Leadpile’s Blog

Hot vertical: BUSINESS CASH ADVANCE.  I have advertisers signing up every single day for this lead.  I need more production! The demand for this lead type is on fire.  The payout is great and we have advertisers begging for them.  LeadPile Lead Exchange is growing rapidly with the B2B category.

A business cash advance does have a few industry standards.  The business must accept credit cards.  They have to be in business for at least a year (even though some companies will do 6 months).  They have to accept credit cards volume larger than 5k. 

Business Cash Advance companies provide working capital against your credit card receivables.  Based on information from my buyers it takes about 8 months for companies to pay back the advance.  This lead type is explosive.  In the blink of an eye its on demand!  

Are other lead gens growing into this lead type as well?  What about aggregators or brokers?  Might be something to talk about over lunch.  With a high payout and a huge appetite on the demand, I’m all for it! Wouldn’t you?  

To build your business you must come up with ways to bring in new clients, however each business will have their own “right” way of generating this new business. A few options businesses have is to work with list brokers and to work with lead exchanges.
List brokers are companies that gather data of things such as home owners, consumers information in certain geographic regions, fax numbers, email lists, businesses and many many more. These are lists of people or businesses that meet the specific requirements the business is looking for.
Lead exchanges are a common platform for buyers AND sellers of WEB based leads. These are consumers specifically looking for a particular product or service.

The biggest difference amongst these two sources, of generating business, is the consumer/business is expressing the interest in something. They are “opting in” to receive more information about the particular product or service. Things such as the Do Not Call list do not apply to these consumers that are filling out a request for information. However, list brokers are dealing with general lists and MUST be scrubbed with the Do Not Call Registry. Those that are purchasing lists for various email marketing, SMS marketing, or other advertising purposes need to make sure that they are scrubbing their lists, to prevent any penalties being enforced.

Purchasing leads that are very targeted, real time, exclusive, and consumers/businesses that are WANTING information is probably going to show more success. One is like working a “warm” lead VS a “cold” lead. Why not call someone who wanted your product or service VS trying to add the extra step of trying to hard sell a consumer, and then have to deal with a potential longer sales process?
Leadpile Lead Exchange works with intelligent advertisers who know working with high quality web based leads, produces a higher return on their investment, versus buying lists and making the “cold” calls.

Breaking news in every search engine, channel, and even radio stations.  A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck East of Los Angeles.  The epicenter was 2 miles of Chino Hills.  It was a moderate earthquake and luckily no one was seriously hurt or injured.  

California’s year has been pretty blemished, gas pricing at over $4.50 per gallon, one of the highest in the nation.  Many homeowners experienced foreclosures, as home values dropped.  Starbucks announced that the majority of stores schedule to close were located in California.  An now an earthquake! 

California is a popular state.  Hollywood and Beverly Hills, where all the stars live.  San Francisco, where the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge stands.  Palm Springs a nice place to relax and take a vacation.  Yet this state has been experiencing a trend of bad luck.  

Many programs are truly helping residence within this states with all the needs.  Bankruptcy, Debt, Home Improvement, Loans, Refi’s and much, much more.  Lots of companies are doing what they can to help, Leadpile looks and searches for well known business that takes pride and commitment in helping people in need.  They look for real companies offering real services so that we can match them with people  in desperate needs when times get tough.

I was at ease to learn that everyone in California was okay and that no one was seriously hurt.  

Market Watch released this afternoon that Coca Cola shares went down .18 cents, that’s 18% down this year so far. But they are not the only ones affected by the Nationwide struggle that’s affecting Millions of consumers and businesses.  

Market Watch also reported J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. second quarter net income fell 53%, the company took over $500 million in costs for its Bear Stearn’s acquisition. Microsoft shares dropped 5.7%.  IBM shares are down .06%. Investment bank Merrill Lynch shares drop 7.1%.  Capital One Financial Corp registered a 4.9% decline. The list goes on and on.

