Exciting news for online advertisers! Online advertising spend comes in at #1 in 2010, totaling $25.8 billion, closely followed by print publications at $25.7 billion. Many advertisers have shifted offline spend to new online campaigns, some even dabbling in social networking media buys. Advertisers are shifting offline dollars to campaigns that have more measureable results such as banner ads or email campaigns. Even more stunning forecasts are that online display spend will overtake search ads by 2014.

Generation Y adults are making it more difficult for the auto world by not having such a large dependence on cars. Todays generation is more likely to buy items such as software, computers, smart phones, or music. Motorists from the ages of 21-30 make a up market of about 80 million people.
Although sales are not expected to decrease, they will not likely be as high as the baby boomers generation who make more multiple car purchases and view cars as a status object. Instead, they are looking for cars that are more affordable and simplistic.

The generation Yers tend to see cars as an environmental threat. Even with the new Hybrid and electric cars, many still view autos as being a polluter. Auto manufacturers and dealers alike are scrambling to find a way to appeal to this generation as the baby boomer’s generation turns 65 next year and won’t be their largest consumer base any longer.

Leadpile works closely with auto finance leads and still has a large demand that tell us people are still interested in purchasing vehicles. Todays consumers might be looking for different types of vehicles,but they are still looking nonetheless.

Have you ever browsed in the world of online shopping then noticed you kept seeing that pair of pants you just couldn’t commit to buying appears on multiple sites thereafter?  Many of us have and probably don’t even flinch at this type of advertising but more and more branded companies are getting involved with retargeting campaigns.

A retargeting campaign is simply when a website places a cookie on the users computer to track their buying or lack of buying habits so the advertiser can serve more relevant ads to the consumer.

In many instances this is a great way to “remind” the consumer of something they were recently interested in but possibly didn’t have the time to complete a transaction. In other cases ad retargeting can become an embarrassing nuisance, as it did for one consumer. Ms. Matlin was recently hounded by ads for dieting services she has previously used online, “ they are still following me around, and it makes me feel fat”.

Retargeting is not showing any signs of slowing down, but where do we draw the line when invading consumer’s privacy?

Companies and products have been buying people to “like” their pages on Facebook hoping to bring in as many customers as possible. The ability for people to “like” something was replaced by the previous “fan” option. One of the companies topping off the list of “liked” Facebook pages for their company is Starbucks with 11.8 million “likes”. They even offer a way for the customers to keep track of their spending as an incentive. Other companies/products with an abundance of “likes” are Coca-Cola with 9.6 million, Oreos with 7.9 million, and Skittles with 7.8 million.

While some companies are going out of their way to accumulate as many “likes” as possible, others are only interested in quality customers. Mike Corrales, Vice President of BillMyParents says,

“I would rather have 2,500 real, authentic people than have 250,000 fake ones”.

There are so many different social media outlets today, making the potential for new customers easier to reach. On the same note, quality traffic is something that is more difficult to come across. Leadpile focuses on the best quality traffic for consumers.

If you are currently renting, you may occasionally question if you are able to buy something for similar cost – and right now, this might be possible. According to the associated press, the gap between monthly rent cost and mortgage payments is at its lowest level in almost 20 years!! If you are able to purchase by April 30th, you may also qualify for the tax incentives. Incentives for buying a home include capital gains deductions for property taxes and loan interest as well as diversifying your assets, builds equity and provides a means of forced savings as you slowly pay down the principal.

With the potential to appreciate in value owning a home can seem like a win-win situation, however there is also a flipside that owning a home can bring hefty and unexpected repair bills and there is no guarantee that the value will go up.

Weighing the pros and cons of buying vs. owning is something everyone has to figure out for themselves but if buying is an option for you, it might be a great time to take advantage!

For many of you, it still might be a little early to do your holiday shopping. When you do start your shopping many people may ask which is better; to shop online or to go to stores? In several cases it can really depend on numerous factors. Many people think of Black Friday as a kick off to the holiday shopping season. Consumers will wake up at four in the morning (myself included) to go and get the incredible deals that are being offered. Many of them even have a certain route that they will go to hit up the stores in a certain order to make sure they can get the best deals before everyone else.
But what about everyone who wants to get the great deals, but can not justify getting up at four in the morning to save a few bucks – just hop out of bed and shop online. More times than not, a consumer will be able to get the same deals that they would online as they would when going to the store. According to adweek.com“…buying online saves on trips to the store and gas expenses (53 percent) and makes it easier to compare prices between retailers online than in the store (51 percent), the other top-cited reasons all came back to convenience. The No. 1 reason for shopping online (69 percent) was that “when I buy online I can shop whenever I’d like,” while 57 percent of respondents said it “allows me to avoid the holiday shopping crowds at stores.”
Even though the convenience factor of shopping online is huge, it can make it a little more difficult as well. Since most of the holiday season is spent shopping for other people, consumers want to make sure that the products they are buying are the right size, ensure quality, and ask questions about the product to a sales associate. At the end of the day it all comes down to the consumer and which method of shopping they like better. I know that I usually do a combo of the two. Hard to find items I will purchase online, but toys I will go to the store. Below are some useful tips for when you go shopping this season:
1. Do your research before buying – Compare prices online to make sure you are getting the best deal out there
2. Look for the holiday specials – everywhere is having discounts so paying for full price should not be an option
3. When ordering online, always check for free shipping
4. Use coupons/coupon codes – If you are going to be buying a certain item there is no reason not to get percentage off. A lot of product coupon code can be found online just by doing a simple search
5. Know the return policy of the store/items just in case your item is not a hit
6. Make a list and stick to it – this will help prevent going over budget and buying unnecessary items

