Leadpile’s Blog

Are you one of those people that has a Blackberrys, iPhone, lap top or other electronic device connected to your hand at all times?  Being fully connected with the internet has become the norm, and if one does not have access for more than one hour at a time… we (yes, WE) all go crazy!!!!! Knowing this craziness, airlines are now testing Wi-Fi availability on their planes.    Various U.S. airlines have been testing this phenomenom for about a year now, however all others are now scrambling to get on board with this. Initially this is going to be free, however once all the kinks are ironed out you can expect this to be hitting your pocket book.  According to MSNBC, “Alaska Airlines is asking those who use the free test service to take a survey, which includes a question about how much they’d be willing to pay. A Southwest Airlines spokesperson says the airline will start testing fee structures once technical testing is complete, perhaps this summer.” So how much would you be willing to pay to have non stop access to the internet? I think the Leadpile crew would be willing to pay a little extra for the convenience, however let’s see what the airlines try to make us pay.

Twitter has been all the rage the last few months, and now some numbers are being released describing the Twitter audience.  Unlike other social media, the Twitter audience is skewing older, and people between 55 and 64 are using Twitter at nearly the same pace as people between 18 and 24.  Twitter is a rare example of older people embracing a new Web technology at an early stage. 

Twitter traffic is up over 1000% from last year, and it is the 25-54 year old group that is driving the growth.  Businesses are increasingly finding ways to jump on the Twitter train. The momentum appears to be only growing, and businesses must engage with this growing audience.

Ladies and gentlemen, your current laptop computers will become worthless in 12 months. Say hello to the era of “Ultra small laptop computers”. And I mean Small! Did I also say cheap? Oh yes, that too. They will be dirt-cheap. Can you say Small and Cheap 200 times? So how small and how cheap you ask?

Everyone knows eBay for it’s marketplace of buyers and sellers of all sorts of items. Leadpile Lead Exchange often times refers to itself as the “eBay” of leads. However, there is no affiliation to one another, yet many people know the concept of how eBay works and is considered a household name.

This household name is now expanding it’s portfolio of services it provides.  Ebay Motors is a division of eBay that provides a directory of automobiles. According to DMNews, eBay Motors has now launched an online classified section. This will allow sellers of automobiles to be connected with the buyers locally. The article goes on to state, “The new listing option is designed to connect car buyers and sellers within a 100-mile radius of their local market, and is being offered free through an initial promotional period ending July 15.” Pre-internet consumers utilized local newspapers to find a car, however this new enhancement of eBay motors will mirror that old school classified section, but be on your computer.  According to eBay, eBay Motors has 12 million monthly unique visitors, and they sell a car every minute. I guess this really means bye bye newspaper classifieds?

In addition to eBay Motors, eBay has a family of websites such as rent.com, half.com, kijiji.com, paypal.com, prostores.com and shopping.com.

We all purchase items, do online banking, pay our bills, apply for credit and all sorts of other tasks each day through the internet.  Companies like ours work with trying to connect those on the intenet looking for services, with those that can provide that service. Unfortunately, no one, including Leadpile Lead Exchange, is 100% safe from online fraud activity.  According to internet news,“Sophisticated computer fraud schemes continue to flourish as financial data migrates to the Internet.” It appears a lot of this increased fraud is directly related to the e-commerce industry. Everyone and anyone is buying their products online while supplying their credit card information. Groups such as The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) partner up with agencies such as the FBI to help monitor internet fraud. However, 2008 saw a 33% spike in the the number of complaints received versus the year before.
We all know the internet is the wave of the future, but how are we all going to maintain consumer safety with such a massive conglomerate as the internet? Is there really a way to be totally safe on the internet? Sadly, fraud is not the only issue the internet is dealing with.  Children and young adults are using the internet as a means of socializing and even “bullying”/harassing others.  I am thinking schools will need to incorporate internet communication skills and proper etiquette to help with teaching children proper ways to utilize the internet. This might help prevent some of the fraud and other problems the internet is facing. Educate kids at a young age to help define the future of the internet. 

With so many consumers being really strapped for cash, and banks trying to find additional revenue, some banks are offering an alternative type of loan which appears to be like a payday loan. As we all know, payday loans are issued by payday lenders, not necessarily our local banks.  However, Tennessee’s Fifth Third and U.S. Bank are offering 35 day payday advance loans.  According to Nashville Business Journal, “The loans come with an annual percentage rate of 120 percent, or a 10 percent fee on money borrowed. That’s a rate much higher than almost any other form of credit, other than businesses that offer pawn, title or unsecured payday loans, which often charge fees as high as 400 percent APR.” So my question is, is this the beginning of banks now offering payday loans? Will they have to go through the same regulations as the payday lenders are having to go through?

