Leadpile’s Blog

Effective June 3rd, Microsoft’s Live Search will be replaced by Bing.

Microsoft describes Bing as the new “decision engine”. Being that Google dominates about 3/4 of the search engine world, Microsoft is hoping to get a bigger piece of the pie with Bing. Bing will emphasize categorization and depth in search results in an attempt to compete with Google for market share in addition to ad dollars. Looking at Bing it looks a lot like Google, but when searching it tends to bring up a little more in depth information. Will the Leadpile publishers and affiliate marketers utilize this new search engine to generate traffic/leads?

NEXT: Wisconsin please step to the plate. It appears WI is the next state to have lawmakers trying to pass a bill that would cap the interest rate on payday loans. Todaystmj news is reporting that Wisconsin’s new proposal would cap interest rates at 36 percent annually. Similar to other states and potential laws being passed, there is opposition to this potential law and it will all have to pan out in court. Leadpile will keep an eye on this.

In years past, online media was not an option. Years ago you did radio, television, mail or things like billboard advertising. However, in recent years performance advertising has been something most companies are venturing into to promote their product(s). Lead generation is a performance type of advertising, however not all are embracing it because of various objections they have to it.

1. No money to do lead generation
2. Lead generation does not work
3. They do not know how to set up CPL campaigns
4. They do not have any creatives to do a lead generation campaign
5. They don’t have any incentives to offer the consumer on a CPL campaign
6. They don’t really care about leads
7. They don’t have the time to work on a lead generation campaign

These are all commons excuses companies will make instead of moving forward with a lead generation campaign. Mediapost.com points out all these excuses companies have on why they are not getting into lead generation.
These are all legitimate objections to lead generation, however companies like Leadpile are open arms to speak with anyone that has any questions or concerns about doing lead generation. Where else can you get a targeted consumer that is opting in for a specific product or service? Lead generation allows companies to focus less on generating clients and more on handling the targeted ones that they are working with in their lead generation campaigns. As a company trying to generate business, would I want to send out a 1000 mailings or purchase leads of 50 people who opted in for my service? Hands down lead generation produces a higher ROI if you are utilizing your lead generation campaign effectively. Ask a lot of questions of the lead generation company you are potentially working with, so you know the process from A to Z. Know how the leads are being generated, where they are being generated and what the cost to you is. You will see, lead generation will be an effective way for you to spend your advertising dollars.

Internetnews.com is reporting something “new” with the mega social networking site Twitter. According to the website, “Twitter brass confirmed that it’s signed a deal with TV producer Reveille — which has produced hits like “The Office” and “Ugly Betty” — and with Brillstein Entertainment, a talent agency that also has production credits under its belt that include ”The Sopranos” and ”NewsRadio”. ” This potential show would be something where they are putting ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format.” The idea of this sort of show does not seem to be exciting to the biggest “tweeter” of all: Ashton Kutcher. Leadpile loves Twitter, but is this all a little bit of a stretch for a story line? I do have to say, Twitter is remaining more than just a “phase”! STAY TUNED.

Are you ever watching your favorite television show and some sort of advertisement comes on that really you have no interest in? I know I know a lot of us don’t really care for advertisements at all, but what if the ads that are on your t.v. are things you are potentially interested in? How about if you’re watching a show like Home Shopping Network, and you can then use your remote control, push a few buttons, and charge a purchase from your television? How about voting for your favorite reality show contestant without using your phone?
All these are things that our televisions are going to be soon allowing us to do in addition to relevant commercials. NPRNews points out, “Consumer advocates worry about marketers compromising our privacy by rummaging through our viewing habits and getting us to trade personal information for coupons.” Potentially these marketing companies will know everything you have purchased, however they will not know detail information such as your name. Is this sort of thing crossing the line on your personal t.v time? This sort of thing is already happening with the internet (behavioral targeting) and websites you are visiting (cookies), so why not with your television too? Leadpile Lead Exchange does not use cookies with our lead generation, however many affiliate marketing networks do.

Craigslist has been feeling some heat lately because of it’s “erotic services” section on it’s site. However, according to consumeraffairs.com, “Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has fired back at South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who has been threatening to prosecute Buckmaster on criminal charges of soliciting prostitution. In an unusual turnabout, Buckmaster has filed suit against McMaster, seeking an injunction that would bar him from filing charges.” It seems other states besides South Carolina are raising suits against the site’s owner, yet Buckmaster feels he and his site is protected under the First Amendment and, more specifically, by the Communications Decency Act, enacted by Congress in 1996 to protect Web sites, telecommunications providers and other interactive media. Does Craigslist and other social networking sites have the right to have these “services” promoted on their sites, or is there a difference between “allowing” it and “promoting” it? We will all see how this case pans out, and it is probably going to set some precedence for future cases involving the internet.

