Leadpile’s Blog

In recent news there has been some attention on Craigslist and how safe is it to sell items online? Situations like the one that just happened in Washington is not something you hear a lot of, however it brings up a good question of when trying to sell items online, what is the best way to go about doing it safely? Experts are saying that people that are trying to sell online need to use common sense like you would in a situation of selling something offline. Use common sense with what information you are providing to the prospective buyers because you do not always know who you are dealing with.
This situation and others like it open up additional conversations about other social networking sites too, and what information you should be disclosing on sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc. Are people being to open about information about themselves that ultimately creates a potential issue with those that would abuse it?
What is the best way to potentially teach young children, and those that are not using common sense when visiting these sorts of sites or selling items online? If you think about it… would you really meet a stranger and then disclose your full personal information (including address, name etc)? I don’t think so. So why are people doing this on the internet? Kinda scary if you think about it…..

Craigslist has been feeling some heat lately because of it’s “erotic services” section on it’s site. However, according to consumeraffairs.com, “Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has fired back at South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who has been threatening to prosecute Buckmaster on criminal charges of soliciting prostitution. In an unusual turnabout, Buckmaster has filed suit against McMaster, seeking an injunction that would bar him from filing charges.” It seems other states besides South Carolina are raising suits against the site’s owner, yet Buckmaster feels he and his site is protected under the First Amendment and, more specifically, by the Communications Decency Act, enacted by Congress in 1996 to protect Web sites, telecommunications providers and other interactive media. Does Craigslist and other social networking sites have the right to have these “services” promoted on their sites, or is there a difference between “allowing” it and “promoting” it? We will all see how this case pans out, and it is probably going to set some precedence for future cases involving the internet.

Update: Carigslist has removed it’s “erotic services” section of the site, and replaced it with “adult services”.

Craigslist took over the top spot for the most searched term that Internet users clicked through to in the United States, during the week ending March 14. Myspace had held the top spot as the most popular term since March 2006.    According to Hitwise, “U.S. searches on the term “craigslist” have increased 105 percent for the week ending March 14, 2009, compared with the same week last year.”  Why is this?  Could this increase in searching “craigslist” be a result of the economic position many consumers are in?  Either way, this is positive for Craigslist!  

So, who will be the next king of the hill?

Publishers in The Leadpile Lead Exchange certainly look at Craigslist as a place to promote their websites and the Leadpile offers. Those that are not, should maybe look into this site as a potential source of traffic.

Who is still picking up the Sunday Paper?  It has some fascinating stuff like clip off coupons, find an automobile, or look for a job.  Sunday mornings, while I go for breakfast, I see the older generation reading the newspaper. Not so much the younger ones, they choose to have their laptops next to them or their iPhones. 

I was reading an article today on www.investopedia.com regarding the yard-sales.  They were explaining how to set up a yard-sale and make some cash. I’m familiar with the advertisements inside a lead exchange, but this was somewhat out of the box thinking.  The article is called “In A Cash Crush? Hold A Yard Sale” by Lisa Smith.  Lisa is explaining how to advertise and how to have a successful Yard Sale by making it unique using Craigslist, or putting colorful bulletins or advertising in the newspaper.  

It all comes down to: targeting the audience.  The older generation are not computer savvy, and they are not sitting on their computers as long as the younger generation, so they are better of reading the paper. Than you have some other people that are traveling a lot, they are more targeted by the bulletins. The ones hanging out in the Starbucks, with their computers, or with their web enabled phones, are going to see your ads on the web. The internet is the highest growing method of advertising, and it’s also the most targeted one. Not only that you are able to target exactly the demographics you are looking for, but you are able to track the efficiency of your campaign as never been possible before. You care see where the consumer came from, what ad they clicked on, how long they’ve been reading your page and even how long it took them to finish an online application. 

After reading this article, I came to think about advertising to the leads that did not sell in our marketplace. These are mostly aged leads that were left behind because the advertisers met their caps.  They might not be of any interest to the current buyers buying real time leads, but they are a treasure to the companies interested in cherry picking their leads.  LeadPile Lead exchange has an increasing network of publishers and active verticals that is doing business in.  As the Largest Online Lead Marketplace, LeadPile Lead exchange has a good number of valuable leads that can work out for the advertisers that have small budgets, or they want to complement their current inventory of leads. 

Testing out different venues of advertising or using aged leads and filtering them by the consumer initial interest, can bring some value to your current business. 

Leadpile is working closely with the buyers to increase their ROI, and we are committed to your, the Advertiser, success.