Leadpile’s Blog

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?

Forums – a great way to learn and get to know professionals in your niche. First time I read anything on a Forum I gave up after couple of threads, because of the aggressive and “no ending” fights going on in there. Hiding yourself in the Cyber Space under different names and start attacking anyone you feel like. Well, that’s still the case even in the best forums out there, but I guess that’s what helps creating the buzz. Together with the “exciting” and really “passionate” fights, you have the chance to meet very talented professionals that love the freedom of speech, and most likely can teach you more than any of the panelists from the trade shows you are going to. 

Some Forums are better than others, and I am not going to rank them here, because it’s very subjective, but for sure some can increase your level of adrenaline – WickedFire is just one example . One thing I can say for sure, go out there, check them out and learn from the Pros, as you will find many of them. 

Leadpile Lead Exchange (Marketplace or Affiliate Network) is definitely looking out there and learning from everyone. 

I will close this post with a quote: 

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” Socrates

Many in the affiliate marketing world are getting ready to reunite with those in the industry, or see some NEW faces at the Affiliate Summit Boston. The Affiliate Summit is a great place to get to see what others are doing in the industry, hear some new concepts, and get some nice FREE goodlies from all the booths.
The mission of the Affiliate Summit is to be the leading global source of learning and networking opportunities surrounding the affiliate marketing industry, according to Webmasterradio.com.

Leadpile Lead Exchange will not be having a full booth set up, however we will be apart of the “Meet Market” gathering. We will also be visiting all the booths to say hi!
We looking forward to seeing all of our wonderful affiliates that attend the conference!

If 85% to 95% of all emails being handled by the ISPs represent spam which mostly are unwanted messages abusively and indiscriminately sent by unscrupulous marketers or scam artists, and the costs associated with the necessary bandwidth and network maintenance are supported by the ISPs, which in turn get paid by everyone that’s using the internet one way or another, then spammers are really picking our pockets.

Someone has to pay for creating and supporting the infrastructure required by 100 BILLION SPAM emails PER DAY!!! And that’s not cheap: the estimated costs were about $100 BILLION in 2007. So with 1,412,489,652 internet users worldwide (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm) and $100 billion in money spent/lost in connection with the spam, it comes to about $70.79 per person using the internet per year.

Incredibly, about 80% of all spam is sent by fewer than 200 spammers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spam), which would mean that each spammer steals nearly $500 MILLION per year from everybody else. Now is that grand theft or what? If a bank had HALF A BILLION stolen by 200 different people in a year I would tend to believe these people would be caught pretty fast.

LeadGen companies and Publishers that specialize in internet marketing do need to have an ethical conduct and refrain from spamming. LeadPile has built its reputation as a lead marketplace / exchange that strictly prohibits the practice of spam or any other abusive or deceptive marketing methods. All marketplace participants have to abide by strict rules which ensure that consumers are protected, and the lead exchange continues to grow based on the benefits it brings to consumers, lead buyers (advertisers) and lead sellers (publishers). All accounts have a dedicated account manager who is in constant communication with lead sellers and our quality control division is closely monitoring the leads production. Confidence in using the LeadPile Lead Exchange is critical to its success and the marketplace proved to be incredibly successful at attracting both quality lead sellers and lead buyers (http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS215372+06-May-2008+MW20080506).

Let’s go into Dynamic Pricing and its advantage.  Let’s say you have a network of advertisers but they all pay different pricing on leads.  How do you integrate this in a dynamic pricing tier for the auto and payday vertical?  Everyone wants first look. In a lead marketplace top bidder will get first look.  Segregate your advertisers by pricing.  

Here’s an example.  You have 5 companies buying from you.  Comp.1 can pay $6, Comp.2 can pay $29, Comp.3 can pay $40, Comp.4 can pay $10, and company 5 can pay $23.  Set up 3 campaigns in our lead exchange.  Campaign 1 set it at $6 Campaign 2 set it at $23 and Campaign 3 set it at $40.  Set up different affiliate IDs and put Comp 1 and 4 on campaign 1, company 2 and 5 on campaign 2 and company 3 on campaign 3.  This way you, we PING leads for your advertisers within the price they can afford to pay and you PING back a response with the price you accepted the lead and sold at.

Dynamic pricing works in different ways.  We can set up a unique tier that we will PING a lead at and you can POST back the price the lead was sold at. In addition, you can set up various parameters as filters, such as if you have zip codes that will pay a higher amount than others we can set up campaigns for higher paying zips and a different campaign for lower paying zips. We can also set it up by states, or even customers.  Whatever works best for you we can do.

The technology within our marketplace is so extreme that our integration and the variation of methods that we can assemble is quite intense.

With Tier Pricing, you set up the tier that you feel comfortable paying, we PING you at that price and you POST a reject or accept response letting us know if you will buy the lead or not.  You will pay the price the Tier is set for that we receive accepts on.  The lead exchange works fantastic, you can up your bid to subscribe you in a higher placement or you can go lower if you need too.  

Take into consideration that you are also taking advantage of the redirect feature that is available when we are doing the POST. 

If you need ideas or suggestions on how to set up your dynamic pricing or tier structure give our friendly experienced staff a call.  We will work with you to make this the best experience in the history of lead gen and find the solution that will best fit your companies platform.  And, finding the best way to set up your campaigns for your network of buyers!

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! 

Working in affiliate marketing you always want to figure out creative ways to get your name out there on the net.  Here are some places that I found to be helpful in building the partners I am working with.

LinkedIn- great place to join various groups and have access to companies in your line of work.  I found that some people I come across in my network are companies/websites that I would not have necessarily located with one of the search engines.  LinkedIn is also great to get some professional advice from all the people in your network.   You create a profile and the website does the work for you!  Great site to get your name out there! 

http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_home

Glam Interactive Group- womens on-line networking site.  This site allows you to get in touch with women who are always looking for new partnerships and new ventures.  You have a profile on this site and the website does the work of connecting you with other women in the industry.

http://glaminteractivenetwork.ning.com

Ecomexpo- a virtual tradeshow for the on-line marketing industry.  If your company can’t necessarily get out to the tradeshows around the US, then this is a great way to network and meet new potential partners. You can have a booth set up or just be a visitor.  Nice way to get a lot of new contacts in companies that you might already be working in or have wanted to work with.  All the work can be done from your desk.

http://www.ecomxpo.com/

youtube- great place to see some off the wall videos, but I also found it to be a place that you could locate some partners.  There are a lot of affiliate marketers doing videos and talking about various aspects of the industry.  Maybe they are a great candidate to become a partner or they have connections to those that might be interested.

http://www.youtube.com/

Trying to come up with unique ways to get new partners is something I feel that you have to do in order to grow your business.  Using these sites has helped me to come into contact with new people that I might not have ever ran into.