Leadpile’s Blog

Just when we thought the auto industry was headed in the right direction, a recall happens with Toyota…. then another recall.. then another recall with Honda. I don’t know about you but this is scary for the auto (finance) industry that we very much work in. Going to a dealership was like going to a ghost town, and then things finally started getting better. This shake up with Toyota, and now Honda, could not have come at a worse time. The struggling auto industry was finally heading in the right direction, and then this all happens. The ironic thing about the recent recalls is the fact that the two companies now in the news were the ones that stayed out of the negative lime-light in the last few years. Kudos I guess to our nation’s automakers for already having gone through the “bad” part of the auto industry hiccups, but gosh when is the auto industry going to get a break? Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that the auto industry keeps moving forward, not backwards!

The auto makers have been in the news lately with the Toyota recall, and now some positive news from Ford. A couple negative years of profits seems to have come to an end with Ford Motor Company. MSNBC is reporting that Ford actually had a profit of 2.9billion dollars for 2009. That’s HUGE for an industry that has had so many struggles. Ford avoided bankruptcy, unlike it’s US competitors, so how did they squeeze out a profit for 2009? It seems that the Ford Credit division helped the overall bottom line.
One thing I hope continues to move in the right direction, and that is people continue to still look to purchase cars… and more importantly they go online!

Recent news with Leadpile and the payday loan industry was that we entered the Canadian cash advance space, and now we are excited to announce we are now going to be working with Canadian auto finance leads. Just like the US auto industry, this appears to be the time when the Canadian auto finance industry starts taking a turn for the better. People need cars whether they are in Canada or the US, and we are looking to match them with dealers.
We are seeking new publishers to generate this lead type and also additional buyers that are working in Canadian auto leads. If this is something that you are looking at doing, please contact us!!!

We all know that there are great deals to be had in automotive market right now. Many car dealers are willing to cut their prices and haggle much more than in the past. So buying a new car as a steal should be simple, right? Car dealers may be willing to work with you on price, but when it comes to giving you a loan, not so much.
Unless you are very money savvy or have a great job, buying a car with cash is not always possible. This day in age it is very common for the majority of people to take out a car loan and finance their car. With the market how it is, getting a car loan can be easier said than done. Its not that lenders do not want to give out loans, they are just being much more picky on who they will approve. Also, interest rates are very high at the moment and your credit can make a difference on if you are approved and what interest rate you receive. According to U.S.News, when trying to finance or get a loan for your new car there are a few key facts you should know.
1. Basics of Car Loans – know that you will have to pay an interest rate which includes principal and interest.
2. Car Loan Term – This is the amount of time that you have agreed on to pay the lender back. The car is not yours until you pay back the WHOLE loan and interest.
3. Credit Score – As stated above, interest rate is normally based on an individuals credit score. Usually, the lower the credit score the higher the interest rate.
4. Apply Several Times – Consumers normally apply to several different companies to get their loans. This will give you a better chance to get a loan that suits your exact needs.
At the end of the day it is by no means impossible to get a auto finance loans. LeadPile is also here to help. We match up consumers and lenders who meet each others needs. Hopefully, this helped you realize that with the right knowledge and steps, buying a new car with great financing is not as far out of reach as you may think.

There seems to be some momentum brewing in the auto industry. We all saw some positive response to the Cash For Clunkers program, and it appears there might be some light at the end of the tunnel with the auto finance industry. Leadpile has written about the increase in bankruptcies and the housing market still struggling, however there seems to be some little signs that people might be starting to look again for cars. This could be great news for consumers, dealerships, and and the lead generation industry who has seen some stagnant volume of leads coming in.

Recent conversations that I have been having with affiliates, indicates that there might be that demand again for the auto finance leads. This is potentially exciting news for Leadpile because now we can reach out to our publishers to bring in this lead type. Leadpile publishers can drive traffic to our auto finance offers, place a Microclick form on their website(s), use banners or do a host and post.
Let’s all cross our fingers that this is the beginning of the end of our struggling auto finance industry. If it is any indication by all the Ford commercials that are playing on our televisions, this industry it coming back!

Sad news in the auto finance industry today….. Cash For Clunkers will end today. This program has fueled great success in our nation’s dealerships, however that is ending today. I am curious to see the reported end results of this short lived program and see if this is something that be continued on in the future. Ask the dealerships and they say that this brought people into their dealerships that would never have come. Ask consumers and they say this was great because they earned more money for their cars, than they ever would without the program. Ask the government and they say???????
This program we know has brought more traffic to the online auto finance industry, and Leadpile loves the idea of this. Can we all say “let’s keep Cash for Clunkers” going?

