Going to your favorite shopping website could become something that will become a little more “friendlier” user experience. With recent issues with companies that are partnering up with online retail shopping sites, there has been some complaints by consumers that don’t like what happens on their shopping sites. Many shopping sites in the past have partnered up with companies that privide offers to consumers throughout their shopping experience, however many of these offers are not very clear to the consumers. Because there is not alot of clarity to what the consumer is clicking on, many consumers click on offers that they had no understanding of what they were doing. Many consumers have complained to the online shopping sites, causing the shopping sites to discontinue these partnerships. Yahoo Finance points out some things to do to protect yourself online:

1. Use your credit card, not your debit card. There is better financial protection for you by the bank if you use a credit card versus the debt card.
2. Be careful what you are clicking on. If you are on an online shopping site, ignore and pop ups or offers that appear on your screen. Clicking on these offers could cost you even more money!
3. Watch you credit card bills. Banks mess up, just like we all mess up with accidentally clicking on things, so review your credit card bill each month to make sure every charge is legitimate. If not, contact your credit card company immediately to dispute the charge.

Leadpile works with partnerships where we potentially offer secondary offers to our consumers filling out our forms, however we never utilize any offers that are pre populated or are deceiving. There is a loose loose situation if companies are doing this negative sort of lead generation. So pay attention to what you are clicking on online!

Facebook did a 5-for-1 stock on Friday marking the third split in the company’s history.  It’s true market value is still unknown until the company goes public.  Expectations for an IPO isn’t expected until 2012 at the earliest. Currently, Facebook shares can be sold on SecondMarket which puts Facebook’s current valuation at around $30 billion.  Nearly $150 million Facebook stock sales have been recorded since April 2009.

While a stock split will not increase a shareholder’s equity, increasing the number of company shares can increase liquidity and make the company’s shares easier and less expensive to trade.

An interesting note, Google’s stock split several times prior to going public back in 2004.

Just before the release of the movie “The Social Network”, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced he was donating $100 million for education that will go toward improving public schools in Newark, New Jersey. A new foundation named Startup: Education will focus on improving education in the United States. The mayor will be working with the education plan to strategize this reform.

Zuckerberg is hoping that his donation being public will help to influence others to do the same thing. This is the first donation that he has decided to do with his $6.9 billion fortune, making him one of the youngest billionaires on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

Despite some skepticism over the timing of the donation being so near to the movie release,  the donation is nonetheless valuable. With over 500 million users to Facebook, it is good to see that the social network is giving back to the community in such a large way. Hopefully, this is the beginning of more donations to come and not just for good press to surround the movie.

Social networking sites are a part of most people’s daily lives. Unfortunately, telling too much information seems to be something that people aren’t paying enough attention to. For instance, Facebook users consistently update their status and what they are doing at any given time during the day. However, people are updating their status telling the “world” they are going out of town. How about do you have your full birth date and/or address listed on your profile? None of these items would create any security issues if you have a limited number of Facebook friends that you personally trust, AND you have your privacy settings set that those that are not “friends” with you can not see profile information. If these two items are the case, then this information might not apply to you.
Yahoo Finance pointed out some great things that you should be conscious of with your Facebook accounts.

Things you should never reveal on Facebook:
1. Your birth date and birth place
2. Vacation plans
3. Home address
4. Confessionals
5. Password hints
6. Risky behaviors

Not only are these items above revealing more information then you should be sharing with a total stranger, this information could be potentially viewed by your future employers, insurance company, lenders etc.
Bottom line: limit what you put on your Facebook account because you don’t want just anyone to know everything and anything you are doing in all hours of the day.

Twitter recently announced some of their biggest news all year offering video and pictures for tweet posts. This new feature will show a sidebar on the twitter screen that will allow the user to post a picture or video relating to their tweet as opposed to a link or a separate website. Before this, users were limited to 140 characters to share their tweet without visuals.

The new Twitter is also expected to include better advertisements and a way to scroll to the bottom of the page without clicking on a “more” button. They believe these moves will help make them more “user friendly”.Twitter partnered with several media providers including YouTube and Google in order to make this move possible. With Facebook continuing to gather people all over world, Twitter may be thinking of ways to keep with their social media users. Will you be switching to Twitter to share pictures or videos or continue to post them on outlets such as Facebook?

Remember to follow up with past contacts, even if you are not currently doing business with them. Business needs and developments change, so you never know what opportunities you might be missing with the people you already know.

