Leadpile’s Blog

No really? The social networking site Facebook has hit it BIG because it passed Google in the number of visitors coming to their site. Information Week stated, “For the week ending March 13, Facebook accounted for 7.07% of all U.S. Internet visits, while Google accounted for 7.03%, according to Hitwise. It was the first time Facebook had held the No. 1 spot for a week.” This is great news for Facebook, because this sort of ranking could potentially help them out financially. So, who will benefit besides Facebook themselves on this sort of increased ranking?
In the lead generation space I wish there was maybe some additional opportunity for this mega social networking site to be able to truly produce some great lead generation results. I have yet so see a publisher we work with at Leadpile that is effectively using Facebook to generate leads. What needs to happen in order for Affiliate Marketing to truly be able to capitalize on this site, or are there publishers that are showing success with monetizing Facebook traffic? I would like to speak with them if it is happening!
Great job Facebook… keep doing what you are doing, because it’s working!

Leadpile is excited to be a part of the upcoming Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas, NV. If you are an affiliate that will be attending this weekend’s upcoming show, please make sure and stop by our Meet Market booth on Sunday January 17th. This show is a great opportunity for us to see some past, present and new partners all in one place. We would love to talk about lead generation, publisher opportunities, advertisers opportunities, affiliate marketing, traffic and anything else related to affiliate marketing. If you are not attending the show, make sure and reach out to us so we can discuss how we can potentially work together (mari@leadpile.com).

A daily conversation that myself and others in the affiliate marketing world deal with is the question of the form/ad/banner sizes. Leadpile is a perfect example of someone that has revolutionized a “smaller” version of forms and banners with the Microclick form, but is it more effective? ….OR is it more effective to have a larger leaderboard size banners or ad? How about a full size form on a website that does not allow as much content on the site, is that better? According to the Bizreport.com, banner size could in fact matter with the effectiveness of it’s message and goal.
Ultimately, all of us that are in the lead generation business and want to maintain longevity must always keep the user experience in mind to maintain effectiveness. The bottom line is consumers need to feel a sense of security when clicking on or filling out any form. Maybe having more content around the form instead of the larger form/banner occupying a large part of the site, might be a better idea for the consumer. The jury is out on what really is more effective, but I will say Leadpile Lead Exchange believes a form/banner like the size of the Microclick form is the most effective for the consumer’s experience.

I don’t think there is a day that goes by where something about Twitter is not being talked about. That’s great for them, but what is it really bringing them as far as money in their pockets? It seems they are still working on long term initiatives that would help them make money off it’s popularity. However, for now they are continuing to come up with ideas that will help the current users make money. In the next few days, they will be rolling out the first phase of educational information for businesses on how they can effectively use Twitter to generate revenue for their own company (big and small). Twitter will continue to roll out educational information so they can help their users become more Twitter savvy with Tweeting. They see their site as a great tool for businesses to use to help generate revenue. Does this mean if they are going to help educate businesses on how to make money, then they must have something planned for themselves on how THEY are going to make money? I hope so!
Twitter is looking to be looked at more like a communication network, versus a social network. They have forecasted that they will have revenues of around 4 billion for the 4th quarter, but I am not sure how they will achieve that with the way the site is currently. Maybe they have something “big” up their sleeves????? Leadpile Lead Exchange uses Twitter on a limited basis, however maybe with some new tools available we could look at using it even more! Are other lead generation companies using Twitter to generate leads? I would be curious to see how affiliate marketers and other lead generation companies are utilizing this “communication network” to help their business?

I am not sure if this is something new, or maybe just a White House position I have never really paid attention till now, however President Obama has named 2 high profile company executives to his tech council.  Tech Council?  Yes, there is such a thing and I think this is a sign of the times.  America has gone internet “crazy” and it is only right to have a President working closely with individuals from Google and Microsoft.  Google’s Eric Schmidt and Microsoft’s Craig Mundie have joined a team (PCAST) of 20 advisers to the President.

“PCAST is designed to give the White House a pipeline to some of the leading voices in science, engineering and technology as the administration crafts policies in those areas,” according to Internet News.  Leadpile Lead Exchange, and other internet companies, like the idea of the potential of more advacements and assistance for this growing internet world we are all a part of.  Maybe in the next presidential term there will be representatives from social networking sites and maybe affiliate marketing companies? Now that is a great idea!

Got Gold?????

Unless you have been in a cave, you would know that the price of gold is on the rise.  Right now, the price per ounce of gold is pushing above $1000!  The price of gold has appreciated greatly during this economic downturn.  According to Time.com, “The supply of gold is also a factor in pricing. Many investors holding gold reserves have faced losses in their other assets, which would have led them to sell their gold. Ordinary people, too, have motive to sell their gold jewelry during a recession, which should increase the supply of gold on the open market and impede a price hike.”
Leadpile Lead Exchange has certainly recognized this increased demand in gold. Getting cash for your gold is hot in the affiliate marketing world, and on our televisions. I don’t think I can go an hour or two without seeing some sort of cash for gold commercial on t.v. Knowing this, Leadpile has created an offer, and is always looking for traffic to it (nationalgoldcenter.com). We have advertisers wanting more and more leads in this arena, and if you have a desire to jump on this band wagon, let us know.

For those of you in the online lead generation business, there is a great conference coming up March 4-5th, 2009 called LeadsCon. This conference is being held in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mirage Hotel. Companies from all over will be coming together to try and increase the effectiveness and success of the industry.  Leadpile will be a sponsor for this great event.  Also, we will be attending this conference and we are looking forward to meeting some new faces, and once again seeing the familiar faces. If you will be attending and would like to meet up, please let us know!

