Have you ever owned a diary…err, personal journal? Basically, people write their most intimate thoughts inside them and hide them from everyone. No one is ever meant to read them. Maybe it’s a good “outlet” for people to write down their experiences and concerns. I’ve heard that many therapists ask their patients to start one.

My wife, who has probably never read even one sentence from any of my blogs, voiced her concern that elements of our personal life would end up on the pages of a blog for all of the world to see. I’m not famous or interesting, nor do I have a desire to compromise my personal life, so the idea of a self-biographical account of my life was never considered. (Sorry, hon!)

Back in 2009, I came up with the idea for Source Blogger. OK, it’s not an original idea, meta-blogging. But, I’d like to believe that I consistently write some of the best quality content in my niche/category. And if you dusted off the cobwebs and went back into the archives, hopefully, you’d see this. As committed and driven I am about Source Blogger, it’s far from the most popular or recognized in the blogosphere. Right now.

Unlike a diary, Source Blogger is written by me to be read. I do want the exposure. But, how do you get it?

Today, we are going to look at 5 “tools” (Digg, Alexa Toolbar, Blog Catalog, Entrecard, CMF Ads) that claim to help you, in part, to reach your goals… and why I no longer use any of them. This blogger has matured.

Day 1: A Blog Is Born

Once you’ve created a concept for your blog and begin writing articles for it, your next step is to locate and utilize resources that will get you and your blog in front of other bloggers with similar interests.

It’s not a mystery. Places like Digg or Blog Catalog were originally good sources to keyword search for certain topics… with Digg being the #1 article submission site and Blog Catalog being the #1 blog forum site. And Entrecard and CMF Ads, being a good way to interact with active bloggers and discover other blogs.

Just in the short time that Source Blogger (originally launched on Blogger, now on WordPress) hit the scene, many of these sites either changed or did not really provide much value as they professed.

Let’s take a brief look at each of them. Shall we?

Digg

One of the perceptions of many new bloggers is that if they run to the largest article submission sites (Digg, Reddit, Mixx) and submit their content, then there is a the likelihood of being assaulted with thousands of “pageviews.” But, after submitting article after article, you see that scenario rarely happens or not at all due to oversaturation.

When Digg changed its parameters to only display your content to the people who followed you on Digg, you suddenly realized that the potential to reach a large audience was reduced to the 15-20 followers you had prior to the change.

Digg seemed to be lobbying for the big blogs in the space like the Huffington Post, Tech Crunch, and Mashable.

Goodbye, Digg.

Alexa Toolbar

Considering that Source Blogger is a “blog about blogging,” I figured the Alexa Toolbar would be a good barometer of determining the percentage of those bloggers historically portrayed to have interests in “techy” things like blogging, social media marketing, internet marketing, article marketing, and making money online who were visiting Source Blogger.

As Source Blogger’s Alexa Rank shot up to 50k, something strange happened after that. I started to really get decent, consistent traffic!

What was bizarre was that the more visits and pageviews I received, my Alexa Rank began to tumble? Odd, huh?

Goodbye, Alexa Toolbar.

Blog Catalog

Ok, never been a big fan of forums… but I did see it as a strategy for being involved in discussions that would enlighten other bloggers on who Source Blogger was and what our views were on particular blogging topics. A great way to do some networking, right?

Well….. unfortunately, that was NOT the case. The site has a band of active bloggers in the forum who are hostile towards bloggers like myself. Trying to market your blog and its content (no, not spamming or link dropping either) did not serve to induce the “clique-ish, overly-social” feel of the forum discussions. Leading you to consistently defend why your site had banner ads or a subscription box for news letters.

Goodbye, Blog Catalog.  And Good Riddance!

Entrecard & CMF Ads

When you blog about blogging, any blogger, in any category, has the potential of being a reader.

So, for many months, I struggled with whether I should maintain the Entrecard & CMF widgets. Until you realized that only a very minute percentage of bloggers were actually active on the site. Once someone has seen and read your blog a few times, they will subscribe, leave some comments, etc. But, now that they have, I didn’t feel like I had to continue to offer them an incentive to do so.

In addition, offering an incentive for another blogger to visit my site definitely defeats the purpose of why I created the blog to begin with. I would prefer you visited out of a genuine interest, not for advertising credits (Entrecard) or fractional money amounts (.002 – CMF Ads).