I hope that you find these few tips helpful and save you some money. Have a wonderful shopping season!

Phoenix June 30th, 2009 — LeadPile, The World’s Largest Online Exclusive Lead Exchange announced today record results for its MicroClick Form (http://www.microclick.com) in June, 2009. LeadPile reports a record number of Lead Verticals being served by its MicroClick Form with Lead Sellers producing leads in 61 different verticals in the month of June. This makes the LeadPile MicroClick Form the most widely used Multi Vertical Lead Generation Form in the lead Marketplace and Lead Exchange Industry.

LeadPile’s Centralized Online Exclusive Lead Marketplace supports thousands of affiliates that use the exchange to sell to suitable lead buyers. By using the LeadPile MicroClick Form, Affiliates can focus on driving traffic to their pages and not on managing lead buyer relationships. Over 90% of LeadPile’s active affiliates are currently using the MicroClick form, offloading the responsibility for lead collection, management, technology infrastructure, and quality control to LeadPile.

Astoundingly, LeadPile’s MicroClick form has been used to produce leads as diversified as Tax Debt Relief, Home Improvements, Business Loans, Health Insurance, Equipment Leasing, Credit Card Processing, Cash For Gold and more.

Andrew Jacob, CEO of LeadPile says, “The LeadPile MicroClick Form allows us to handle leads across multiple verticals, including payday, starter credit, debt consolidation, credit repair, bankruptcy, auto financing, and homeowner. While the majority of leads currently being exchanged in the  Marketplace are in the Financial sector, the fact that Lead Sellers are using the MicroClick form to produce leads in over 60 verticals is very rewarding for our team.

Jacob adds, “I would like to personally thank our existing Lead Buyers and Leads Sellers for their business, and it is our promise to everything we possible can to help them in their efforts by continuing to provide the type of technology infrastructure and transparency that they have come to both expect, and deserve, from LeadPile.

To read more, please visit http://www.LeadPile.com/

Remember those days when you could pick out all the items you want, and then pay for them each week at your local store?  Okay, maybe not everyone did that, but I remember doing this sort of thing when wanting to buy some “big” ticket items.  Those days seem to be back.  Sears announced it is rolling out layaway!  You shop for what you want and then make a small down payment, then you are done.  Layaway is not a common thing these days, however with the economy retailers are doing whatever it is they can do to get consumers in their stores for the holidays

What happened to layaway and why did it pretty much disappear?  According to creditcards.com, the rise in credit cards being issued erased the high demand for layaway.  Now with consumers having maxed out credit cards, delinquent mortgages, and jobs disappearing, retailers are trying to come up with ideas on how to get that limited amount of consumers in THEIR stores.  Other stores that I found offer layaway are:  Burlington Coat Factory, TJ Maxx, and also take a look at elayaway.com, because this website offers a layaway service.
So, why would Leadpile Lead Exchange be writing about “layaway”? As I have stated in previous posts, we see consumers that are in all sorts of financial situations. Seeing stories such as retailers rolling out an old idea in this tough economy, gives me optimism that there is possibly some light at the end of the tunnel. Every little piece will help those consumers and the economy get headed in the right direction!

Bankrate.com just released the top 10 selling cars for 2008.  The hottest and most popular automobiles: 

