In a previous post, I pointed out the importance of the Long Tail concept. This concept was coined by Chris Anderson and it states niche products and services in low demand could be the big revenue generators.  Chris Anderson is also promoting businesses to embrace the “freemium” concept.

He believes that anything on the internet will be FREE, and companies will be competing with this idea unless they choose to offer FREE.  According to InternetNews.com, “There are a lot of ways to make money,” he said.  Give a basic version of a service or application away for free, but also offer more full-featured versions.” With a “freemium” type model, a product or service is offered free to a large number of customers hoping a minority will pay for a premium or added-value service.

How could this maybe relate to lead generation or the Leadpile Marketplace?
How about the idea of giving away leads for FREE knowing that down the road this is going to result in a long term satisfied client? How about offering potential great partners FREE web design assistance or custom banners and forms? People get to use the service and understand it’s value, then they want to commit based on their experience with already using the company.” This concept is really not anything new, but maybe in the lead generation business it is time networks look at not just each individual client as a way to make the most money, but look at offering something to clients for free, knowing that the long term benefit to their company is much greater.

Sounds like the idea …give a little, get a lot!

             Apple and Twitter marriage?

Who is next?

First it was Facebook, then it was Google, and now the latest rumor is Apple is interested in purchasing Twitter. Could this be true?  ”Twapple” news was all over the net yesterday and today that there could be a deal brewing for $700 million.  A lot of money for an “entity” that does not necessarily make any money.  The question you always hear is, How does Twitter make money? We all know Facebook used to have no advertising on it, and in recent months there are now advertisements.  However, Twitter has not yet ventured into any advertisements, yet everyone wants to buy the unprofitable site.    Appscout points out, “A deal could be done by June 8, the date of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference.”
Leadpile, once again will be keeping an eye on this potential marriage made in cyber heaven.

The idea of a “lead exchange” or “lead generation” was not something everyone knew about in the internet world years ago. However, with consumers being online more AND advertisers wanting to get more qualified consumers, lead generation has become a very popular space to be in. The space has been getting more and more competition, and Leadpile is happy to say there have been record numbers that have joined our marketplace and helped to make this marketplace a HUGE success. One major factor in this success is knowing how to effectively match up the consumers with advertisers. According to a recent Leadpile Press Release, “Astoundingly, LeadPile’s MicroClick™ form had 2,628,345 impressions in the first quarter of 2009, or loaded approximately once every three seconds on the Internet.” Leadpile seemed to have found that way to be effective with both the publishers and advertisers, so the consumer wins in the end!
This is great news for our marketplace…
We look forward to the rest of 2009, and look for any feedback to help achieve GREAT success!

GREAT WORK TEAM!

PDL Industry Blog pointed out some lenders are thinking about implementing installment loans as a boost to their existing Payday Loan Business. These new potential regulations regarding capping the interest rate, do not appear to affect larger banks offering short term loans. The larger banks APR tends to be below the capped APR that the state is looking to implement, however the payday loans APRs are the ones that would be feeling the effects of the potential rate cap. This could be why some payday lenders are looking at new types of “loans”, where some of them have longer terms and possibly a little higher loan amounts. These sorts of changes could reduce the overall APR that the consumers are seeing. The results = the CONSUMER is happy because they got the much needed loan… the LENDER is happy because they could provide this service to the consumer… the STATE is happy because it meets all their requirements of the lending regulations.

It looks like the LeadPile Exchange will blow out another vertical in very short order! Stay Tuned…

Thursday the House of Representatives passed a bill that has potential to protect consumers from the credit card companies. It appears this potential law could pretty much affect all credit card holders. The good news is some of this could be implemented within 90 days if the law makes it through the Senate and our nation’s president. The Associated Press points out some of the details of this new bill. The bill would prevent retroactive rate increases and prevent credit card companies from giving credit cards to anyone under the age of 18. “This is a unique opportunity to end abusive practices that afflict millions of families across the nation, to contribute to our economic recovery, and to take a stand for American consumers,” Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the bill’s primary sponsor, said after the House vote. “Now it is the Senate’s turn to act.”

With our nation’s auto makers, mortgage companies and financial institutions getting a “bail out”, it is kinda nice to see the government lending a helping hand to consumers when it comes to their credit cards.

There are not many people these days that have not had some sort of interest in going back to school.  Online degree/online education is a very important subject consumers tend to research online.  Leadpile Lead Exchange realizes this, therefore we have rolled out some banners and a landing site for our publishers to use as a way to connect future students with educators.

Those looking to further their education have some common questions, and they tend to look for these answers on the internet.  Questions such as:

*  How long will it take for me to finish?

*  How much time do I need to dedicate to this schooling?

*  What type of degree program should I do?

*  How much does it cost to do online education?

*  Where do I get connected with people to get information?

Knowing these questions are being asked, Leadpile is trying to connect those interested people with some of the answers.  If you are a publisher interested in connecting this very important group of people, with those that can answer their questions, please contact us.

www.fastonlinedegrees.com is a site our publishers can drive traffic to, or utilize our Leadpile Microclick forms and banners.  Congratulations to all those looking to pursue their education!

I am not sure if this is something new, or maybe just a White House position I have never really paid attention till now, however President Obama has named 2 high profile company executives to his tech council.  Tech Council?  Yes, there is such a thing and I think this is a sign of the times.  America has gone internet “crazy” and it is only right to have a President working closely with individuals from Google and Microsoft.  Google’s Eric Schmidt and Microsoft’s Craig Mundie have joined a team (PCAST) of 20 advisers to the President.

