Advertise your blog through Entrecard

I subscribed to Entrecard today. I was so entertained that I left some shitload of tasks in my end unfinished. Nice. That didn't concern me though, especially when the daily grind in the office already gets to you.

Anyway, back to Entercard, I really enjoy the first time I joined. I know it's too late before it was introduced to my vocabulary but my appreciation goes to Maline who, as per her advice, suggested that I try it. It's somewhat like Blogmad or Blog Explosion when it comes to the scheme. I'm a fan of these sites when I want to increase visit to my blog. You can earn credits by surfing other member's blog, by exchanging banner ads, by winning the lottery or by mere generousity of a beloved blogger-friend who wants to share their credit earnings. Then you use these credits in any way you want to earn traffic.

But Entrecard is far more interesting with its simple advertising setup. The free exchange network platform is an innovation to bloggers who want their site advertised through other's blog. A fair play is ensured in the process so everybody gets their fair share of the credit. If you're a beginner, Entrecard is a pretty good startup to introduce your site and gain readership.

Check it out yourself. You'll see how fun that drop-your-card-or-advertise-on-a-widget thing is.

Logo credit: Entrecard.com

The Backcountry.com experience

I got bored at one point this morning that I thought of browsing the website of Backcountry. I already miss working for this website and our boss, Tim Meikle, during my stint in Eversun Software Philippines back in Iloilo City.

Backcountry.com is an online retail store of outdoor and backcountry gear. It carries over 250 top brands like The North Face, Black Diamond, Petzl, Mountain Hardware, Arc Teryx, Salomon, and more, with nearly 50,000 products. If you're scouring for best made gear including backpacking, camping, skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, kayaking, mountaineering gear and more, on the planet, look no further because Backcountry.com is the perfect store.

Don't miss to visit their other online shops, too. If you're a real snowboard junkie, you'll find the biggest names in snowboarding at Dogfunk.com. Meanwhile, if skiing is your action, Tramdock.com is your ultimate local skiing shop. The newest, sweetest, highest quality ski gear is very affordable from this site. Avail also of last year’s gear at insanely low prices from Backcountryoutlet.com.

Our job then was to optimize keywords. We sort and find for the best keywords used by customers to search for the products in these sites and in top search engines as well. These keywords and the product's URL must also be regularly updated so customers are led to the right product (with fewest clicks) during query. Well, I don’t need to elaborate those other technical processes. What was exhausting then is that we’re dealing with hundreds and thousands of keywords everyday. It’s part of their search marketing after all.

Anyway, there’s nothing big that’s changed in the website. It’s still has the same look as before—only cleaner (and with smaller font) this time. And oh, by the way, did I mention that Backcountry.com is included in Internet Retailer Best of the Web Top 50 Retail Sites and awarded with Bizrate’s Circle of Excellence Award for four times in a row?

Logo credit: Backcountry.com

A nicer Simon in American Idol 7

I’m not a huge follower of American Idol. Although I know who the winners in the past seasons were, it's only when the 7th season premiered that I started to hook with its every episode. The latest was they were in America's southeasternmost resort city--Miami, Florida--to scout for the next Idol. The tropical hot spot were bound by thousands of hopefuls desiring to get that golden ticket to Hollywood and become America's next singing superstar.

Well, who could forget about the three judges? Sometimes, or most of the times, I'm more entertained with the judges than with the contestants. Simon Cowell, notorious for his unsparingly blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults, and wisecracks about the contestants, is more forgiving this time. Many aspirants received the very rare "Yes" from him during the audition.

I enjoy every time Paula and Randy agree but Simon doesn't. The judging sometimes falls from a debate to a two-against-one riot. Meanwhile, I find Paula's antics very cute. I remember her dancing in front of the audition room while a certain Renaldo Lapuz, who by the way is a Filipino, sang his own piece, "We're Brothers Forever" for Simon. His audition created some buzz and I bet he'll make it big--not in Hollywood--but in Youtube, I guess. Remember William Hung? Fame didn't require him to sound (and look) good. On the other hand, Randy is the nicest among the guys.

The series of audition for this season is filled with different colors and characters. I can't help but laugh when some desperate auditioners beg for another chance or some sort of psycho or drunkard, dressed in comical character or with weird fashion sense, go there just to embarrass their selves or try to get some attention. At least, their silliness makes us entertained.

It's still a long way before a new Idol can be proclaimed. A series of elimination is yet to be held. Many aspiring singers from different key cities are still waiting to be discovered. I hope another Filipino will make a name again (after Jasmine Trias who made it to the final three). We'll see more of the best and worst auditions in American Idol season 7.