Walking Down The Avenue

I'm reminded, frankly, of the early days of Entrecard.  Before bad management changed a clever and effective social network to a tired traffic exchange,  Entrecard attracted a group of smart, clever bloggers and allowed them to meet, mix, mingle and place small box ads all over each other's blogs.    For me it was a very exciting time when in short order I met dozens and dozens of great bloggers,  made a whole bunch of new friends and saw my blog's popularity skyrocket.   I've been involved in many web sites and forums since then,  but until my recent foray onto Empire Avenue  I had not experienced anything like those heady early days on Entrecard (which, btw, were also remniscient of my early days on Blog Catalog.)

I remember explaining to Rich Becker, shortly after catching the Entrecard bug that Entrecard was Really a social network,  decked out in advertising service clothes.    Likewise Empire Avenue is Really a social network that struts about dressed as a stock trading game.   Each member of EA selects a  Ticker Symbol (1--12 alpha-numeric characters) and other users buy shares in their stock.   You can of course invest your precious Eaves (a virtual currency) in such luminaries as Tony Berkman(e)MEDIAMOGUL,  Johh Gushue (e)GUSHUE,  Richard Becker (e)RRB  or even your humble correspondent, (e)LIBDRONE.

You will connect your social network accounts-- specifically Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Flickr and YouTube,  as well as your blogs to your EA profile.   Your participating on each of these networks, as well as your participation on the Empire Avenue site contribute to raising your share price,  which also goes up each time someone buys shares in you.   Your shareholders earn dividends each night, which are based on your level of activity on your blogs and social networks.    As successful photography blogger Henry Plumley  (e)PHOTOSBYHANK observed:  "It really is a great new way to approach networking. Soon after you sign in, you become wrapped up in researching your target audience and making sure your message is out there for all to see.  What I feel is the best feature of Empire Avenue is the ability to see all your other social networks at a glance. Empire Avenue uses a 0-100 scoring system to rate your performance on all your networks. It’s so easy to see where your strengths and weaknesses are which helps you decide where you need to improve.  "

I've spoken with many members who have found that Empire Avenue gives them the push they need to keep focused on creating quality content and interacting with their audience,  both for the success of their blogs and careers and to keep their share price up.   When someone's share price increases over 100e  they are declared Centurions and are toasted by everyone on the Avenue.   If you do sign up,  be sure to send me a private message.   I'll be happy to invite you to join the #SocialEmpire group on Facebook,  where lots of great EA players hang out and talk about everything from tips on social networking, blogging and EA success to movies, music and their personal lives.    It's a boat load of fun AND it helps you to succeed at blogging and social networking.   What do you say?   Why not try Empire Avenue now,  and receive 2,000 Eaves on me!