Businesses are also being affected and loosing money.  What’s happening with the market?  These well known companies that were once making millions are now losing millions.  Gas pricing is going up at ridiculous cost. The cost of food has climb.  Unemployment rates are over the hill tremendously.  Debt is at the highest peak.  More Americans are filling for Bankruptcy.  Airline fairs are rising.  Less people are taking vacations.  Student’s are falling behind on their student loan payments.  More families are being affected by bank foreclosures.

Is this truly healthy for America?

I have talked about the consumers battle against the dead end they are facing.  Although its not just consumers its also major firms and corporations, for years investors were glorified to subsidize in these companies but now are selling shares and stocks.   

Everyone in society has somehow been affected.  Its lead exchanges such as LeadPile that are here to assist and help in each way we can.  LeadPile is partnered with some of the best affiliates in the market to provide quality leads.  Within our partnerships we are targeting consumers and businesses that need your help to clear their debt, to help with bankruptcy, to assist with business loan or business cash advance, to aid with credit restoration or a payday loan, to help them get finance to buy a house or a new car! 

LeadPile focuses on targeted traffic and provides applications or contacts to companies that can help consumers or business in the services they are in desperate need of! 

When I think of Sears, I think about hardware stores my grandpa and dad used to go to to get that new tool. However, over the years Sears has evolved into a store for more than just tools. No, REALLY! Trendy clothing lines, jewelry, and other non household items has turned Sears into a place all of us can shop at.

According to DMNews, Sears is now going to do some marketing in some social networking sites. They are looking to places like YouTube, Facebook and Myspace as a means to generate interest with the tween (for those of you out of the “loop”, Tween age is between childhood and teenage years) population.

This online marketing campaign is Sears trying to bring in some interest in their back-to-school website arrivelounge.com. There goes the days of Sears in 1886 when they sold watches as a mail order company. Times sure have changed, but I give credit to Sears for realizing that they need to continue to adapt to what is going on in the “world”, in order to stay a store people of all ages shop at.

This just goes to show you, if you want to survive and stay in business- you MUST be open to revising your current business plans, and be open to new ways of running your business. I can guarantee Richard Sears could have never imagined his company marketing to tweeners on social networking sites….social networking WHAT????????

Sure, all Cash Advance and Auto Groups want the SSN on the leads.  My question is, are they truly necessary?   Many may say, “well, sure it is!”  It’s needed to run a credit check when applying online.  What happens to leads that don’t provide an accurate Social or that become skeptical and refuse to provide it.

With identity theft in the U.S. affecting over 10 million Americans a year across the U.S. according to a study by the Berkeley Law School, you will experience less people providing their social on leads.  Especially, if they have been victims of identity theft.  Wouldn’t you agree?

What does this mean?  In a lead exchange, we provide safe, secured sites that are developed to ensure that the consumer feels comfortable.  Even then we will get leads where the consumer did not provide the Social.  Realistically, this doesn’t mean the lead is bad.  Payday lenders and Auto Dealers, can purchase leads of such and call them.  Making the consumer comfortable in providing sensitive data.  Consumers will need to earn your trust and understand that their information will not just be floating around and getting to the wrong hands. 

Buying leads with no SSN will bring in more business.  You will close more deals.  Lead exchange will increase your ROI, when you use all aspects to them.  Getting full applications is a great benefit, but don’t forget about the consumers that are interested but become uneasy with just providing all their personal information online.  They are a sure candidate to close more deals, I’m sure.

Its always easier when you can talk to a person directly! Keep that in mind.

Many industry experts are predicting that intensifying economic pressure is sure to lead more auto dealers to consider closing. According to the Detroit News, “General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and privately held Chrysler LLC are going through cash at a faster rate than they generate it, and investors worry that one or more of the companies could run short, perhaps before the end of next year”

According to the Wall Street Journal,  “Ford, GM and Chrysler are running programs aimed at reducing their dealership network by weeding out under-performing sites while bolstering profitability potential for those who remain. The auto makers are kicking in cash to help dealers buy out one another or exit the business”.

