As the end of December comes around and the beginning of January nears, people in general start re-evaluating their budget.  A popular new years resolution is “saving money”.  So if this is a common goal why is it so hard to accomplish?

Due to the economic recession many households are making less then before, making it hard to bank extra money.  We also live in a society that thrives on promoting or advertising what you must have!  The line between need and want often become crossed and we end up overspending for the month.

So how can we save?  The answer lies in each one of us.   We don’t have to strive for the moon – to overshoot and miss all together.  If we take baby steps we can be successful, and if one month you fall down, don’t let it stop you!  Get up and start over again.  Here are a few money saving tips that can help you get started:

1. Set up a separate savings account and actually use it to save money.
2. Split your direct deposit so that $25.00 out of each paycheck goes into your savings account.  (out of sight out of mind)
3. Save any change that you receive after making a cash purchase. (you will be surprised how fast this adds up)
4. Plan a monthly budget, start with you needs first i.e. Rent/mortgage, electricity, car payments etc. and then budget in an allotted dollar amount for wants and stick to it.
5. Write out your grocery list before you go shopping and only get what is on the list

If you start implementing even a couple of these suggestion you will be surprised by what you can save!

Happy Savings!

Think about the last time you received excellent customer service.  We may get ok service, maybe good service and rarely great service, but excellent customer service, that is hard to come by.

Most the time we are helped by people who either:

• Just want to make a sale – and will do anything to get there
• Don’t care – have a lackluster approach to their job/goals
• Don’t know how to relate to their customer – or don’t care too

For a business that is dangerous.  How many times are you apt to go back to a business that provided that type of service?  I know that I wouldn’t.  So what can we do to ensure that our customers don’t receive bad customer service but instead get excellent customer service?  It can be done in these easy steps:

• Know your customer – their needs/goals/desires
• Listen to your customer – let them talk the majority of the time
• Be genuine with your customer – they know when your not being real
• Become your customer – put yourself in their shoes/relate to them

By doing those steps it shows our customers that we are interested in what they want, that we value them and that we appreciate their business. When we take the time to develop that customer relationship it will in turn make loyal customers that will equate to more sales for your business!  Remember, without our customers our businesses would not be successful.  So make it an aim to give EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Apple TVs have continued to make strong sales since their launch 3 months ago. The new product sold over 250,000 units in the first six weeks of being sold. Apple TV offers people a way to instantly stream videos from their iPads or iPhones, it gives people the ability to rent movies for only .99, and it is priced at only $99. Highly due to the convenience and price, Apple TVs are expected to reach $1 million later this week, before the Christmas holiday even happens.

According to a Forrester study, sales for E-Books are predicted to reach around $1 billion by the end of this year. It is also thought that by the end of 2015 the demand for them will triple. Although only 7 percent of adults are currently using E-Books, these consumers are the ones who typically read the most and therefore buy the most books or spend the most on them.

E-Books offer a great alternative for those who want to get a book online with out having to go to stores like Barnes and Noble or Borders.  These predictions also say the industry will be changed forever as more people will most likely continue to get Kindle or other e-reader products.

Generation Y adults are making it more difficult for the auto world by not having such a large dependence on cars. Todays generation is more likely to buy items such as software, computers, smart phones, or music. Motorists from the ages of 21-30 make a up market of about 80 million people.
Although sales are not expected to decrease, they will not likely be as high as the baby boomers generation who make more multiple car purchases and view cars as a status object. Instead, they are looking for cars that are more affordable and simplistic.

The generation Yers tend to see cars as an environmental threat. Even with the new Hybrid and electric cars, many still view autos as being a polluter. Auto manufacturers and dealers alike are scrambling to find a way to appeal to this generation as the baby boomer’s generation turns 65 next year and won’t be their largest consumer base any longer.

Leadpile works closely with auto finance leads and still has a large demand that tell us people are still interested in purchasing vehicles. Todays consumers might be looking for different types of vehicles,but they are still looking nonetheless.

Google is once again predicting what items will be flying off the shelves this Holiday season. Even though it may be too early for many shoppers, those who are ahead of the game can get the merchandise before it sells out. By looking at consistently searched items by people on the Google website, the retailing team is able to determine which toys or other products will be in high demand. Last year, Google was able to predict the high sales of the “Zhu Zhu Pets” toys among children.
This year, Google has a new set of products that are already being highly searched for on the internet.

For lower-prices items:

-”Otterbox” iphone covers
-Collectible Japanese “Iwako” erasers.
-Silly Bandz

Pricier items:
-3D TVs
-Flip camcorder
-Wooden training bikes called “Balance Bikes”

Toys:
-Sing-a-Ma-Jigs
-Nurf Stampede

The sales of four main brands of General Motors vehicles are up 24.6%. Cadillac is leading the pack with sales up 142% since August of 2008. Models like the Escalade, CTS, and DTS are just some to name a few. Buick is close behind raising their sales 137%. Chevrolet is performing well also, mainly selling their lines of trucks such as the Silverado.