• #10 – The Chevrolet Cobalt.  Listing price $14,217. Sold to date 114,250 vehicles.  Runs at about 25-30 mpg.  
• #9  -  Ford Focus. Listing price $15,363. Sold to date 123,449 cars. Average 28mpg
• #8  -  Chevrolet Impala. Listing price $21,348. Sold to date 138,952.  MPG depends on the cylinder of the vehicle.  Your looking at anywhere between 17-23mpg depending on the version
• #7 – Chevrolet Silverado (light duty). First truck on the top ten.. Listing price$25,921. Sold to date 148,046. They average 11-16mpg. 
• #6  - Nissan Altima.   Listing price $22,798. Sold to date 158,006.  Average 22-26mpg.  
• #5  - We are half way down the list . Introducing the Ford F Series (light duty). Nice to see another truck on the board.  Listing price $22,798.  Sold to date 164,828.  10-16mpg.  Wow, get ready to spend your money on gas with this type of mpg!
• #4  - Toyota Corolla.  Listing price $17,122.  Sold to date 169,868.  25-30mpg.  Nice!
• #3  - And now the top three!  Honda Civic! I’m not surprised to see this bad boy on the list.  Listing price $19,114.  Sold to date 204,961.  The MPG is great with whopping 28-42mpg. 
• #2  - Honda Accord.  Listing price $25,859. Sold to date 227,874.  Save some cash with this beauty 25-34mpg.
• Finally, what we have all been waiting for .  #1 best selling auto for 2008!  You ready?  Announcing the most popular car around, the TOYOTA CAMRY.  Listing price $22,859.  Sold an amazing 228,874 cars this year.  Take a vacation with the money you will save on gas with 23-34mpg.

Surprised to only see 2 trucks in the top ten?  I think not.  Overall car sales are down 10% this year compared to last year.  Leadpile Lead Exchange deals a lot with the Auto Finance vertical and the volume of leads coming through our system is slightly down also, however we are expecting it to turn around any day now!
There you have it, the top 10 autos for 2008!

Publishers are spending a lot of money on PPC campaigns through Google AdWords.  Have you ever researched the cost of producing a real time quality lead? Depending on the vertical, it can get really expensive, especially if you are looking for quality and genuine interest.

Capturing a name, number, email, address, best time to call, can get really expensive. If you want to target geographically, by zip or state, it will increase your price and lower the amount of traffic you are getting. A lead can be really inexpensive, if you are just capturing email address, and you incentivize it, but if you are looking to attract customers that are genuinely interested in your service, its not going to be .20 cents or .50 cents, it will be way more expensive. You can expect prices as these if you are looking for lists, but why would you do that when you have the Yellow Pages and costs you nothing. You can definitely get leads for such a price, but those will be leads that are generated from the yellow pages, or aged data (lists) of consumers that showed an interest in your service years ago.  So what is the price for a good, real time, exclusive leads? It depends, it can be very expensive, depending how competitive is your vertical.  You will get what you are paying for. In other words, you are going to be happy with the return on your investment (ROI).

Advertisers have to consider that publishers or lead exchanges are eating the cost of any leads that are invalid.  Paying anywhere between .25 to $1.50 per click, or even $15, does not guarantee a conversion. Even if we get a conversion, it will not necessarily mean that you, as a buyer, will accept the lead. If you are a Debt Settlement buyer, you might want only want $15,000 and above in Unsecured Debt, which will significantly increase the price to produce that lead. 

Lead exchanges welcome advertisers to join the marketplace to HOST their offers. Paying the right price for the lead, working with the lead exchange to optimize your campaign and filter the lead sources, will ensure a successful campaign for you, as a buyer, and for the Lead Exchange and its publishers. 

Think of it this way, lets say you need to travel to a different state.  Would you rather rent a bike or a car? By renting a bike, you will save money on gas and get in a better shape If you are concerned about the time you need to get to your destination, this will not work too well for you, and renting a car might be more suited for you. Time is money, and we all know it very well.

Make great choices and you will see more money coming into your business! Buy quality, real time exclusive leads, and you can be assured that Leadpile will be on your side from start to end! Pay the price that they are worth and you will get the satisfaction that you are searching for!

Leadpile’s Motto: “Good is the Enemy of Great!” – Jim Collins, Good to Great

I couldn’t count how many home based business exist.  Truly its so diverse that its unbelievable.  Think about it, home based business have been around for ages.  Remember Avon? Most women will.  Yes, that’s a home based business, earning 50% of what is sold. 

In this day in age society has expanded to different types of home based business.  From selling cosmetics, to vacation packages, to Tupperware, software, natural products , home improvements, to juices and vitamins and insurance to web development and much, much more.  So many people across the world are taking advantage of their own unique home based business.

Home Based Business is diverse for men and women to make some extra cash.  Believe it or not, many people actually live off the earnings in a MLM.

But part of the catch is the majority of these business needs a down-line to actually see earnings.  You need to sign more people up to be part of your down-line and you also benefit from there sales.  How do you think some of these MLM or HBB consumers actually make it in the day to day life.  Well, think about it, they are not spending gas money so they are saving cash on gas alone.  They are also, setting up there own hours and times that they want to work.  They are responsible for their own advertising.  And best, of all they are getting paid to work from home. 

Independent consultants are marketing and spending some of their own revenue to buy leads.  Yes, most Home Based Businesses are using leads to get more people to sign up within their network.  Its an investment that for many have been well work it.  With some extra cash in your pocket and an effective process to pay your bills, is a home based business right for 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.