Leadpile’s Blog

Many in the world would be so jealous of a particular women who had a lot of debt (20k), created a website, and asked for help. This equaled HUGE success for a lady named Karyn. You have to hear about this success story and really how effective the internet is…. and that there are lots of other people in the world with lots of debt! The difference is: Karyn asked for help and got it!

Debt is a common part of what each person in America has, but have you ever thought about taking control of it by asking for help through “other” means? Most of us have not, however what we do do is either continue to struggle paying the minimum payments each month, or we just stop paying them. However, maybe more of us need to get creative and use some different resources to get help.
Then again, there is the traditional way and that is to try and work with specialized debt consolidation/debt settlement companies that help customers in this situation. I know a lot of people are submitting their request for more information about debt help, because the debt lead type is a HUGE lead type in the Leadpile Lead Exchange. Not all of us are as bold and entrepreneurial as Karyn! Either way, I give her props because she is now debt free and continuing her life now as a successful author.
IF YOU WANT IT… GO OUT & GET IT!

There seems to be an increase in the amount of traffic that is coming to a certain type of website.  Recent studies show that coupon websites are dealing with a large increase (sometimes almost double) in the amount of traffic because of people’s need for saving money.  Consumers are frequenting websites that offer coupons to print out, listings of stores and what they all have on sale, and other websites that provide the best deals in your area.

If consumers are going to these types of websites more often now, wouldn’t this be a good place to do some lead generation?  I took a look at some of these types of websites like coupons.com, eversave.com, couponmountain.com and coolsavings.com, and all but one of them had some sort of advertising/affiliate links on them.  These sites are attracting more consumers that might not have previously been surfing the net, like they are now.  

Therefore, should lead generation companies look at maybe generating leads from these sorts of sites?  I would say yes because if these consumers are looking for ways to save money, they might be a good candidate for someone who is interested in things like debt consolidation, debt settlement, a payday loan or other services. Is it wrong to look at this as an opportunity to generate leads?  These money saving sites are a great place to capture that targeted audience that that is obviously looking to save money.  We are all trying come up with ways to generate business, but at the same time help those that TRUELY need it.  I think it is time to go take a look at those sites and see what type of affiliate program they have.

Debt is becoming a big space in the lead industry.  Look at gas prices. The average state is paying $4 plus per gallon.  How does this affect consumers?  Simple, they are paying for gas with their credit cards.  According to an article read today Bankrate reported an average credit card interest rate at 13.42%. This mean that consumers are not only paying for the high priced gas but also interest on it.  

You see how this relates in the debt space.  Consumers are falling behind on their credit card payments as the economic headache is affecting their everyday lifestyle.  

Debt Settlement and Debt Consolidation companies more now than ever are in urge of helping these consumers with their debt.  Meaning, they are buying more leads.  The demand for leads in the Debt space is high as the consumers are becoming more buried with debt.

Good time to start spending marketing revenue on this lead type!

What is the difference between Debt Settlement and Debt Consolidation?  They both need help to clear their debt, right?  How are these companies helping the consumers?

Debt Settlement occurs when a creditor is agreeing to settle a debt for a dollar amount that is lower than the initial total amount owed.  It is an agreement that will reduced the actual payoff amount.  For the most part consumers will pay the debt settlement companies an amount that they can afford.  The debt settlement companies saves the debtors money until they have reached an amount that they can settle their unsecured debt with the creditors. 

Debt Consolidation means taking out one loan to payoff several other loans and or accounts.  The borrower may then have one lower monthly payment that extends over a period of time verus several seperate monthly payments.  The loan taken out is normally secured on property, a house or car for example.

Even though both of these companies are slightly different they are also a lot alike.  They both work to help the client clear the debt owed, in addition they can only help clients with unsecured debts.  Both these companies prefer to work with unsecured debt amounts of 7k and higher.

Unsecured debt is anything that you do not have to put up any material as security for debt.  Some examples are:

• credit cards
• medical bills
• unsecured personal loans
• legal bills

Examples of secured debt are:

• mortgage (house payment)
• car payment
• utility bills

So is there much of a difference between the two?

As more and more consumers are increasingly finding themselves in the unfortunate situation of dealing with higher interest rates and other fees as credit card companies respond to delinquencies, there will be an even bigger opportunity for Debt Consolidation and Debt Settlement Companies to gain market share. This past January, the average debt on credit accounts and fixed-payment accounts such as auto loans climbed to $16,600, up from $15,500 last April, according to the credit reporting agency Experian. Over the same period, the average number of accounts per individual that are overdue by one payment has increased. As gas prices continue to increase, and more people go delinquent, the demand for assistance with debt will increase. Good time to be in the debt consolidation business!

According to a study released by Bankrate, Inc. in February 2008, 66% of Americans say debt is often the result of unfortunate circumstances beyond a person’s control, while 60% say it is usually the result of bad decisions. In addition, 64% of the people polled who carry debt admitted that debt is a cause of worry for them. While there is a difference between bad debt, and good debt, people have more debt than ever before. A combination of bad debt, and increasingly higher debt loads means more people will need of a debt consolidation or settlement solution than ever before. There is currently an open corridor opportunity for the debt consolidation or debt settlement company who can position themselves as the market leader.