What will happen to Dealerships as more competetion, and a weekening economy, continues to “hit” them?

The answer is pretty straight forward. Competition will reign supreme, and efficiencies in sales cycles, cash flows, and ROI’s will rule the day.

What does this mean for the portion of LeadPile’s business that makes up our Online Exclusive Auto Lead Exchange?  Simply put, as more efficiency is demanded by the market, only those companies that can compete with an efficient deliverable (in this case an auto lead), will continue to gain market share.

If you are a lead buyer in our Online Auto Lead Exchange, and you need anything at all to make your buying experience even better, please do not hesitate to ask. We are at your service!,

I was on the EcomXpo online trade show this week and WOW, pretty amazing people.  So I’m at the lounge to interact and market, yet you see a few attendees craving attention.  Being mean, to put their name out there.  Yes, being indecent, vulgar  and obnoxious.  But for the most, part it was a phenomenal show and the interactions with some more serious players were beyond concrete.  Of course I got a good laugh in the lounge. 

I must say trade shows are hard work, even online.  Great experience it is but next week follow ups will be constant dialing to reach out and indulge in making new partners.  

Trade shows respect has moved into different directions.  

Working with advertisers and publishers, many might think its a waste of time to attend the trade shows. What matters is what works, not what its “thought”.  The facts count.  The facts are that they work, get a feel for the networking inside trade shows and how it will bring in business and strategic partners.  

I remember going to ad-tech, sure the interaction is there.  Nothing like talking face to face and meeting the person on the other side of the phone.  But one thing that bothers me is some of these attendees are just their for the booze!  Each time I talk to them, they are with a new company, they talk a big game but talk is cheap and when it comes down to business they are shady.  Its ridiculous that one person has been with 5 different companies within the industry in a short period of time.  

I scratch my head and ask myself “who hires them?”.  Now, now, I’m being honest not offensive, but realistically why would you hire someone that has been with a multitude of lead exchanges in such a short time and doesn’t fit in.  

Ad-Tech, Affiliate Summit, EcomXpo and all other trade shows believe it or not is a perfect place to network and create new partners.  Over 10,000 exhibitors and attendees go to these social networks so that’s a lot of business.  

When you do get a chance visit some of the conferences and discussions that are offered. You will learn valuable information that all in all will be beneficial to your business.  

In the lead exchange open doors for new opportunities, there is a need for leads in almost every industry, you just have to know how to approach it! 

The Following is a from Bankrate.com by Laura Bruce, September 12^th, 2005. I thought this would be an interesting post for People following Online Payday at the Lead Exchaneg Blog.

It’s a tempting alternative to walking into the check-cashing store on the corner. Online payday lenders are popping up on the Internet, offering fast, short-term loans to cash-strapped consumers, in the anonymous comfort of cyberspace.

But if you borrow from these businesses, you might have more to worry about than the astronomical interest rates traditionally associated with payday lenders in general.

For starters, you’ll provide an amazing amount of personal data — Social Security number, driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name and, of course, your name, address and employment information — to the Web site.

You’ll also give your checking account number and bank routing number, so the lender will have access to your account. The lender will deposit your loan into your checking account and dip into your account to extract interest, fees and the principal. Some require that you fax them your latest pay stub, most recent bank statement, photo ID and a voided check.

But to whom are you giving this information? More than likely you won’t have a clue. Many Web sites that pop up when you do a search for something such as “payday loans” aren’t lenders at all. Take Advance Cash Loans, which states at the bottom of its home page, “Advance Cash Loans is not an online provider of online payday cash advances. We simply connect people seeking fast cash advances with online providers of instant cash advances so they can get the advance cash that they need, as soon as possible.”

A Consumer Federation of America (CFA) survey, of 100 online payday lenders and referrals sites, found that many are run from outside the United States and, perhaps, out of reach of American laws.

“You don’t know where your information is going,” says Jean Ann Fox, director of consumer protection at CFA.