In an effort to boost some new car sales, GM has teamed up with the online shopping marketplace eBay. Previously, eBay was a place you could purchase a car, however purchasing a brand new car was not necessarily available. The NY Times is reporting, “The venture will involve about 225 dealerships in California at first, but G.M. hopes to expand it nationally as soon as September.” Hopefully, in combination with the Cash For Clunkers program and this sort of exposure, GM will see some positive things happening. Many reports are showing that the Cash For Clunkers program has allowed more auto finance traffic to start coming in to lead generators. If that is the case, hopefully we will see a high acceptance of this lead type by our buyers.

Just a few days I was referencing the new Cash For Clunkers campaign that the government had rolled out recently. However, it appears this seems to be too good to be true. The Associated Press is reporting today that the campaign is being haulted because there could be a lack of funds to support the popularity of this campaign. It does not seem anything is for sure regarding it being canceled, however I am sure we will all get some new news on this in the next couple of days. This campaign actually was lighting a fire in the auto finance industry like many I am sure hoped, but that didn’t last for long!

It’s been a really bad year for many industries, however the auto finance industry has got to be one of the worst hit. GM has been hit really hard this year with a bankruptcy, and was forced to become a recipient of government bailout money. However, this second half of the year might prove to be a little happier for GM with the roll out of the new Camaro. What little boy (or girl) did not have aspirations of having one of these cars, but never could?
NPR news is reporting that there has been 15,000 of these beauties already sold and 13,000 on back order, but is carefully manufacturing these cars in a timely manner so there does not become a higher supply than demand. So maybe all this buzz will ignite some other auto sales so we can get this auto finance industry going in the right direction! Good luck GM!

Lately it seems to be a dog-eat-dog world with all our search engines trying to get the biggest piece of the search engine “puzzle”. Yesterday I spoke about search engines and the need to bring new things to the table in order to stay competitive with other search engines. Ask.com is one of those search engines that is offering a unique service that other search engines are not offering. For instance, Ask.com is great for longer questions you want answered versus entering them in a standard Google search, and having to filter through all the results. Comscore reports that Ask.com’s ranking rose from 10th place to now 6th place, compared to other properties such as eBay and Facebook (in May based on unique users). This explains why a lot of Leadpile publishers are using this search engine to generate traffic to their payday loan, debt, auto finance, online education and other websites. Just like search engines trying to do something different to attract users, affiliate marketing and lead generators have to think of unique ways to generate traffic to their properties. Ask.com seems to be a good option to consider. It appears that others think so too, and that’s why their rankings seem to be headed in the right direction. Another GREAT alternative to the Google BEAST!

Is there really a good time to capture email addresses and other secure information from consumers that are visiting your website(s)? Bizreport.com thinks there is an optimal time to get the consumer to provide their email addresses, when doing their online shopping (or other online activities). So, when is an ideal time to capture this sort of information from the consumer?? The report says, “At the highest engagement level, and most times this is at the point of purchase or while consumers are beginning to shop your site. .” Why is this? Capturing this sort of information creates more customer loyalty. If you want the customers to come back to your site, or eventually react to future emails you send them, they have to trust you and the site. The report also found that since mobile marketing (SMS marketing)is so popular right now, capturing their email addresses to send them mobile updates is something a lot of consumers are open to.
These sort of rules also apply to other online experiences, such as lead generation. For instance, Leadpile captures email addresses on all it’s leads, however there are some lead types such as payday loan and auto finance where additional secure information is captured. Capturing this information at the right time is certainly key to the trust factor with the consumer submitting online requests for things such as loans.

Financial issues in the auto industry is not NEW news, however Chrysler looking at bankruptcy is news all of us are going to want to pay attention to.

It seems Chrysler headed back into court yesterday to try and sever partnerships it has with Chrysler dealerships nationwide. According to Time.com, “Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler maintains that it needs to reduce its dealer base by about 25 percent to a leaner network of about 2,400 dealers in order to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a stronger company.” The unfortunate thing seems to be that these dealerships can’t understand this decision, and truly feel it is going to dramatically affect them. Many of the Chrysler dealerships also had not shown support for Chrysler to sell a majority of it’s assets to the Fiat Group, because this decision would also potentially close all their dealerships. Either way it sounds like a loose-loose situation for the dealerships, and all they are wanting to do is remain open to sell cars. Leadpile really is interested in how this all pans out, not only because we do lead generation in the auto finance industry, but as consumers we are potentially witnessing a mjor corporation file bankruptcy. This potential collapse of this many dealerships ultimately affects numerous industries, not just the auto industry. My question is, if all these dealerships shut down, where will all the inventory/cars be moved to? Would this mean potentially the “slashing” of prices on the Chrysler cars? Stay tuned!