Leadpile’s Blog

In today’s world there are many things that have changed in a advertising sense. One of the largest changes that has happened is in the way in which advertisers advertise towards women. There are more women in the career role, running a business and buying high priced items for their home. I found this article on Phoenix Business Journal very interesting. For instance, they stated:

*Women business owners spend $1.5 trillion on business purchases.
*In today’s world, age is less important than life stage, e.g., 60-year-old women are dating, 50-year-olds are starting new careers and 40-year-olds are having children.
*Women purchase (or influence the purchase of) 85 percent of all consumer goods including automobiles, investments and computers, which were traditionally viewed as male-domain items.
*Advertising that makes a woman feel uncomfortable about her looks or health will have a hard time reaching an audience willing to purchase its product.

More businesses are realizing these facts and starting to adjust how they market their products online, through television, and print media. In previous years, selling your product or service was something you had to appeal to a man, however as we can see things are changing.
With the Leadpile Lead Exchange we deal with all sorts of lead types and all sorts of demographics of consumers and advertisers. The key for our marketplace to be effective is not only diversify what lead types we are working with, but also understand that publishers doing effective marketing to generate the leads is really important. To do effective lead generation, you must know details about the product and service you are generating leads for, AND you must understand who are the potential people you need to attract in this market.

How many of you have been approached to get a life insurance quote from your insurance agent? Let me guess, you said I am too young to buy life insurance. Any successful life insurance sales person will tell you the key to life insurance is really “understanding” it. There are a lot of misconceptions out there regarding life insurance. There really are a lot of specific reasons consumers take out a life insurance policy, besides just to “be covered” when they pass away.

1. Business owners can take out policies to take care of their key employees, so the business can run smoothly if the business owner passes away. Is the deceased person’s spouse really going to be able to run the business if they passed away? Probably not.
2. Spouses take out a policy to cover their spouse so they can try and maintain a similar lifestyle, if their spouse passes away.
3. Some take out policies for a short period of time to cover loved ones, because they took out some extra debt and they want their beneficiaries to not incur this debt if they pass away.
4. Some take out a life insurance policy because they want to have their loved ones to not have to take care of paying for their burial expenses.

Overall, there are so many reasons why a person has to consider taking out a life insurance policy. The most common types of life insurance policies are whole life and term life.
Whole life insurance generally is more expensive because it generates cash value, and it remains with you till you pass away. However, term insurance is an insurance policy that generally lasts for 10,20, or maybe even 30 years only. These policies expire at the end of their designated time frame. Unfortunately, if you take out a policy and then cancel it or don’t pay, it can expire and if you wanted another one, you then will be rated on the age you are now. Buying life insurance at a younger age can have some long term benefits for individuals, because life insurance premiums are based on your age (and health condition too).
According to Yahoo.com, 94% of life insurance that is sold is sold over the kitchen table. This means that most consumers who get life insurance have chosen to get it while meeting face to face with their insurance agent. 4% of consumers feel comfortable getting a life insurance policy over the internet. This is where Leadpile Lead Exchange comes in.
We work with some of the best publishers out there, and they are ready to embark on generating more insurance leads. Not only will we want our publishers to bring in auto and home insurance, we will ask them to bring in life insurance. This is a very important lead type that is a very important insurance for every American. We ALL need life insurance at some level. Just like in any loan you take out… do your research with life insurance. Ask a lot of questions.

Leadpile Lead Exchange is proud to announce we are now a part of the Facebook craze. Social networking sites are key to helping to define a company’s online presence. Leadpile realizes this, and now has it’s own profile. Join our Leadpile list of friends, and become apart of our Lead Exchange if you are not already.

