Leadpile’s Blog

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????????

Sure, all Cash Advance and Auto Groups want the SSN on the leads.  My question is, are they truly necessary?   Many may say, “well, sure it is!”  It’s needed to run a credit check when applying online.  What happens to leads that don’t provide an accurate Social or that become skeptical and refuse to provide it.

With identity theft in the U.S. affecting over 10 million Americans a year across the U.S. according to a study by the Berkeley Law School, you will experience less people providing their social on leads.  Especially, if they have been victims of identity theft.  Wouldn’t you agree?

What does this mean?  In a lead exchange, we provide safe, secured sites that are developed to ensure that the consumer feels comfortable.  Even then we will get leads where the consumer did not provide the Social.  Realistically, this doesn’t mean the lead is bad.  Payday lenders and Auto Dealers, can purchase leads of such and call them.  Making the consumer comfortable in providing sensitive data.  Consumers will need to earn your trust and understand that their information will not just be floating around and getting to the wrong hands. 

Buying leads with no SSN will bring in more business.  You will close more deals.  Lead exchange will increase your ROI, when you use all aspects to them.  Getting full applications is a great benefit, but don’t forget about the consumers that are interested but become uneasy with just providing all their personal information online.  They are a sure candidate to close more deals, I’m sure.

Its always easier when you can talk to a person directly! Keep that in mind.

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!