Lainy's Musings: My Two Cents on Declining Requests of EntreCard Adverts

Have you been denied of your attempt of advert purchase from our fellow EntreCarders?

What was the feeling when your purchase attempt was declined?

Why the need to buy slots for adverts?

There is a need for us to understand the importance of purchasing adverts. EntreCard is a site that drives free traffic to our blogs and one of its features is to promote our blogs via the 125 X 125 widgets by buying ad slots from our fellow EntreCarders. Since it's purpose is blog promotion, we expect a number of clicks from the purchase . More clicks indicate a more successful advertising campaign, and more visitors to our site, that is, when the purchase is accepted.

In many occasions, I got myself declined. I know whose blogs are those because their widgets will be forever imprinted in my memory and I had them all bookmarked. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind with the decline was:

"What's wrong with my blog?"

Everyone makes some sort of decision before a purchase. When it is rejected, I feel obstructed somehow. I am well aware that my blogs aren't the best blogs one could ever visit but each of us have our own standards of the BEST and QUALITY blogs.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PURCHASING ADVERTS

I actually consider a number of things when making my own selection for the purchase:

The price- how many EC credits I am willing to spend
EntreCard Popularity
Widget Location
Blog Content/ Niche

PURCHASING ADVERTS IS ASKING A FAVOR

Purchasing an advert and for it to be accepted by a fellow EntreCard member is like asking a favor and for the favor being accepted. It is a factor, it is some sort of reciprocity. Declining a purchase is like not willing to do a favor; why would someone not willing to do a favor? I really can't think of any reason and it sure beats my imagination!

These blogs have their own reasons for declining our purchase attempts and they usually come in the following polite manner:

Sorry but I don't accept adverts as of this time...
Taking a holiday, not taking adverts as of this time... (but seen quite a handful of ads up and running till forever, ehem!)
Some problems, apply again if needed (Sorry but I am not applying for a job!)
Sorry but can't accept your ad, your blog does not belong to my category (Hmmm, resonable enough...)
Planning to make some changes on my blog, won't be accepting ads for quite some time.. (Ok! Fine! )

ARE THE GIVEN REASONS VALID ENOUGH?

I am trying to figure out if the reasons given were valid and reasonable enough for one to decline an attempt of ad purchase. But with the way EC works, there is very little excuse rejecting an ad. Except when one blog's avatar is pornograpchic or it is an identified SPLOG, that is.

I will relate to you my experience with one EntreCarder. I attempted to purchase a slot in her blog worth 512. I got denied. She reasoned out she will be out for a holiday. That is fine by me. But I actually saw that ads have been running endlessly on her EC widget.

It's OK. No Problem.

A few months after, I forgot I was denied once and unknowingly placed my purchase again in that particular blog. I got declined for the second time. She sent me an explanation telling me there's nothing wrong with my blog. The reason this time she's declining my attempt of purchase is that my blog doesn't relate to hers. But I checked the ad that's up and running at the time, it doesn't belong to her own category either! Well, I don't really know what's wrong with my blog but I can't help but think it's something personal or something more than that! She never drops her card for this blog but I can see her dropping in my other blogs specifically in my new fashion blog The Certified Fashionable Chic. She must be unaware the owner of this blog and that fashion blog is one and the same!

REJECTION OF PURCHASE ATTEMPT IS AN ACT OF APATHY

Rejecting a purchase for no good reason at all is like refusing to promote a fellow EntreCarder's blog, which makes me think of some degree of apathy and mediocrity. While it's true that everyone can opt to reject an ad but let us always put ourselves in other people's shoe. I am sure you wouldn't be too happy if you were the one declined yourself! The reasons behind the decline can be authentic or not but whatever such reasons, when one declines an advert I can only conclude that the EntreCarder is not willing to establish a good relationship.

Now with EntreCard adding more features in the system such as giving RECOMMENDATIONS to one particular blog, I will now write recommendations to each and every blog that will approve my advert purchases. There were so many blogs that have given me huge number of hits in the past but I failed to even send them a Thank You note for accepting my purchase.