Beta-testing and other mundanities...
OR,If this blog were a hooker, it would have to make change.
First off, don't bother emailing me pointing out there is no such word as "mundanities". Language is organic, so get with the programme.
Right. As at least one of you noted, I've been trying out BlogExplosion's new Rent My Blog feature. What in the 7 circles of hell am I talking about? Here are the Cliffs Notes:
Read more...
BlogExplosion: Arguably the biggest and best blog traffic exchange community. (Avert your eyes, this is dorna! kissing up.) It's free to join (not counting the toll on your rapidly deteriorating mental state) and operates on a 1 credit=1 visit basis. How you raise your kitty of credits is your business; you can buy blocks of credits or surf for them at a ratio of 2 blog visits to 1 BE credit, good for 1 spin in the automated rotation.
Rent My Blog: BE is good at keeping members occupied. This latest gimmick is a blog classified ad scheme; whose potential complications stem from the developers desire to afford blog owners control over whose blog gets promoted in their space. An admirable intent, because there are a lot of squicky blogs of various ilk out there. However I foresee the possibility for an exacerbation of the already deep vein of cliquishness, which plagues an otherwise excellent community; given that there is no better way to indicate that a web logger is not part of the in-crowd than a mass shut-out of the process. But this too may serve a purpose for good.
The system allows for members to rent blog space from other members of BlogExplosion in an "open-market format"; whereby blog owners offer up their spaces for between 10-500 credits for a week long campaign. People bid on the offer, the owners choose who they'd like to sell space to and give the losers the kiss off. Capitalism at it's finest. No quarrel from me.
The beta-test campaigns only run 24hrs at 5 credits a go. So what do I think of it? In truth, I'm not sure.
I bid on 4 offers; got 1 acceptance, 1 rejection and 2 'we forgot we volunteered to beta-test and let the offer expire'. Many thanks to Guppyman for salvaging what's left of my fragile web logger's ego by accepting my bid to rent his blogspace. But now to the substantive issue; did I get hits? Short answer - yes, 9 unique clicks.
So my 5 credits were not wasted. I made an 80% return on my investment; but as with all forays into blog-whoring, the johns don't want you for your conversational skills and rarely return. All you get is wham, bam, and "Where's my change, bitch?"
In spite of this, the cool kids (read "most popular BE members who already get to stomp all over the little guys with cheerful regularity in the Battle of the Blogs room") will easily be able to command top credit for their spaces; because of fallacious reasoning that an ad on their space is bound to attract beaucoup hits for you. In reality all you would have accomplished is your handing them even more turns in the BE rotation. But that's life, neh? Here's hoping the market self-regulates 'cause this could be some kind of masochistic fun.
Filed in: blog promotion
posted by dorna! @ 2:37 pm
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