Entrecard Ad Stolen

Update: According to Entrecard, the stolen ad has been taken down on the profile page. I received this message at the forums. Graham said it was done at 11 pm on June 30. If anyone sees the card below with the horse on it, anywhere, please let me know. I want to get my ads back upon Texas RV Travel blog, but want to be sure.

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I belong to Entrecard and I have 5 blogs with the system. I change the ads periodically for freshness and to try new ideas.

One of my blogs, Texas RV Travel blog, used to display this ad on Entrecard:



Then I changed the ad to this:


Well someone (www.easyracing.blogspot.com) is using the cowboy and horse advertisement, with my blog name still on it, as their EC advertisement. Many people have noticed it and were kind enough to send a message to me.

I have sent a message to the blogger, to Entrecard support and it is posted on the Entrecard forums. In the meantime, I canceled all my ads and ads scheduled to run on my blog until this is straightened out. Usually bloggers that display their ad with me get a fair amount of clicks. With this imposter in the system, it is hard to know where the clicks are going.

If you are going to steal someone's advertisement,
do not use it in the same program from which you stole it.

This has cost me time, stress, advertiser goodwill, and blog standing. My blog was renting for 256 credits and I had about 7 blogs in the que, now my blog rents for 1 credit. I do not know if I can come back from this.

If anyone knows this blogger, will you ask him to remove it? Please do not accept any ads for this card as it is not mine.

Tags: ad stolen, ec ad stolen, imposter with my ad

Clickbooth has New Blog and Twitter Page

Did you know that Clickbooth, the fastest-growing affiliate program on the Internet has a new blog and a page on Twitter? I was reading on their website about how to make money with Clickbooth and was amazed at their professional approach to advertising and affiliate marketing.

For instance, bloggers and webmasters have access to custom rotators to deliver the advertising that you select that will appeal to the visitors of your site and result in higher conversions for the advertiser. You may request custom banners that will fit your blog sidebar or to use in email marketing and Clickbooth will provide them and Clickbooth offers optimized flash creatives for all the top campaigns. Run your campaigns for advertisers and make more money.

For advertisers, Clickbooth offers high quality, high volume traffic from many exclusive publishers. Clickbooth provides full campaign management (24/7) and guarantees conversions for a higher return on investment (ROI).

Now, Clickbooth goes on step further by providing affiliates with a blog and a Twitter page so that they may view the latest information and interact with Clickbooth management. I think this is a nice touch. Instead of having to login to receive the most current information and opportunities, publishers may subscribe to the blog.

Reading the blog, I discovered that Clickbooth held an affiliate mastery webinar this week for all their affiliate marketers.

Publishers may also follow Clickbooth on Twitter.

The Twitter page is even more up to date than the blog. By following, I learned of a hot new opportunity that I might have missed otherwise.

Clickbook is doing advertising and affiliate marketing right. Visit the website, blog or Twitter page today!

Tags: clickbooth blog, clickbooth twitter, affiliate marketing

Mark Flavin : Internet Marketing Blog

I visited Mark Flavin's Internet Marketing Blog and happen to read his post about viral traffic, entitled, 7 Ways To Get Repeat Traffic to Your Blog or Website.

This article details seven common sense tips that will work for any blogger or webmaster. Keep your content updated; build your list by offering opt-in newsletter or a free download; place the subscription mechanism for your feed prominently on your blog; use and share video content with your visitors; interact with your visitors through comments, social networking and forums; make it easy for people to add your site to their social network; and, write interesting and helpful content.

There are other helpful posts on article marketing and attracting new visitors. You should visit and see if Mark has something you can use. Visit the forum, download free reports, and join Mark's MyBlogLog community.

Tags: internet marketing blog, article marketing, viral traffic

Free Pixel Ad Templates

Marie, a talented artist and generous blogger, has created free blank templates for 125x125 pixel advertisements. You may search by color and use the online editor to personalize your ad.

This size of ad is used by Project Wonderful, EntreCard, Spottt and 125Exchange. Visit her blog to meet Marie. Swing by Free125Card.com for an updated look!

Tags: pixel ad templates, ad blanks, 125x125 pixels

Webcasts: Search and Local Search

I am late getting these two webcasts posted. Either webcast would be a good investment of time for any marketer. This first one is TODAY.


Webcast: Search as a Strategic Planning Tool
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
1 pm EDT (10 am PDT)

Presenters:

Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro
James Lamberti, comScore

Search is an important piece of any successful marketing strategy. Progressive marketers understand that search can be used to gain insight into the behavior of their customers, their competitors, and the overall market.

Register here.

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Webcast: National Brands Marketing Local
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
1 pm EDT (10am PDT)

Speaker:
Greg Sterling, Search Engine Land

The market present a real opportunity for "local search": tying consumer Internet research to offline conversions.

Register here.

Tags: search, local search, sem, webcasts

2008 Top US Advertisers Released

On June 23, 2008, AdAge published the 53rd annual 100 Leading National Advertisers report in print and online. The Ad Age DataCenter compiled the 100 Top Advertisers, 200 Megabrands, Top 10 in 10 Media, US Market Share Leaders and more. You may purchase the written report. Or, you may cut and paste the relevant sections into Excel.

