We have all spent a nice amount of time on YouTube enjoying some videos made by people like you and I. Somehow some of these videos make it into the spotlight and get national attention. The good news for these sorts of filmmakers is that they might be eligible to receive cash from the famous video site. News reports are stating there might be some monetary motivation to create some great videos for YouTube. It seems that if your video is “likable”, then the peeps over at YouTube could reach out to you to discuss being paid for your video. This is in an effort to help motivate video makers to create a better quality video for their website. Good move or something that will just create some craziness amongst video makers?

We know YouTube is a great place to market yourself, your company, or simply have fun. Enjoy Leadpile’s YouTube videos!

According to recent articles, the amount of money being spent on paid internet searches (such asPPC) has notably risen. Between 2008-2009 there was a 14% rise. Many believe the increase in paid searches can be due to the retail industry being down, leaving more opportunity for non-retail related businesses and consumers to make purchases on the  internet. Search engine sites, such as Bing, are up an impressive 26%, with Google up 15.9% for paid searches.

Paid searches on the internet continue to grow strong and prove to be beneficial to websites on the internet. Leadpile works with PPC publishers to help maximize a site’s potential and bring in consumers who are looking for a service.

Have you been denied an auto loan, credit card or mortgage in the past? Well you’re not alone, according to FICO over 25% of consumers now have a credit score of 599 or below. The labor department says about 26 million people are out of work or underemployed and millions more face foreclosure, which can ding your credit score by 150 points. Consumers with average credit scores are not being given an interest rate they may deserve since we rely so heavily on the credit score alone. Banks aren’t taking into consideration that 2 people with a 650 credit score may have completely different spending/paying habits. One’s score may be lower because they just were approved for an auto loan, while the others score may be lower because they have several late payments.

What are your thoughts on how heavily we rely on ones credit score, what other alternatives should be considered?

We’ve discussed the topic of Google’s presence in China a couple times, and it looks like it’s time to revisit the topic again.  It appears China has decided to renew its license with Google to continue using its search address Google.cn. In March, Google had begun redirecting search queries from China’s mainland to a version of its search engine that is not censored in Hong Kong.  Google stopped redirecting two weeks after the government indicated it would not renew its license if the company continued this practice.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt commented at a news conference, “Our operations in China are completely at the discretion of the Chinese government.  I don’t want anyone to be confused about that.”

During the standoff with Beijing, Google did lose some of its search share to other rivals such as Baidu.com. Other Google services continue to be popular such as its email service, Gmail.  Other services provided by Google such as YouTube continue to be blocked by China.

Under the renewed license, Google.cn requires visitors to click on an image in order to be redirected to the Hong Kong site for web searches.  Music search features, product searches and translation services have also recently been made accessible from Google.cn itself recently.

It will be interesting to see if the new 2-click requirement for Google will restrict its commercial ability to make the ad revenue it has long profited from.

Yahoo and Zillow are combining forces to make Zillow the exclusive sales partner to existing home sales advertisers on Yahoo. This partnership will form the largest real estate ad network for existing home advertisers. According to ClickZ,  Zillow which currently offers enhanced listings and profile pages for agents, will also be included on Yahoo Real Estate placements. Zillow’s for-sale listings, showcase ads, and featured listings will also be fed to Yahoo’s site. Yahoo Real Estate and Zillow currently rank second and third among top real estate sites, Realtor.com tops the rankings.

The two companies have worked together since 2006, and partnered separately with a large percentage of the same newspaper site publishers.. Bringing their resources together to become one bigger better force will logically be a positive move.

Times must be tough if one of the world’s largest retailers is planning on offering small business loans. MSNBC is reporting that Wal-Mart is teaming up with a lender to offer small business loans to some of our nation’s businesses. So, is the motive behind something like this to promote businesses to spend money at their stores? If that is in fact the case, is that really a bad idea?
The retail giant is reporting that in a recent survey, they conducted with their business clients, a large percentage of them were rejected for business loans. Therefore, in a effort to capitalize on these “unhelped” businesses, Wal-Mart teamed up with Superior Financial Group to offer these businesses a small business loan.
Good idea or not? If our “traditional” banks are not lending to consumers and businesses, is it really a conflict of interest to have a retail giant want to jump in and help? There seems to be no strings attached for these businesses and being required to only shop at Wal-Mart stores, however they are offering a discount on the Sam’s Club membership. Sounds like a good idea to me……

Arizona’s new law has drawn so much national attention recently that even the Justice Department has stepped in to file a lawsuit against the state. The new law, requiring immigrants to carry alien registration at all times and allowing authorities to question their residency status with reasonable suspicion that they are not in the country legally, is being seriously questioned.
The Justice Department is suing the states new law in violation of the supremacy clause in the Constitution. Along with many others who are fighting against the law, the Justice Department believes the law is too strict. Although it is federal law to illegally be in the country, the department believes this specific law takes it too far and causes further unnecessary problems with racial profiling. With the hispanic culture expanding throughout the country, it isn’t easy to to chose those who may or may not be living here legally, making it easier for even those who have legal papers to be harassed.
It seems that Arizona is in the news all over the place…. payday loan law going in effect this month, and now also the excitement surrounding the immigration law. Leadpile is located in AZ, so we all will be keeping an eye on all this EXCITING news!!!!

Industry blogs and forums are a great place to potentially bring on new business.
There is nothing better than having someone who believes in your services refer people over that they see as a good fit.
Keep your eyes open to this sort of situation because it could really help to build your business.

Can it be true? Is the cost of sending a letter going to be raised again? Investing now in the “Forever Stamps” may be a smart move to make in the near future. The postal service which has thrown around many ideas such as limiting mail delivery to 5 days a week, has announced that it would like to raise the cost of a first-class stamp 2 cents, from .44 to .46 cents starting in January 2011. Consumers who purchase the Forever Stamps at .44 will continue to be able to use these stamps for the full cost of postage even after the change.

With the changing time, economy, email, and so many things being taken care of over the internet the postal service has seen a steady decline in profits facing a potential $7 billion dollar loss in 2010.

Are you avoiding paying off debt? Paying the minimums could hurt you.. Something as simple as removing a couple of monthly “splurges” such as limiting trips to starbucks could give you additional funds to put towards your debt and make a dent in amounts owed and keep things under control.

Debt to income ratio is helpful to look at when evaluating your finances. Bankrate.com recommends that people’s debt not be more than 20% of take home pay – including your car payment. They recommend that housing expenses not be more than 30% of your monthly income.

Now that every credit card bill comes with a breakdown on how long it will take the consumer to wipe out a debt making only the monthly payments it is a reality check for many people. If the minimum payment is all that is being made, the debt can keep increasing and it can take very long extended periods of time, even decades to pay off the total amount.

Some consumers benefit from credit counseling sessions, these can help identify the biggest areas of concern and help create a debt management plan often times having the creditors agree to lower interest or payments. Two last resort options for consumers in debt can be debt settlement or bankruptcy.