When you begin hearing stories of people spending hours and hours visiting other blogs in the Entrecard, CMF Ads, Adgitize network, it becomes a very unhealthy, obsessive environment… one that I wish to separate myself from.Especially, when it is marketed as “blog advertising”.

If your blog traffic stems solely from other visitors on this network, you need to take a hard look at whether your blog is worth maintaining.

Goodbye, Entrecard & CMF Ads.

In Closing

At this point, I am more than happy with the traffic I receive from Google, Bing, Twitter, and other viral resources like comments and bloggers who discuss Source Blogger and link back to certain articles here. Even from google images! (An often overlooked source of traffic – keyword optimize those images!)

This may be an overly-uttered phrase, but blogging is hard work. And it does take months and years to develop your identity and reputation into someone who is respected and read. Often, the first step is distancing yourself from sites like Blog Catalog, Entrecard, and CMF Ads… to gain credibility in the eyes of others.

But, you can do it…. without having to invest in an enormous amount of your personal time vying for theses types of inorganic sources of blog traffic.

Part of the “maturity process” of a blogger was putting away “childish things”.

To Digg, Alexa, Blog Catalog, Entrecard, and CMF Ads… I wish you the best!

What do you guys think? Am I dismissing them too prematurely?

Without appearing too hypocritical, let me start out by stating that I am affiliated with  all three services — and their widget(s) appears prominently at the lower right footer of this page. Although I am a semi-active member in these communities, I don’t “sugar-coat” the ramifications of what participation actually means.

While each offers its own distinct benefit to bloggers, let’s not ever minimize what they really have the potential of becoming – a method to manipulate and falsely inflate blog statistics — particularly, Alexa Rank. And because Alexa Rank is a frequently used method by so many, there are repercussions here.

It’s sort of an intensive care for blogs…similar to being on life support. Sad to say, out of the confines of Entrecard, Adgitize, and CMF Ads, many of these blogs would fail to exist  if the “plug was pulled!”

If you are unfamiliar with these sites or services, after spending some time there, you will see get an idea of what I am referring to. It’s amazing to see sites like this or this with an Alexa in the 60k range. It’s downright…criminal!

Why? because the “Alexa Crowd” is solely made up of bloggers who blog about blogging, internet marketing, SEO, social media, or technology. Neither of those two sites I provided an example for could achieve that type of Alexa rank on its own accord!

Although, bear in mind, there are a small handful of sites that defy the remainder of the quality standards of their network.

Let’s take a closer look at the impact these blogging services have in the blogosphere.

The Value of Blogs

While every blog, regardless of style, content, or purpose has its own benefit (whether direct or indirect) to some degree — as well as its own innate right to exist, I have faith in a “system” that rids (a term more commonly known as flushes) itself of lower-quality blogs. With the recent increase of new bloggers to the blogging world, the bar has been set higher to provide content that is intelligent, relevant, engaging, and…entertaining! Through this process, the lesser, poorly-constructed blogs become exposed.

For many blogs, the largest demographic of their readership — is other bloggers. Miraculously, it only takes bloggers a few short seconds to determine if it is a blog they would ever return to — let alone subscribe to or become involved in discussions there. Thus, readers have become adept at evaluation and quality standards.

I think as bloggers we all share some responsibility that our craft (which is often misunderstood) is portrayed in a positive, creative light. So, we become “ambassadors” of what encompasses blogging.

Incentivized Blog Traffic

Incentivized blog traffic is described as visitors receiving compensation in the form of money, points, advertising, or a reciprocal visit as a medium of exchange for visiting a website. Many sites provide instruction to the reader such as how long to stay on the site and what ads to click.

From Google’s “AdSense Program Policies” on encouraging clicks, enticing visitors is a clear violation of the terms of service. Google’s stance on this is that they expect each and every visitor who accesses your blog to show a genuine, true interest in its content.

And so should you!! Why wouldn’t you?

The Psychological Impact of Entrecard | Adgitize | CMF Ads

Some of the more popular sites on Entrecard can receive nearly 400 visits a day! Can you imagine what that does to one’s Alexa Rank?

Just as you can imagine to what it does to the psychology of the blogger.