There is generation “X” and baby boomers that we all hear about, however have you ever heard of Generation “V”? Generation V is the generation of the future… the generation that is dealing with online EVERYTHING. Unlike the other generations, Generation V is not defined by an age, gender, social class or where they live. However, this generation is based on what they can and have achieved, accomplishments, and an increasing desire for the use of digital media channels to discover information and build knowledge. If you are a company that is not online… you better be soon!
According to marketingcharts.com, 80% of generation V will be “lurkers”. These are people that will reap the rewards of the online world. Others are trying to be apart of the online world by participating in the activites such as blog posts, forums, and YouTube. Those is previous years did not do such things to keep an online presence, however this is something that companies need to take a look at when dealing with how they market their company online. Defined demographics of consumers are a way of the past, because it is getting harder and harder to determine those that are online and buying the product.
Companies must change around how their online presence is represented, because so many people are using the internet as their only source for information and other key aspects to their daily lives. Why is it though that many create accounts in places such as dating sites, email providers and blogs, that is not themselves (anonymous)? Are they trying to protect themselves from people knowing who they really are? Not sure on why Generation V does this, but we will see how much more the online world really affects various things such as retail, dating, lead generation and other up and coming industries.
I have to say the publishers I work with in the Leadpile Lead Exchange are mostly going to be considered Genration V. These are people that live, breath and do everything around the internet.
We welcome all generations to our marketplace, but I have a feeling there will be much more Generation V making up the Leadpile Lead Exchange!

More and more people are doing research on the internet, shopping, and supplying their credit card information online. With shopping and other reasons to supply your credit card information, consumers need to be sure to fully know if they are on a “safe” website. There are a few tips the Associated Press says to utilize in order to have a “safer” online experience.

1. Check and make sure any place you enter your credit card information there is a “lock” on the website, and “httpS” in the browser.

2. Be careful about clicking on links that come to your email, instead manually go to websites that you plan on using a credit card.

3. Look for your browser’s address bar to turn green. This is an indication that the site you’re visiting has paid for and also has passed additional background checks to verify it’s a legitimate business. Also, having the validation Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is a new feature that also indicates the site is sending your data securely using proper encryption methods.

4. Use a separate email address just for your online shopping and other online activities.

5. If possible, have a separate credit card for your online activities. This will allow you to keep track of everything a little more easily, because everything is on one credit card.

6. Use a credit card, versus a debit card. Recovering lost money from a credit card purchase is much easier than when you use a debit card.

These are all things that I would be conscious of when doing any sort of online activities, which potentially involve money. Leadpile Lead Exchange deals daily with advertisers that are required to put money on account to purchase leads. However, maintaining a safe user experience is what we strive to have every ADVERTISER experience. Precautionary measures such as using Verisign, and having every advertisers go through a verification process, allows Leadpile to provide a “safe” maketplace for our advertisers.

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.

In 2006, I took a lot of heat for predicting One Trillion Dollars in retail Online Sales by 2012.

According to Emarketer and Nielson Online, Eight out of 10 respondents who had recently made consumer electronics purchases in a brick-and-mortar store said they had visited the store’s Website first. More than one-half said they purchased from the retailer on whose Website they had spent the most time. In addition 58% of respondents said they would choose the Internet for research in purchases before they would even choose their own friends and family.

While this study reported about Electronics, it is not a far reach to think that consumer research will certainly continue to dramatically increase in years to come.

At the Leadpile Lead Exchange, we are seeing consumers’ research under-banked services at exponentially increasing rates.

Look out Trillion! Here it comes!

I heard about this service called Ask Sunday on the radio and I was curious about it so I checked out the website.  It’s a personal assistant for those of us who can’t afford one like the stars or the truly wealthy have. NOW WE CAN! with Ask Sunday we can get the help of a personal assistant, someone who schedules appointments, makes general purchases like flowers and small gifts purchased online or over the phone, search for a plumber, electrician or a guy to re-roof your house for you. 

They can also work on those pesky projects we all lose time working on. Gathering information off of all those websites to put into 1 page of info for your boss, transcribe a meeting, or many other things that they have listed on the web site.  They also have full service travel agents who can help plan your next vacation. No matter what it is. Need help Fixing your computer. They can also help with that.

All this does come at a price though. They have packages that you can choose from depending on what your needs are.  Lite, Silver and Gold. Silver is the most popular at 30 days for 15 requests at $39.00 and 90 days for 45 requests at $89.00. Each additional task is only $1.75.

