Keith Goodrum

At the end of September my account at Entrecard got deleted. Without realizing it I had violated their new Terms of Service.

I had added a lightbox hover ad to subscribe to my blog update list. I’ve used various hover ads int the past to allow people to add themselves to the blog update list, and decided to give a new one a test. I’m constantly tinkering & testing new plugins, widgets and other things here. I believe testing is an important part of running a blog.

So, here is the rule I broke from their updated blog quality standards…

Main Rules

5. No full-screen ads or popups: Blogs that include full-screen ads or popups will be removed. This includes any popup window that appears when the site has finished loading or when clicking to view an article. It is OK for links to display a popup window if the user clicks a link, e.g. FeedBurner email subscription, but popup ads or forceful messages asking people to subscribe without clicking anything are intrusive and therefore not allowed.

No biggie… it’s their playground and they have the right to set the rules.

It took me a couple of weeks to figure out my account had been deleted…

I haven’t been in my Entrecard much the past few months. One day I tried to login and I kept getting the username or password not recognized message

I just figured I’d forgotten my password, and didn’t place a priority on getting it recovered. It kept getting put on the backburner. A week would go by I’d try logging on and it wouldn’t work… (I know… I know I need to get robo form.) Then one day I clicked on my widget, and saw a message that my account was deleted.

So, I emailed customer support, and in about a week I got everything squared away. They reinstate my account, and I put the widget back on the blog. I was relieved because I have over 13,000 credits, and got it all back.

After going 2 weeks without Entrecard… it got me thinking

My account had been deleted because I had a hover ad. I wondered if it was worth it to keep the Entrecard widget on my blog if I can’t have things like hover ads announcing special offers? or have the option to use it to build a list?

As I was reading the updated blog quality standards I noticed a few other new rules. Such as you can’t be commercial more than 50% of the time…

Additional Rules

A2. Sites where more than 50% of the content consists of paid posts, posts with links to online stores, or affiliate links. This quota is a total, so if you write less than 50% of each type of paid content but the overall paid content quota exceeds 50%, that is not permitted. Reviews are OK, but not if every post contains an affiliate link.

So what if you post an affiliate link in every post… if you are giving quality content, instruction, information or entertainment – Who Cares?

Not sure where this aversion to earning a living is coming from, but I’m starting to see why they are having a hard time getting funding…

Anyhow, end of my mini-rant. Entrecard has every right to set the rules as they see fit, and if I want to stay around I’ll have to abide by them… but I’m evaluating whether I want to live by those rules.

I like being able to test & tinker with my blog, and try out new things.

It’s fun to see what works, and what doesn’t. This is one of the interesting things about blogging. But I really don’t like the idea of having to clear things with someone first. And that’s what Entrecard’s blog quality standards boils down to for me.

It’s a tough decision, because I like the idea of Entrecard. It’s fun to be around a community of other bloggers, and be a part of something bigger than yourself. But I don’t like the idea of someone else intruding on my ability to run this blog.

Maybe I’ll have a blow out my credits contest, and give everything away if I make a decision to give up my account…

Since I haven’t gone over my 50% quota… here’s a random affiliate link!

Extreme Clickbank Tactic Makes $109,151 In 30 Days!

Here’s something cool. A co-worker of my wife Becky is participating in a 5k breast cancer walk. She is hoping to raise $1000 for The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer by October 19th. Here is the best part… She has chosen Becky as her honoree. How cool is that!

As you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Right now the best defense against breast cancer, or any cancer, is early detection. If you think something is wrong, don’t take a chance… get it checked out. One of the biggest reasons Becky’s breast cancer was treatable was because she went right in & got it checked. I for one am glad she didn’t mess around.

Here is the email Becky sent out to her friends & family…

Dear Friends and Family

As you know, I’m a breast cancer survivor — survivor due to the advances of treatment and early detention!! Without continued research, more women (and men too) will have to face this dreaded disease.

A colleague of mine, Laura Burroughs, has formed a team in NJ for the American Cancer Society – Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. If you have a few spare dollars, would appreciate you clicking on the link below and make a donation (via the Burroughs Bunch team). It is a charitable contribution and a receipt will be produced for tax purposes.

Laura had set a modest goal of $250 and has already surpassed that mark. Let’s raise the goal to $1000 and would ask for your support through a donation, and also forward this link to other friends and family so they too can help achieve the new goal of $1000.

Click here to help Becky defeat Breast Cancer

Thanks for all your support.

Becky Goodrum

Laura has already smashed past this goal, and I think it would be cool to really knock it out of the park.

So, head on over there & if you want feel free to donate to help defeat this dreaded disease.

Thanks,

Keith

Conventional wisdom says you shouldn’t explain long absences from your blog…

Conventional wisdom says you shouldn’t blog about things like your spouse or kids…

Conventional wisdom says you shouldn’t blog about your dog…

Sorry… Gypsy!

Well, being conventional & wise are two things I’ve been accused of lacking a few times in my life… I’ve been anything but conventional at times… and I’ve certainly lacked wisdom every now & then!

The truth is this past month I haven’t felt like blogging much. The motivation to sit down & write was missing. So, I skipped a couple of days, then it turned into a week and each day I skipped it became easier to skip the next day… Before I knew it a month had passed.

Wow, that flew by quick!

I’ve been thinking about blogging again for the past week. But, boy it sure was tough to get back in the saddle again. You know we it’s easy to take the path of least resistance. And I can tell you not writing sure has been an easy path.

Momentum is a funny concept. Once you have it… it’s easy to keep it going. But once you stop, it’s a bear to get going again.

So, I’ve decided to get the momentum back, and I have a plan. I’ve read many times that you can make or break a habit in 21 days. It’s pretty simple to explain, and tougher to follow through till the end.

Here it is in a nutshell: Any good habit you want to start, you just do it for 21 straight days. At the end of those 21 days you will have added that new habit to your life. Likewise for a bad habit. Just cut it out for 21 days & will be gone from your life.

So, I’m going to blog for 21 days & get back into the habit of writing. Not going to make this overly complicated with a bunch of rules. Just going to write a post & publish it… simple.

Ok, I’ve made this goal public, so the pressure is really on. As a side note making your goals public is a great way to help your motivation. It adds a high level of accountability.

Here we go… one day down, twenty more to go!