“Many times you can’t find who the domain is registered to. There are Internet payday lenders outside the country, in Canada and on islands in the Caribbean that you can’t find with a magnifying glass. It’s like handing a stranger a blank check.”

Bankrate.com tried to contact three payday lenders. Only one could be contacted, and no one there would answer questions or return calls.

Are these businesses fly-by-night scammers that will steal your identity, trap you into budget-busting, long-term borrowing habits, or illegally siphon money out of your bank account? Nope, not necessarily. But you should think long and hard before sending your information to companies that are so stingy about their own information, Fox says.

“If you borrow from them, you’re not seen in line at the corner payday lender, so there’s privacy and that might be a selling point. But I hope it’s offset by sending all that personal information over the Internet. It’s a financial strip search. They want every piece of your financial information. People should be afraid to provide that information. I wouldn’t want to give that to someone over the counter, much less over the Internet.”

Traditional payday lenders — the so-called brick-and-mortar shops — are represented by Community Financial Services of America, a trade association. Online payday lenders have no such organization and, therefore, have no one to represent them. But Andy Jacob, CEO of Leadpile.com, a company that seeks leads for salespeople in the cash-advance business and other industries, calls the growth in online payday lending “explosive.”

“What’s happening in online is happening fast and furious. The major players are trying to position themselves to be the leader online. It’s a bifurcated space right now. There are many players that are lead generators that aren’t in the payday loan space and they’re attempting to secure the lead to themselves. Many payday-loan companies are late to the game. It’s challenging to figure out which company is doing what right now.”

The growth of online payday lending is presenting problems for state law enforcement officials and consumer advocates. Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation ordered 91 companies marketing Internet payday loans to stop. The companies were reportedly charging annual percentage rates averaging 300 percent and fees averaging $30. The state says none of the companies were licensed to offer loans to residents.

Some of the letters we sent to these companies were returned when the post office was unable to find the address,” says David Cotney, senior deputy commissioner at the Massachusetts Division of Banks. “That reinforces our concern about consumers handing over personal information. That’s one of the reasons licensing is required; it gives the consumer some recourse.”

James Brusselback, enforcement chief at Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, says his division is investigating some 10 online payday lenders.

“The difficulty with the online outfits is in locating them, and then some of them claim that our state law doesn’t apply to them, so we have that issue of trying to bring them under our state law. I guess part of their argument is that they’re not located in the state and that their home-state law is sufficient to protect their customers. The requirements in those states — Nevada and Utah — are far less than what we require.”

Karolyn Klohe, financial legal examiner in Brusselback’s department, says consumers can have a tough time stopping online payday lenders from taking money out of their accounts.

“A common complaint against online payday lenders is that the customer is required to give banking information, whereas if they walk into a payday lender store they give them a postdated check. But what’s happening online is the payday lender uses the bank information to make unauthorized withdrawals from the consumer’s account. They say they’re collecting funds owed to them. They can make these withdrawals in a way they can’t with a postdated check.”

Turning to a payday lender — online or on the corner — is almost universally discouraged by consumer advocates. But the alternatives can seem thin to someone who needs cash to see them through to the next paycheck. Many banks offer bounced-check protection plans that consumer advocates often equate with payday lending. A notable difference, perhaps, is that the consumer is less likely to be able to overdraw several times and end up owing money they probably can’t repay.

“The long-term solutions include getting a good spending plan and building a nest egg of savings,” says Fox. If you can afford to pay $45 every payday to keep a $300 loan from bouncing, then you can afford to save it so you don’t need to borrow in the future.

“Pawn shops are cheaper than payday loans. On rare occasions you can ask your employer for an advance. Negotiate directly with whomever you owe. Get a second job. Put off purchases until you can pay. None of these are comfortable. It’s appealing to write the check without having money in your checking account and walk out with cash, but it comes at a high price.”

In their survey of Internet payday loan sites, CFA found that loans of $200 to $2,500 were available, but $500 was the most-frequently offered. Finance charges ranged from $10 per $100 up to $30 per $100 borrowed. The most common rate of $25 per $100 translates into an annual percentage rate of approximately 650 percent if the loan is repaid in two weeks.