“PCAST is designed to give the White House a pipeline to some of the leading voices in science, engineering and technology as the administration crafts policies in those areas,” according to Internet News.  Leadpile Lead Exchange, and other internet companies, like the idea of the potential of more advacements and assistance for this growing internet world we are all a part of.  Maybe in the next presidential term there will be representatives from social networking sites and maybe affiliate marketing companies? Now that is a great idea!

How many times a day do you open up an email that contains some strange prescription drug or nudity content?  How many minutes or hours a day does it take out of your day to delete these emails?  If you are like everyone else, there is a large amount of time spent on dealing with spam emails.  On the flip side, did you ever think how much time and energy spammers spend on generating these waste of time emails?

An interesting article in DMConfidential pointed out some facts about spam and the waste of energy these emails cost the world. The article pointed out, “Spam-related energy use could have powered the homes of everyone who flew on an airplane on a day in 2008 (2.2 million), or the country of Jordan.” In a “eco-friendly” world that we have become, bringing to light some of the wasted energy causes is probably a good thing. I am not sure really it will make a “spammer” say I am not going to send out these emails, however maybe it will get some of us who don’t like the emails to seek out those doing it and stop them.
Lead generation and companies doing their own marketing often times involves some sort email marketing. Email marketing is a cost effective way to generate traffic. However, is this something Leadpile Lead Exchange and other companies will eventually eliminate because of it’s lack of effectiveness and the “bad” name (and huge carbon footprint) spammers have caused it to get? OR is this just another article trying to get more of the McAfee product sold?  You decide.

Imagine this….. you fell behind on your mortgage and you are going to have to move out of the home you spent your hard earned money building to your satisfaction. Out of anger you do some things to this home to express your frustration of the situation you are now in. Broken windows, damaged walls, and you decide on your way out you are going to put a nice little hammer to the A/C unit.
Unfortunately, this consumer’s damaged house needs to be then put up for sale by the bank for some other consumer to purchase. Who is going to want to purchase a home that requires so many repairs before even moving in? Fortunately, someone else’s “garbage” is another person’s treasures. With a great deal on the home, that home sells to a new consumer who sees so much potential with this damaged foreclosed home. The new homeowner also did their homework and found out with the Obama Plan, there are tax credits available to homeowners for things such as windows, HVAC, and a few other home improvements. In an effort to help consumers who are willing to purchase these damaged foreclosure homes, and for those that have to stay in their home and can not sell, the Federal Government rolled out some great tax credits for 2009 and 2010. The tax credits available are up to 30% of the cost of the designated repairs up to $1,500. There have been tax credits available to consumers in previous years, however to this level they have never been available.
Leadpile Lead Exchange works with the home improvement vertical and thinks maybe assistance like this, will only help with the demand for this lead type. Leadpile is currently looking for publishers that can potentially bring in this lead type so we can connect homeowners wanting to take advantage of these credits, with the advertisers that want to provide the services.

We all know payday loans don’t exactly have the best image, however there are a need for them in certain situations. I came across this article on personalmoneystore.com, discussing a very interesting type of loan. This “automobile down payment loan” is said to be a loan that no credit check is performed, and there is no collateral securing this loan. However, after reading more about this, I thought this reminded me of a payday loan, but with a different name.

We all know lending requirements have gotten a lot more strict, however consumers still need to pay close attention to the specifics of any money they are getting. Don’t get me wrong, this is not necessarily a bad thing that consumers should not look at. However, maybe the key to getting a more positive image on the payday loan industry is to put different “names” on the loans. Leadpile will keep an eye out for any other names we identify as a payday loan.

Companies working with consumers to modify their mortgages has been going on for almost a year now. However, Ocwen Financial Corp (a servicer of sub-prime mortgage) is one of the first mortgage servicers to begin modifying mortgages under the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program. The new government program was rolled out in an effort to help mortgage holders who are potentially going to fall behind on their mortgages.
According to Business Journal,”For a loan modification, lenders would have to reduce the mortgage payments to no more than 38 percent of the borrower’s income. The Treasury Department would share the cost for lenders to cut that debt-to-income ratio to 31 percent.
Loans could be extended to up to 40 years. Those lenders who do participate would have to modify all loans, not just the worst ones. Loans originated before Jan. 1 are eligible for the program, which runs through 2012. Homeowners who have an unpaid principal balance of as much as $729,750 can participate. There are also incentives for firms such as Ocwen (NYSE: OCN) that service these loans.
They will receive an upfront fee of $1,000 for each eligible modification meeting guidelines established created by the initiative. They will also receive “pay for success” monthly fees – as long as the borrower stays current on the loan – of up to $1,000 a year for three years.”
Leadpile Lead Exchange has seen the loan modification lead type go through periods of high demand to not much demand. Maybe this lead type has some more life in itself in our marketplace. There still seems to be consumers that will want to be a part of this new government plan. We shall see…..

Advertisers are always looking for effective ways to reach consumers, however sometimes it is not always the easiest task to accomplish. If done correctly, email marketing is a cost effective way to reach a large audience in a short amount of time. The biggest trick businesses have to face is getting “that email” delivered in the consumers inbox. Last week JetBlue Airlines utilized email marketing, press releases and partner’s emails to get across a HOT deal they were offering.  JetBlue was offering tickets from NY to San Francisco for $14!  That is unheard of, however it was no joke.  The unfortunate thing was this email and press release blast made the airline sell out quickly (within an hour to be exact). This also created a great buzz about the airline and traveling, and that is what they were looking to accomplish.  What other way can you effectively market something that HOT in such a short amount of time???? According to DMNews, this wasn’t such a bad scenario for the airline to be in…..

Email marketing is also a great way to monetize data.  Leadpile Lead Exchange is very happy to offer TEXT links to it’s lead publishers to use in an email marketing campaign.
Bottom line is… email works!