliance” is because nobody recognizes your brilliance, right?
The fact is getting people to your blog is 95% of the battle; I assert that complaining they don’t stick around is essentially howling to potential new readers “My blog sucks, and it's your fault!” I'm concerned over zombie uprisings and the worrying speculation my burnt toast might’ve once had Jesus’ image on it: don't take it personally, but WTF could I possibly care about your coin collecting and Peruvian copper speculations? Gee, I’m sorry I wandered onto your site. Is there a quiz?
You’re an asshole for bitching that -despite the best possible opportunity- you have failed to grab people’s attention.
-You're probably a zombie too. And stay the fuck away from my toast!!!
I have found some great sites via EC. I've gained some great readers, too. Beyond that, I've clicked on a site 100 times before seeing something that interested me, and then started reading it regularly.
Plus, let's face it: we “Harvesters” are the best EC ads to buy. I’m not particularly disciplined, but I have enough regulars to break 100 or so a day daily –and with high-speed internet, I can do it in 20 minutes or so. Thus, if you’re advertised on my site, you’ll get the bulk of those hits reciprocated.
EC whiners shouldn't feel bad. Human history is chocked full of unrecognized "brilliance."
They won’t be lonely.
[LOBO]
This “blog,” while still somewhat of a pipsqueak, reaps some benefits Entrecard. Aside from an occasional random-seeming traffic burp, it averages 300-500 hits a day -roughly half of which are directly EC-related.
And I am what Entrecard users classify as a “Harvester.” Harvesters are the villainous and much-hated dastardly bastards that skim through sites at the highest velocity possible. The rate I “drop” versus the rate I read is hideous: when an Entrecarder blogs “I get a lot of new traffic, but they only stay for a fraction of a minute -clearly not reading,” they are complaining about me.
But let’s examine that for a second.
You got people to your site. Correct?
-And nobody reads your stuff?
So your conclusion is the failure to recognize your “brilliance” is because nobody recognizes your brilliance, right?
The fact is getting people to your blog is 95% of the battle; I assert that complaining they don’t stick around is essentially howling to potential new readers “My blog sucks, and it's your fault!” I'm concerned over zombie uprisings and the worrying speculation my burnt toast might’ve once had Jesus’ image on it: don't take it personally, but WTF could I possibly care about your coin collecting and Peruvian copper speculations? Gee, I’m sorry I wandered onto your site. Is there a quiz?
You’re an asshole for bitching that -despite the best possible opportunity- you have failed to grab people’s attention.
-You're probably a zombie too. And stay the fuck away from my toast!!!
I have found some great sites via EC. I've gained some great readers, too. Beyond that, I've clicked on a site 100 times before seeing something that interested me, and then started reading it regularly.
Plus, let's face it: we “Harvesters” are the best EC ads to buy. I’m not particularly disciplined, but I have enough regulars to break 100 or so a day daily –and with high-speed internet, I can do it in 20 minutes or so. Thus, if you’re advertised on my site, you’ll get the bulk of those hits reciprocated.
EC whiners shouldn't feel bad. Human history is chocked full of unrecognized "brilliance."
They won’t be lonely.
Comments
Each time you visit, I get paid. :-) Whether you stick around to read or not.
But I do so hope that you will stick around to read a bit... After all, I am rather brilliant.
-99.999% of people wouldn't get this blog anyways ... :)
Chris said...
"The rate I "drop" versus the rate I read is hideous: when an Entrecarder blogs "I get a lot of new traffic, but they only stay for a fraction of a minute -clearly not reading," they are complaining about me."
I know you are semi-joking but do any of these people who call others harvesters ever consider for a moment that a site like EntreCard is not designed to drive relevant traffic to their blog but rather to enhance the site's ad revenue and traffic?
Bloggers need to seriously look at the marketing end of their efforts. Most of the promotion they do is a complete waste of time because they are promoting social network sites and not themselves.
I shun all social networks except Facebook and Humor Blogs and funny thing is my traffic is better now then it was when I was using sites like Stumble, BC, etc. And more consistent too.
They measure their success by the bursts of traffic they receive in one day without any thought into how they increase traffic from month to month or quarter to quarter as well as comparing traffic to the same month or quarter a year ago.
And I replied:
(LOBO:) I agree with 99.9999% of that, but I think when you build traffic, you have to attack on 'multiple fronts.' "Don't put all your eggs in one basket," so to speak, or that basket will one day tie you to a tree and try to sodomize you.
Facebook has potential, but I'm regarding it as "another mouth to feed" -plus I don't feel it necessarily drives people to your blog. Further, the benefit of sticking to one or two services is dubious at best in my experience. They crash, get greedy, screw up their services, overvalue themselves, blah blah.
Even as #1 on Humor-blogs, the best HB did was around 5%, and usually less than 2%. And while admittedly better traffic, the cost structure was always changing: 1st it was $5 a month voluntary, then 10, then it was 20 mandatory only to be listed.
Moreover, I'm not going to pay to be listed there -particularly when I was arguably HB's biggest whore, featuring it prominently and using any other traffic-building tool I had at my disposal. Frankly I don't think I would pay to be listed anywhere -And I'm certainly not going to participate in something that won't list me ... the perception would be "wow, that Predator Press might be funny, but it's not funny enough for these guys."
I don't want to beat up HB however. It was a great run. I certainly enjoyed it, and would recommend it without hesitation; there's no better way to get immediate feedback, make friends, and refine your technique. Stumble and Organic Google searches -right now- are king for me, collectively making daily spikes occasionally in the thousands (and I'm sure at some point someone will screw that up, so I keep my ear to the ground for the "next big thing" at all times).
I think it has a lot to do with differences in how we approach it too: my target audience isn't necessarily bloggers and competitive entities: my target is people that want to get a chuckle over their morning coffee -people that might not have blogs or belong to any social networks at all. Sunday funnies in the Chicago Tribune kinda thing. Ever find a Sunday Funny so fantastic you had to write a letter and befriend the artist? Probably not. Communities are nice, but real "face time" is my #1 goal. And as someone that wants to be either a hired gun author or ultimately gain advertising revenue, size does matter.
EC is just another traffic-stirring tool in the arsenal really.
And its time will come and go, as will all others.
You are trying to mine targeted traffic from a source that is not in fact targeted to your type of content.
Size means nothing if you are not reaching the audience you seek.
Nearly every product and service does not advertise and promote to everyone. They pick their spots based on return on investment and in fact put their eggs in one basket. Or two or three.
Advertising is no accident. It has an aim towards the target market it seeks to sell to. Anything else is a waste of time.
Trust me, I'm not fooling myself with EC. And I'm not saying you're wrong about Facebook either .. there may come a time when I develop it further. But I want to spend the bulk of my time writing, and a few hours a week tops traffic building. Clever Tweeting and endless quizzes, while fun, suck away my Chi.
Today is not Facebook day.
Milled Vine, you are actually supporting both our points: I would consider it a win because something got read. Chris would consider it a win because it's the only thing that got read. But what are the realistic expectations here? Were you really going to read the whole thing?
PS I would check out his site angryseafood.com -if my site was as well-written as his, I would have higher expectations as well! heehee
(And thanks for weighing in MV!)
To be honest though you should not sell yourself short. Your writing is just as well-written as mine if not better.