Here at Leadpile we can help you with all your lead buying and selling requests and it does not cost a thing. Just a phone call or an email and we will assist you the best way we know how. The Leadpile Way!

Tracking your Payday campaign could never be easier.  Let’s talk about the LeadPile lead exchange and some unique tools provided inside your campaign to better assist you.  

LeadPile, Payday/Cash Advance vertical has launch above expectations.  We are the Source for Payday/Cash Advance leads.  For uniqueness the placement in our marketplace is powerful.  You see inside your campaign you will see your current bid price, your rank, and the top bid.  Yes, our top payday buyer is currently paying $68.50.  Our quality can stand in front of our price.  

The rank is significant as it will elaborate how many more campaigns are currently active, funded and have priority to accept a lead first.  Our lead exchange is Market Driven.  Rank 1 will have the opportunity to purchase the lead first.  Be aware that you will be receiving higher quality.  Not so much due to the cost, but consider this, you are coming across new consumers that are in some serious need of a loan that might only fill out one application online, hence was our application.  

I always suggest to get a good placement in our PING tree.  If you are an aggregator and you are working with extended amount of buyers you want to take a good placement.  Offer them the best quality lead that they have not seen within the acceptable time frame.  

I provided this screen shot so that you can view and understand how it works.  At any time a buyer can go through the “main settings” inside there campaign and increase the price so that they can jump over a few affiliates.  That’s the nature of a lead exchange.  You have total control over your price and you are notified of your placement. This way you can make some logical financial evaluations and define where you need to be at that makes sense for your company.

With a Lead Exchange such as LeadPile we make it user friendly so that you can at all time have the information you need right in front of you!  No wonder, we are the Largest Online TOP Rank Lead Marketplace!

Watch LeadPile Specialty Finance TV Commercial Here!

According to TNS Media Intelligence (as reported by Emarketer), Automotive advertising spending in the US dropped to $1.99 billion in Q1 2008. That was down more than 14% compared with Q1 2007.

This does not surprise me that much as we predicted in 2005 that more and more Automotive Advertising would be spent online in the years to come. While the overall automotive advertising spending decreased, Internet spending was up 57.9% last year, to $441.6 million.

What does this mean to our Automotive Lead Exchange Participants? Simply put, being in the middle of the online auto lead space is not a bad place to be at all. Carpe Diem!

I just love a recent article from eMarketer. They say that  an online survey by Ipsos Reidfound that Internet users in Canada ages 12 to 17 spent an average of 13 hours per week online in early 2008 (compared with 19 hours for adults). That number has not increased since Ipsos began measuring online teen behavior in 2004.

Emarketer says that “Several factors may account for the relatively little time teens spent online. One is the significant number of daytime hours devoted to school during most of the year. Another is the influence of parents—54% of online teens surveyed said their parents placed time limits on their Web use”.

Isn’t it a great time to be involved in Internet Marketing and a lead Exchange when people say that  Internet users in Canada ages 12 to 17 spending an average of 13 hours per week online is a “relatively little amount of time!”

Love it!

When I think of Sears, I think about hardware stores my grandpa and dad used to go to to get that new tool. However, over the years Sears has evolved into a store for more than just tools. No, REALLY! Trendy clothing lines, jewelry, and other non household items has turned Sears into a place all of us can shop at.

According to DMNews, Sears is now going to do some marketing in some social networking sites. They are looking to places like YouTube, Facebook and Myspace as a means to generate interest with the tween (for those of you out of the “loop”, Tween age is between childhood and teenage years) population.

This online marketing campaign is Sears trying to bring in some interest in their back-to-school website arrivelounge.com. There goes the days of Sears in 1886 when they sold watches as a mail order company. Times sure have changed, but I give credit to Sears for realizing that they need to continue to adapt to what is going on in the “world”, in order to stay a store people of all ages shop at.

This just goes to show you, if you want to survive and stay in business- you MUST be open to revising your current business plans, and be open to new ways of running your business. I can guarantee Richard Sears could have never imagined his company marketing to tweeners on social networking sites….social networking WHAT????????