-He/She develops a very skewed view of their site’s popularity.

-He/She slowly begin to view the blogosphere as solely existing within the frame of this “micro-community”

-Time is spent obsessing over incentivized visits to other blogs in this community for the purpose of compensation – or writing about it.

-Important elements of blogging such as article marketing, networking, search engine optimization, and content, are badly ignored or in very short supply. Why bother when your site’s visits are guaranteed?

The Real Benefits of Entrecard | Adgitize | CMF Ads

Entrecard is the winner here —  The real benefit of these services is exposure. And with the vast number of blogs listed on Entrecard, traffic volume is what you will get. Many of these blogs would not even be aware your blog exists if not for being listed there. Nor, most likely, would you know about their blog either.

Since Entrecard has a steady flow of new bloggers that join the program, your blog is consistently accessed by uniques.

Networking: Although visiting other sites in the network may seem detached and mechanical, the probability of developing friendships is likely — as I have experienced  myself!

In addition, Entrecard has contests where winning is realistically obtainable. I received 5,000 Entrecard credits just for pointing this out.

Adgitize is the winner here —The opportunity to advertise on other blogs in the network ranges from $10-$14, which is geared towards a blogger with a smaller expense budget. As we know, conversions that stem from your advertising efforts are not coerced, incentivized visits! ( Yet, it would appear that conversions from advertising on the Adgitize network seem somewhat…guaranteed?)

CMF Ads is the winner here — What CMF Ads loses in providing exposure, they make up for in the realm of income — both passive and incentivized.

Ben Barden, the owner of CMF ads, has done a phenomenal job in granting bloggers the ability to affordably target advertising on the blogs of their own choosing, by not imposing time-consuming tasks that take away from normal blogging strategies (Adgitize), and by providing a source of income that is fair and equitable.

Most importantly, the level of personal response to your concerns or questions on his behalf, is almost immediate. Professionalism and courtesy is surprisingly rare in the blogosphere — a trait sorely remiss from other site owners. Ben has been very supportive and I consider him a friend to Source Blogger.

Entrecard | Adgitize | CMF Ads: Welfare /Food Stamps/Unemployment For Bloggers

Welfare, Unemployment, and Food Stamps were all designed to be temporary “fixes” to short-term problems.

If you are launching a new blog, what better way to provide visibility than becoming a part of these networks?

But, it’s temporary. Eventually, as your blog becomes more saturated in Google/Bing search, social bookmarking, social media, and article marketing sites…you won’t Soon as the greater majority of participants in these networks visit your blog, interest fades, and it becomes a matter of another blogger completing a task on the basis of incentivized compensation.

Plus, all services undermine a blog’s CPM value when other member’s 125×125 ads rotate on the widget the site owner has placed on their site – often with no redeeming value to the widget owner of the blog . Many of these blogs have bounce rates above 90% as well!

Most importantly, when considering where to plunk down your hard-earned dollars, what type of reception will my 125×125 ad receive on blogs with a high frequency of incentivized visits.

What Are You So Afraid Of?

Could it be the reality that visitors would not find your blog interesting? Do you need the false sense of security that the community’s traffic provides?

Are you hesitant to admit to yourself that you have not been adhering to more conventional methods of marketing and exposing your blog? When you really look at it, aren’t most of the visits to your site from Entrecard, Adgitize, and CMF Ads? If so, you have some serious self- reflection on what your goals were to be when you became a blogger and what your blog’s direction is.

Look, I use them too. But, my goal is to attract the participants of these services who are truly interested in either my content, interacting with the community on Source Blogger, or networking with myself. To be the most active participant or the “best dropper” would be…well… shameful!

There are far better ways to conduct your time for the benefit of your blog.

The blogosphere is enormous and far outweighs the subculture of Entrecard, Adgitize, and CMF Ads.

Discover it.

If you are a member or know someone who is a member of Entrecard, Adgitize, or CMF Ads, I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comment section below regarding this controversial topic.

It probably never dawned on you that Facebook, Digg, Networked Blogs and Blog Catalog would be in collusion to steal your Adsense earnings, did it?

Thanks to the recent upgrade to Digg, the Iframe toolbar was (finally) retired!

Unfortunately, the Iframe toolbar is still a reality for readers who access your blog through Facebook, Networked Blogs, and Blog Catalaog.