Many states have passed laws regulating payday and small loan laws. Consumer Federation of America has compiled important information that consumers should be familiar with before borrowing.

Yes, correct! In a lead exchange the pricing is market driven.  Payday and Auto Financing are truly the most critical to monitor.  Why?  Simple, the end user, payday companies and auto groups, are looking for exclusive, unique, and qualified leads.  Top tier bidders will get first look and the opportunity to buy leads that are authentic and precise to filters set up.

Many companies use softwares such as CL Verify or Teletrack, that checks for factuality against SS#’s and DOB, and a few other filters.  Software such as these are a benefit to the online verification method that large organizations entitle to run a smooth and prosperous business.  

In a lead exchange, publishers should be alert at the placement of their campaign and the ranking that they hold.  I would never suggest to pay a price that you are not seeing a good ROI on your campaign, but I am suggesting not to be cheap.  You need great qualified leads? That will consist of becoming aggressive.  See when you do the math its pretty simple.  Your cheap, you pay $10 for a payday lead, and you are not converting as many as you like.  Then your upset.  Well lets talk about reality.  You probably have 20 other companies competing for the same lead, bidding more than you, hence, they are buying your leads! Yes, I said your leads!  The more competent and genuine leads that could have been closed by you.

Be at a comfort level that you are seeing a significant amount of conversions.  Larger companies are successful for one reason! They became aggressive and were in a competitive market.  Come straight to the source and pay less for your applicants that need your assistance now!

One more thought to absorb is that in a lead exchange of advertisers and publishers, publishers have the opportunity to set up their minimum price point, just as advertisers can set up the price to pay.  Therefore, if your bid price is too low, you are missing out on some strong potential publishers that are using their marketing revenue in Google AdWords for example, to generate high quality traffic, and its skipping your campaign due to your bargain bid. 

Take this as good advice and monitor your campaigns, you need to be aware that higher tiers will have the chance to accept a lead before you do!

Who could ever imagine Starbucks famous for those fabulous Lattes and Frappuccinos we all love, White Mocha being my personal favorite,  would be closing down 600 stores by 2009 according to NY Times.  Initially, Starbucks plans were to only close 100 stores but with the housing crises that affected California and Florida the hardest, which is a large region that Starbucks covered, Starbucks has definitely been struck as well.

Starbucks is now closing 70% of their newest stores that have been open less than 3 years.  As of Sept 30th, 2007 they had 6,973 stores worldwide.  That’s leaving 12,000 people unemployed, doing the math its  7% of their global workforce.  Sad to see so many cheerful employees go. 

So not only is gas pricing going up, housing going down, cost of food increasing but now Starbuck is shutting down doors.  Well, with a cup of coffee averaging $4-$5 society simply cannot afford it. 

So your asking how is this related to the Lead Industry? 

• JOBS – More Home Based Business Opportunity Seekers
• DEBT – Credit card debt will rise as some will continuously charge their credit card to get by.
• MORTGAGE- More consumers taking equity and refinancing to pay bills.
• PAYDAY LOANS – Loosing your job is not easy, the average person lives paycheck by paycheck more payday loan request will be demanded. 
• INSURANCE – More demand for health insurance and life insurance coverage.
• BANKRUPTCY-More consumers filing bankruptcy buried in debt.   

Consumers will be in big need of your help!  Starbucks is just an example of how the economic struggle is affecting not just individuals but companies as well.  A lead exchange will help companies offer services to consumers in need.  More demand in the financial space that’s for sure.  

Your clients are the key to your success. Managing your clients means following up with them quickly. and at LeadPile, we mean quickly!

In a Lead Exchange like LeadPile, we strive to follow up with all of our advertisers and publishers immediatley. No matter what business you ar ein, simply call your clients back quickly, give them the information that they have requested, call them to see if they need assistance, give them information that will benefit or help them, and most of all, do whatever it takes to  build a strong partnership.