Click to Read: 100 Leading National Advertisers - Advertising Age - DataCenter: Marketers / Advertisers

Compare your advertising with the big boys. See the media mix used by the well known brands. This information is priceless if you are into statistical analysis on a macro scale. Maybe you will spot the next marketing trend to sweep our country.

Tags: advertising age, leading national advertisers

Backlink : As You Like It

I am a do-follow blogger. I have edited my template so that readers who comment on my blog posts receive a backlink. However, with Blogspot blogs, you must choose your identity carefully to receive a proper link back.


If you are signed into to G00gle/Blogger, as shown above, your link will go to your Blogger profile and not your blog.


If you use OpenID for WordPress (as shown above) or LiveJournal, your comment will link back to your blog. If you use OpenID, OpenID for TypeKey or OpenID for AIM, your backlink leads to your profile page.


The option to leave your name and URL, as shown above, is best, but not all bloggers offer this option. If you are offered this option, take it, but do not spam. Leave a relevant comment, then type your name and your URL in the spaces provided.

Anonymous is just that. However, you may add your name and a link at the bottom of your relevant comment. See following example.

If you do not code your URL in HTML, it will show up as plain text. See the difference between CyberCelt and blog above.

How do you receive a backlink on a do follow Blogspot blog?

• Leave a thoughtful comment that is pertinent to the blog post;
• Use the Name/URL option; or
• Use OpenID option; or,
• Use the Anonymous option, sign your post and add URL coded in HTML.

How do you get your comment deleted?

• Leave a comment that is words copied from the blog post;
• Leave a lame comment like, "Good job";
• Leave a comment asking for a link;
• Leave the same comment (cut and pasted) every time;
  
• Use a name like MasterCard, Pharmacy, CarInsurance, etc.;
• Leave a URL for a site that is not a blog, but a website, affiliate site, etc.

I hope this helps you understand Blogspot do follow blogs a little better. Remember, the blogger chooses to give backlinks, you cannot scam them.

Tags: do follow, do follow bloggers, link back, backlink, comments, identity

Help Serena Live

I am going to be away from blogging for a day or two to take care of health related matters.

I thought I would leave you with this post. If you can help by giving money or helping Serena get to the USA, please do. Three years old is not long enough for a baby girl to live.

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S E R E N A

Serena is a 3-year-old child with neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissue. Serena lives in the UK with her mom and family. She is currently receiving chemotherapy; however, to live a full life, Serena needs to journey to America and undergo treatment.

Can you help? If you have a spare $1 or $2, please donate below.

Read Serena's story in the Croydon.Today.UK newspaper

Visit her mom's blog here: Help Save Serena

Tags: help-save-serena, save serena, UK child, cancer, child with cancer

Wandering Amongst the Digital Natives

Projected expenditures in the retail area are flattening. Escalating costs in gas, food, clothes and other necessary items are causing consumers in the low and middle economic classes to cut back on any discretionary spending. The retail outlets hardest hit will be the bricks and mortar stores; again, mainly because of the price of gas.

More consumers will turn to the Internet to save money using comparison- shopping and by taking advantage of free shipping and other shopping incentives. Gasoline will just keep increasing in price, so most consumers will remain at home.

So, if you are e-tailing, get started with your incentives to increase your conversions: two-for-one items, free shipping with $x purchase, newsletter only coupons and refer-a-friend promotion. Start learning about multi-channel marketing and promoting to youth.

So, the future of the retail industry in the free world resides on the shoulders of Gen Ys! But wait, who are they? According to Gen Y Comes into Focus - eMarketer, Gen Ys or Millennials are those born from 1979 to 1999. Definitions vary, but we are talking a huge spread of people, from 9 years old to 29 years old.

The US Census Bureau says there are about 70 million Americans who fall into the Generation Y category, and they are an ethnically diverse group, with 60 percent white, 15 percent black (non-Hispanic), 18 percent Hispanic and 4 percent Asian.

Luckily, I did this generational breakdown post back in March, before it all left me behind. Below is my attempt to add order to my world.

Digital Natives = People Under 30
- Totally Wired Generation = people 14-29 years old
- Generation Next = people 16-25 years old
- Millennials= people 13-24 years old, also called Gen Y and Echo Boomers
->New Tag Needed - people aged 9 to 12 <-

Okay, which tag do we use for the 9 to 12 year olds? If we continue with the digital natives’ method, would we call them: HDTV Gen, Hardwired Gen? EverOn Gen?



What do y'all think? Give me some ideas for this important market segment that is now included in the Gen Y. Be nice, remember, they will be supporting the lazy decadent baby boomers who thought Social Security was a promise. LOL

Tags: retail, etail, gen y, millennials, new market segment, price of gas

ThePlanet Datacenter Down

I am sure you have experienced the problems with Entrecard. If not, you may find this helpful.

Entrecard Outage / Electrical fire
Sent Sun 06/01/08 12:06 AM:

Unfortunately, there has been an electrical fire at the data center housing Entrecard's servers. The servers have not been damaged, but the site may be down for as long as 12 hours.

Entrecard is hosted with ThePlanet, and this fire has effected over 9000 websites, as many of the world's most popualar websites are hosted with ThePlanet. They are working around the clock to get their data center back online, and we are hoping that they get it back online fast.

Thank you for your patience and understanding with this rare and frustrating problem. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing we can do but wait for The Planet to get their datacenter back online.

Please check back with Entrecard in 12 to 24 hours.