How many of us have a Gmail email account? How many of us knew there was an enhancement that was just rolled out to all Gmail email users?
DMNews is reporting that the new “Priority Inbox” will filter your e-mail messages into three sections: “important and unread,” “starred” and “everything else.” The new priority inbox will categorize your messages as they arrive to a consumer’s inbox. Gmail will be using various methods to predict which messages are important, including the people you e-mail most and which messages you open and reply to.
In regards to email marketing, does this mean the possibility of having to change your practices so you have an ability to effectively deliver Gmail emails? Some are saying no this is not going to affect email marketers, however how about those that are not necessarily practicing “good practices”? This new priority inbox might be filtering out those “bad” emails that many consumers will now be avoiding because they will show up at the “bottom” of their inbox.
Good update for Gmail…. or just a wasted effort to make your email better? You decide!

The internet has been buzzing today about Google’s new home page and how the logo has changed. The previous logo has gone from the solid colored “Google” font to moving colorful dots that scatter through out the screen when the mouse goes by it.
Many people are speculating if the new logo has to do with Google’s 12th Birthday, new innovations, or if it’s just an entertaining change for the site.

This morning, a Google spokesperson stated,

“Today’s doodle is fun, fast, and interactive, just the way we think search should be,”.

Last time Google received this much attention for their homepage was back in May when it was turned into a playable Pac-Man game for the game’s anniversary. This page was so popular it was reported to have used 4.8 million hours of productivity from those who used it.

One way or another, Google is once again  receiving attention for simply changing their home page look.

Are you a brand name buyer? Are there certain products that you buy generic or store brand? Comparing the pricing on these may shock you and really add up over time! Taking into consideration, the quality of the product – some things generic just may not add up.

A few products you are safe to save some cash and buy the generic version:

Breakfast Cereal – $2.99 for brand name, $0.99 for generic; the ingredients are typically exactly the same and they are just as tasty!

Prescription Drugs – Pricing on generics can be more than half of the cost of brand name. Pharmaceutical companies are required to use the same ingredients, so if it’s available – why not?

Cooking & Baking Ingredients – Flour, butter, sugar, salt & spices , these are all the same and can offer a huge savings!

Fruits & Veggies – Unless looking for a very specific or rare type of produce, locally grown or lesser-known brands of produce can be just as delicious as a brand name banana or apple. Try it out, if you don’t like it, switch back – but if you do, you could save some additional money!

According to msnbc.com , the average consumer can save $200-$1,500 per year by purchasing generic!

The US may not hold the world record for fastest texting any longer. Melissa Thompson from Salford, England has just broken the record for fastest typing on a phone using the sentence,

“The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.”.

The previous Guinness World Record was held by Franklin Page from Seattle with a text speed of 35.45 seconds. If approved by Guinness, Thompson will hold the new record for texting the sentence the most quickly in 29.54 seconds. Although she says she has slowed down, Thompson accredits her texting abilities to writing her boyfriend 40-50 times a day. Clearly, she’s had quite a bit of practice.

Can you text the above sentence used by Guinness Records in less than the current record time? Being on the internet so often, I’m almost willing to bet some of the people here at Leadpile could!

In this economy consumers are being more conscientious of their spending habits.
Coupon sites are becoming more and more popular. Living in Los Angeles I know of four that I check regularly, Groupon being one of them. Groupon launched in November of 2008 and features daily deals for over 85 US cities. Most deals are at least 50% off, ranging from restaurants to clothing stores to different outdoor/indoor activities.

Here are some interesting facts about Groupon and their customers.

- Groupon has 9.1 million members
- They have sold over 8.9 million coupons
- 97% of the businesses that participate ask to be featured again
- 68% are between 18-34 years old
- 50% have a bachelor’s degree
- 49% are single
- 77% are women
- 75% have fill-time jobs
- 29% annual income is over $100,000

How many of you have used Groupon? What are your thoughts on coupon sites?

Do you ever ask for help? If not, you might want to start looking at delegating tasks to your fellow co workers. Being in control of everything is something many of us are guilty of, however the best affiliate managers are those that know when they are overwhelmed and need others to assist them. Learn how to use your company’s resources and other people to help you achieve your goals each day. Your clients will appreciate it if they are taken care of by yourself or one of your peers, as long as their needs are met. Learn to delegate!