Does this mean they are laughing all the way to the bank? No… although, they are diverting your revenue and preventing you from cashing in.

Still in disbelief?

Let me explain… I’ve done a little research on this.

Are Facebook, Blog Catalog, and Networked Blogs Stealing Your AdSense Earnings?

The dreaded framed page.

If you are a frequent (or infrequent) user of Facebook, Digg, and Blog Catalog, do you remember clicking on a link that successfully brought you to the desired page, but it was framed?

I can tell by that blank look on your face, you either don’t remember or it’s not sunk in yet.

Digg.com

Let me show you. Here is an example of Digg’s Framed Page: See that toolbar?

This is at the top of your page when viewing an article. It’s almost like a built-in toolbar with many user interfaces.

Take a closer look:

This is how your blog URL appeared to the legions of  Digg readers:

Does that look like your blog’s URL? Of course not! Would anyone even remember your blog after viewing it? So, remember that flood of traffic you used to receive with Digg? Guess what…

This shouldn’t look all that foreign to you. You probably just never realized the repercussions of this and whet it meant for your blog.

Blog Catalog

That’s the framed section of the page for Blog Catalog.

And the URL?

Yikes! Does that look like http://sourceblogger.com to you?

You say you get a significant amount of traffic from Facebook ,Blog Catalog, and Networked Blogs? But are these REAL 100% pageviews and hits? Well… now that things are being made more clear to you, How does this make you feel now? How did this impact your traffic and your earnings? Think about it, my friend.

Facebook

In addition to the framed page on Facebook, you get screwed penalized in many other ways!

The fans who signed up for your blog’s Facebook Fan Page can go to the Notes tab and read your complete blog article without having to visit your site.

If it was a summary that enticed the reader to click a “Read More” that brought them to your site, that would be OK. But, the whole article?

It’s no secret that Source Blogger is on record as being publicly opposed to access to blog content that exists away from my blog pages – including many article marketing sites.

Is there anything worse than having to compete with your own off-page content that is nesting in other larger, more visible, and well-SERP’d locations that is like a magnet for Google? That jazzy little article you wrote is buried on page 6 of the search results, while the same article placed on Facebook is showing up on the first page. The Google keyword search user goes straight to that page, via the ‘Notes” tab… and leaves!

There’s no way to subscribe, leave a comment, or even get a CPM zone view (or potential CPC or CPA click) from the visit! Right?… Damn!

Networked Blogs

OK, you’re going to be slick here. You deleted the ‘Notes” tab in Facebook and intend to replace it with the ‘Blog” tab. Brilliant! The Blog tab shows a snippet of your article (from NetworkedBlogs) and the reader must click on the title of the article to read more.

Wait! Not so smart. Here is how a recent article on Source Blogger appeared to NetworkedBlog readers:

That sure doesn’t look the permalink that I assigned! http://sourceblogger.com/dealing-with-emotional-reality-of-shutting-down-blog

The Effects of A Reader Viewing Your Site Within An I-Frame

1.  Steals traffic – Blog Catalog,  Networked Blogs, and  Facebook  double their traffic by showing your content in its frame and redirecting the shortened urls back to their site instead of to your site.

2. Steals links – By creating shortened urls whose sole purpose is to redirect the viewer back to the parent site.

3. Steals content – Your content is essentially being “hosted” through the framing structure

4. Steals potential revenue – By either blocking your content/ads or by stealing ad impressions/clicks

The Solution

Since your website then is inside of a “window” type frame, your site is not getting the actual traffic from that click, Digg and/or Facebook are.

Let’s prevent your blog from displaying the frame!

There is a way to stop this from happening to you, and it is so very simple. This script is actually quite simple, you just paste a few lines of javascript code into the HEAD section of all the pages in your site EXCEPT the index page:

The code is as follows:


<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

if (top.location != self.location) top.location.replace(self.location);

</script>

This will prevent your website from being framed in the future, and will prevent any loss of traffic and or revenue from ad providers such as AdSense or AdBrite.

Some of you may be in shock over this. I know, I know… no one has ever explained this to you. Take a moment. Catch your breath. Now type your response in the comment section below. I want to hear what you think!

I have been using Digg, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, and BlogCatalog for years now! Say it isn’t so!