Overall sales for General Motors are up 5.4%. Vice President of sales Don Johnson attributes this to the current economy,

“…those people who have put off replacing their worn-out vehicles are now slowly starting to come back into the market”.

Now that people are finally beginning to feel  more comfortable in making auto purchases, this could be a trend we continue to see with other major auto companies as well. Leadpile is currently working with auto finance, and the strong demand proves this to be valid!

For the first time, electronic books for Amazon’s Kindle has outnumbers sales for hardcover books consecutively for the past 3 months. The Kindle which has been on the market for 33 months has been selling an average of 143 ebooks for every 100 hardcover books. This number recently jumped to 180 ebooks for every 100 hardcover books sold on Amazon.com.

Consumers who do not own a Kindle can enjoy Kindle books on many other devices such as laptops, ipohnes, ipads, Blackberries and Android phones.

This study does not include paperback book sales but it’s amazing how technology plays such a large role in such a simple pleasure.

The home buyer credit which was expected to boost sales and encourage buying with an incentive of a $6,500 tax credit, is not performing like had been expected.
The tax credit which offered up to $8,000 for people who had not owned a home for three years, had increased sales in the summer and fall of 2009. This credit was extended past it’s initial limited time with a slightly lower credit of $6,500 in hopes of keeping the buying momentum going. Unfortunately, the new credit is not boosting sales as it was hoped to with the unemployment rate still high and the economy still uncertain. Many potential buyers also face the dilemma of selling the home they are currently in before being able to purchase a new home… and for many selling a home where they owe more on it than it is currently worth, this is not an option.
To qualify for the $6,500 credit:
*Buyers must have owned and lived in the same home for five consecutive years out of the past eight.
*Buyer must sign a contract by April 30, and close before June 30.
*The home’s purchase price can’t exceed $800,000 and it must be used as a main residence. *The income limit for single taxpayers is $125,000 and for a married couple $225,000.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks and express gratitude. The LeadPile team would like to express our appreciation for your business! In combination of saying thank you, we thought we would share some helpful ideas on increasing your sales during this holiday season:

- Send Thanksgiving cards to your customers, everyone likes to hear thank you!
- Send out an email blast to your clients offering discounted services. This keeps your name in front of your customers and potentially brings them back for more services.
- Get involved with your community and do local sponsorships, to get your name in front of more people. Now is the time to share and people appreciate companies that help the community.
- Look at utilizing social networking as a source for advertising and building relationships, because families and friends stay well connected over the holidays.
- Emphasize family in your communications with your customers.

These are all ideas that might help you jump start your sales during this holiday season.

LeadPile wishes you a warm and happy holiday.

Leadpile is pleased to welcome 2 new additions to our Leadpile sales team – Erin Dow and Natasha Aronov! They both bring experience, a passion to succeed, and exciting personalities to the team! We are looking forward to new and exciting things in our Leadpile Marketplace, and HUGE success for these two new team members. Welcome girls!!!!!

Phoenix June 30th, 2009 — LeadPile, The World’s Largest Online Exclusive Lead Exchange announced today record results for its MicroClick Form (http://www.microclick.com) in June, 2009. LeadPile reports a record number of Lead Verticals being served by its MicroClick Form with Lead Sellers producing leads in 61 different verticals in the month of June. This makes the LeadPile MicroClick Form the most widely used Multi Vertical Lead Generation Form in the lead Marketplace and Lead Exchange Industry.

LeadPile’s Centralized Online Exclusive Lead Marketplace supports thousands of affiliates that use the exchange to sell to suitable lead buyers. By using the LeadPile MicroClick Form, Affiliates can focus on driving traffic to their pages and not on managing lead buyer relationships. Over 90% of LeadPile’s active affiliates are currently using the MicroClick form, offloading the responsibility for lead collection, management, technology infrastructure, and quality control to LeadPile.

Astoundingly, LeadPile’s MicroClick form has been used to produce leads as diversified as Tax Debt Relief, Home Improvements, Business Loans, Health Insurance, Equipment Leasing, Credit Card Processing, Cash For Gold and more.

Andrew Jacob, CEO of LeadPile says, “The LeadPile MicroClick Form allows us to handle leads across multiple verticals, including payday, starter credit, debt consolidation, credit repair, bankruptcy, auto financing, and homeowner. While the majority of leads currently being exchanged in the  Marketplace are in the Financial sector, the fact that Lead Sellers are using the MicroClick form to produce leads in over 60 verticals is very rewarding for our team.

Jacob adds, “I would like to personally thank our existing Lead Buyers and Leads Sellers for their business, and it is our promise to everything we possible can to help them in their efforts by continuing to provide the type of technology infrastructure and transparency that they have come to both expect, and deserve, from LeadPile.

To read more, please visit http://www.LeadPile.com/