Brick and mortar payday stores, online payday lenders and others that deal with payday loans are facing more and more regulations these days.  Will our nation’s top 10 banks now be on that list of those being faced with the payday loan regulations?

The time has come for Ad-tech San Francisco 2009. In collaboration with Glam Interactive Group and Swish Marketing, we present The Suite Party. Glam Interactive Group is a group where the women of internet marketing connect, share, interact, and network. Leadpile is very proud to be a sponsor of this event, and looks forward to seeing all our partners! Going to Ad-tech San Francisco? Let us know!!

If Google is not already big enough, it is now in talks to potentially purchase the mega microblogging service Twitter for an estimated $250 million. According to The San Jose Business Journal, “TechCrunch said it has been told by three unnamed sources that the companies are talking. The blog added that the purchase of Twitter — which allows users to post 140-character updates and see what others are posting as well — would give Google a leg up in real-time search.” Previous rumors had circulated about Facebook offering $500 million, however that “deal” never happened.
The brilliant thing is the founders of Twitter (Evan Williams and Biz Stone) had previously sold their blogging service Blogger, to Google earlier this decade. What is next for this internet gurus? Inquiring minds want to know…. and so does Leadpile Lead Exchange. Stay tuned folks.

The LeadPile Lead Exchange is about to get a huge boost from television DVR’s.At LeadPile, we consider the DVR one of our best friends. Why? More and more companies wanting more and more leads will have no other choice than to move away from television as DVR’s become more and more prevalent.

Let’s face it, the only reason television exists is to sell advertisements. The better a show does, the more it can get for its .30-second air space. And why do Companies buy television ad space? Simply put, to get leads in one way, shape, or form.

So what will become of our old best friend, television?

Well, by the end of the year, 31% of households with TVs will have DVRs, according to Interpublic Group, and that figure could rise to nearly 44% by the end of 2014.

And we all know that most DVR owners speed past the ads.

So, why is this amazing news for the LeadPile Exchange? If viewers aren’t watching TV ads, those advertising dollars must be placed somewhere else, and that somewhere else is online advertising for lead production.

As LeadPile already is the Largest Online Exclusive Lead Exchange conducting business in over 50 verticals, one can only imagine why the DVR is LeadPile’s best friend!

Washington D.C. lobbyist have some new priorities to take care of.  Payday lenders are working on a lobbying campaign to fight back on legislation that would put federal restrictions on the industry for the first time.

The Hill.com states there are new limits that will be presented for the first time at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing today.  These lobbyists are getting ready to put their gloves on to prevent stringent federal regulations. The article goes on to say, “The Community Financial Services Association of America, the industry’s main trade association in Washington, is planning to raise more than $1 million from its 14,000 store members for a lobbying campaign this year. The industry expects to have 11 lobbyists working the issue in the Capitol, and is coordinating with online lenders and with some of the larger individual payday firms with their own Washington lobbyists.” Leadpile will be keeping an eye on the efforts of these lobbyist and hoping their efforts benefit the consumer. They are ultimately the ones that this is about, and if they want to take out a loan or use any other service, this should be something THEY decide on.

Last week, Google said that it plans to cut 200 marketing and sales jobs from its international operations.

Google senior vice president of sales and business development Omid Kordestani said,  “When companies grow that quickly it’s almost impossible to get everything right and we certainly didn’t.”  

This is comment is marketing and PR brilliance.

Instead of blaming outside influences, Google blamed itself for making an error.

Research show that Companies that take responsibility for their own actions, challenges, a or problems fair much better over the long term than those companies that blame outside forces (like the economy and new regulation).

Google, once again, shows they are on top of their game, even through layoffs!

Hyundai started the trend and now GM and Ford are jumping on the bandwagon. These automakers have rolled out new “job loss” protection plans for those looking to purchase a car. According to The Washington Post, “U.S. automobile sales are barely running above an annualized pace of 9 million this year. By comparison, car companies in recent years have sold 16 million to 17 million vehicles. Analysts say the sharp drop suggests that Americans have grown so reluctant to buy new cars that they are even holding back on replacing vehicles that have been in accidents or no longer run.” GM’s job loss plan would cover up to nine car payments of $500 each for customers who lose their jobs, and Ford is offering payments of up to $700 for 12 months.
I am not sure of the specific details of these plans and what sort of “criteria” they set, however this is a positive for those that were a little reluctant on buying a new car. With a little (or lot) of government help, and these sorts of plans being rolled out, maybe there is some chance the auto industry can get back on it’s feet????? Leadpile Lead Exchange is excited about the possibility that there might be some light at the end of this very loooooooong tunnel.