Ask.com has closed a deal with Symantec (Norton software), where ask.com will provide the consumers a toolbar with search feature, displaying Ask results. So far, no matter how inovative Ask.com tools were, they couldn’t get a major market share in the Search space. With this new deal, it will become more interesting to watch their evolution. They seem to follow the same approach as Yahoo, when they signed a deal with McAfee.
The consumers will have the search tool integrated inside their toolbar, provided by Norton in their new release due Tuesday.

As many of you already know, LinkedIn is a great source for networking.  I was looking over the site and came across and very good article about the benefits of LinkedIn.  I thought I would share this information with the Leadpile readers.  According to LinkedIn blog, there are 10 potential benefits to using LinkedIn:

1. Increase your visibility
2. Improve your connectability
3. Improve your Google PageRank
4. Enhance your search engine results
5. Perform blind, “reverse,”

and company reference checks
6. Increase the relevancy of your job search
7. Make your interview go smoother
8. Gauge the health of a company
9. Gauge the health of an industry
10. Track startups

Leadpile Lead Exchange and myself included, utilize LinkedIn as a great source to network with other companies. If this is not something you are already doing, I strongly suggest taking a look and seeing all the benefits of using this great site. We would love to hear from you on LinkedIn.

If you want to access your LinkedIn on the go.

There has been some recent blog posts by myself and my peers, regarding the Affiliate Summit Boston we recently attended. After attending this particular show, I could not believe all the new companies that are becoming a part of the Affiliate Marketing world. Companies that you would not expect are getting into affiliate marketing. The fact is these publishers and advertisers are realizing they are going to reach more people through the internet, versus other advertising methods.

According to Jupiter Research, “In 2008, online marketers will spend $2.1 billion on affiliate marketing fees, with US online affiliate marketing spending reaching $3.3 billion in 2012.” Companies from Sandels Vacations to Overstock.com are getting in on affiliate marketing. Companies like the idea of getting involved in affiliate marketing because there is not much cost to them to do this, and the cost that is involved is performance based. This means that if you have an affiliate program and there is no success, than there is no loss of revenue for the company. This low risk advertising is one of the reasons affiliate marketing is becoming such a large part of the marketing world.
Unfortunately, with the greatness of affiliate marketing there comes some bad. There are some unethical affiliates who are not always doing the “right” thing. This sort of behavior is something companies will just have to continue to monitor, to maintain the greatness of their affiliate programs.
Searching forums, blogs and other online information about affiliate marketing is key to perfecting it. Leadpile Lead Exchange will continue to be involved in events such as the Afffiliate Summit, and other online affiliate marketing forums.

KNOWLEDGE = power
AFFILIATE MARKETING = building your business

Is the Exit Traffic considered a good or bad approach when it comes to Lead Generation and Affiliate Marketing? Well, that it all depends on how it’s used.

Just so we are all on the same page, exit traffic IT IS NOT a baby on a bike , but it represents a way to capture the visitor when they close the browser, or the first visited site. The way to do it, is by providing a popup window with a different offer. It can be a related service, or can be totally a different offer, but targeted to the consumer’s profile. The key of converting traffic is to offer something relevant to the visitors  you have. Learn about their needs and learn about your traffic. That will give you an advantage against your competition. 

After spending thousands of dollars on PPC (pay per click), each visitor represent a great deal to you, and by using the exit traffic in your advantage will help you increase your spent and not reduce it. Of course, Google Adwords division will be really happy about this!

There are many popup blockers out there, but there is still a good percentage of visitors that don’t use them. Learn about your traffic, create targeted pop-up and you will succeed in a market where many struggle. 

Everything is possible with the right mind set! 

Day after day I have to say to myself, that I am thankful for having such great lead sellers. Lead sellers in our marketplace are really on FIRE, when it comes to those taking FULL advantage of our Leadpile forms, banners, TEXT links, landing pages, and microclick ads. I say that because not all sellers are taking advantage of this, however those that are, are doing very well in our marketplace.
Specifically, the lead sellers that are doing the payday lead type are on FIRE! Why?
There are a lot of advantages that I am seeing that is affecting this:

1. Our forms, banners, TEXT links and microclick ads etc also have co-registration questions implemented in them. These are additional products and services that the consumer can also express an interest in. These = more leads to be sold in our marketplace by this seller! More leads sold=more leads potentially sold (higher EPL).
2. Sellers are using a combination of our forms with some websites, and then some microclick ads on their exit traffic (with a pop up or pop under). Using these microclick ads on another campaign is proving to be affected with these campaigns they are running with another affiliate. They are using these microclick ads to test only on their exit traffic, and seeing there is a HUGE benefit they did not realize was there. This is just added $$ to what they are already doing, and it is proving to be successful for them.
3. Repeat business is being generated through re-marketing and lead sellers are so happily surprised when they see this showing on their reports. They can’t believe they don’t have to do anything to get this additional revenue. Absolutely NOT!
4. Payday lead type is doing very well right now because of high demand currently for lots and lots of leads by the buyers. This high demand and the large amount of lead buyers we have, is having a positive affect on our lead sellers.
I beg to test any other new lead seller that wants to come in our marketplace and utilize all our Leadpile seller benefits, and compare their great success to other affiliate networks. What more could could you ask for as a lead seller? Really, if you wanted to get started with generating leads to sell with Leadpile, you could being within minutes (once approved of course). You don’t even NEED a website!