Update: Carigslist has removed it’s “erotic services” section of the site, and replaced it with “adult services”.

We all now what the auto makers have been struggling with. Most recently Chrysler filed bankruptcy, and now it appears GM might be following suit. It seems GM is trying to do a quick sale of its “healthy” assets.
The remaining assets of GM would stay in bankruptcy protection to satisfy other outstanding claims. GM has about $6 billion in secured debt, including secured revolving credit and bank debt.
The ownership structure of the company is still being worked out. In addition, the government would extend a credit line to the new company, and potentially forgive a large amount of the $15.4 billion in emergency loans that GM already received. The government has given GM until June 1 to restructure it’s operations to lower it’s debt and employee costs.
Leadpile Lead Exchange is very much concerned about the future of the auto industry. We hope this struggling industry sees the light at the end of the tunnel!

Starting with our MicroClick Form, Leadpile has introduced to the Affiliate Marketing world a new way to monetize web traffic, changing the Affiliates (Publishers), for the first time ever in this industry, into “Lead Sellers”.

- Leadpile Podcast – the latest news on our exchange and affiliate marketing world.

Due to ongoing payday lending regulations, many states are closing up their store front properties. Ohio has implemented recent payday lending regulations and more than a third of the stores have closed up. Cincinnati.com points out, “Payday lenders operated roughly 1,600 retail locations across Ohio before voters approved new restrictions. Now, payday lenders run just 960 storefronts.” Unfortunately, this sort of scenario is happening with a lot of the other states across the country. Will these companies with a brick and mortar presence simply resort to just the online lending route? For some, the convenience of walking in a cash advance store is easier because maybe the inability to get access to a computer.
This also opens up even more questions about what will payday lenders look to do in the future with continuous payday regulations coming up in the various states? “Installment loans” seems to be what payday lenders are going to be able to provide to consumers to help them with their need for additional money. These short term, non securitized loans will allow consumers with the much needed cash, but with a slightly longer period of time to pay back the loan. Hopefully this new venture will then allow our payday lenders to keep some of their brick and mortar stores open, to still be able to provide the much needed loans, even in payday “excluded” states? We hope so!
This leads to potentially some great opportunity with the online lead generators such as Leadpile Lead Exchange. The bottom line is people need quick fast cash, and sometimes it is more convenient to go in a payday loan store, but then for some it is easier to apply online for a loan. Payday loan lead generation is a very popular vertical for affiliate marketers and other online marketing individuals to get into. However, following the proper procedure and making sure the user experience is truly safe and positive is the key.

Your best offers are the ones that can lead to more opportunity in the future. Remember, when analyzing offers, it is good business to identify those that are stable, scalable, and can lead to long lasting relationships. The right offer can be the key to your organization’s  growth and success, so look at each offer in terms of both short term gains, and long term opportunities.

Leadpile Lead Exchange is committed to giving back to the community. Each month we have a designated charity that we extend a helpful hand to. Some of the things that we contributed to during this month were:

Classroom Project: “TIME to Learn About the World Around Us” – Contributing to this project allows us to give in the purchasing of a subscription to TIME for Kids. This magazine subscription would allow students to learn what is going on in the world around them, in a manner that they understand. This magazine promotes reading and learning in a “kid” friendly format.

Classroom Project: “Teaching Technology With Technology” – Contributing to this project will help in the purchase of an LCD projector that this particular school really needs. The LCD projector is very important in a sense it helps allow students to follow along visually while learning computer skills.

Classroom Project: “Producing Quality Art with a Purpose” – Contributing to this project will help with the purchase of a high quality camera for the graphic design program. This sort of camera is very important for the program so the students can take high quality pictures for the advertising projects.

We were able to help with these children’s projects this month through the website DonorsChoose.org. Donors Choose allows companies like Leadpile to be matched up with schools that are in need of supplies and materials.

In recent news, Google announced some changes with it’s Adwords trademark policy. The new policy will now allow advertisers to utilize trademarked names in their text ads, even if the trademark does belong to someone else. Previously, advertisers could only use generic terms, however with this change advertisers can utilize brand names. There seems to still be some restrictions that Google outlines in their trademark policy. With these changes, Google is now in line with Yahoo and Microsoft, who had already made these changes. This loosened trademark policy is now more in line with standard practices in the offline world.
These new changes to Adwords certainly is something our Leadpile publishers will want to pay attention to.