I hope that you find these few tips helpful and save you some money. Have a wonderful shopping season!

In recent months the debt vertical has become a very popular, yet challenging vertical to work with. Understanding reasons consumers have gotten into debt and the specifics that the lead buyers are looking for, has been something we have worked on to fully understand.
According to Bankrate.com there are 10 main reasons why consumers get buried in debt. Understanding more about debt allows consumers to be more educated and ultimately try and avoid these types of situations.

1. Reduced income, but same monthly expenses
2. Divorce
3. Poor money management
4. Underemployment
5. Gambling
6. Medical expenses
7. Not saving money or not saving enough money
8. No money communication skills
9. Spending money you don’t have yet
10. No understanding of money

These are all scenarios any consumer can be faced with, including myself. With the economy being very tough right now, many lead generation companies are focusing on the debt vertical. Fortunately, there are various types of debt help that the consumers can get, but most consumers do not know the difference between one another.
The main details that debt consolidation and debt settlement companies are looking for is the amount of unsecured debt. What is unsecured debt?
Unsecured debt is debt that is not secured by any collateral. For instance, credit card debt, medical bills, cell phone bills and other collection accounts. Most debt companies do not work with secured debt such as mortgages, tax debt, student loans and auto loans.
Leadpile Lead Exchange generates a lot of debt leads. Lead types such as debt consolidation, debt settlement, and credit repair are all types of leads we are generating that are there to assist the consumers with the debt/credit. We are connecting the consumers that need help, with those companies that can help them get out of debt.

Bankrate.com just released the top 10 selling cars for 2008.  The hottest and most popular automobiles: 

• #10 – The Chevrolet Cobalt.  Listing price $14,217. Sold to date 114,250 vehicles.  Runs at about 25-30 mpg.  
• #9  -  Ford Focus. Listing price $15,363. Sold to date 123,449 cars. Average 28mpg
• #8  -  Chevrolet Impala. Listing price $21,348. Sold to date 138,952.  MPG depends on the cylinder of the vehicle.  Your looking at anywhere between 17-23mpg depending on the version
• #7 – Chevrolet Silverado (light duty). First truck on the top ten.. Listing price$25,921. Sold to date 148,046. They average 11-16mpg. 
• #6  - Nissan Altima.   Listing price $22,798. Sold to date 158,006.  Average 22-26mpg.  
• #5  - We are half way down the list . Introducing the Ford F Series (light duty). Nice to see another truck on the board.  Listing price $22,798.  Sold to date 164,828.  10-16mpg.  Wow, get ready to spend your money on gas with this type of mpg!
• #4  - Toyota Corolla.  Listing price $17,122.  Sold to date 169,868.  25-30mpg.  Nice!
• #3  - And now the top three!  Honda Civic! I’m not surprised to see this bad boy on the list.  Listing price $19,114.  Sold to date 204,961.  The MPG is great with whopping 28-42mpg. 
• #2  - Honda Accord.  Listing price $25,859. Sold to date 227,874.  Save some cash with this beauty 25-34mpg.
• Finally, what we have all been waiting for .  #1 best selling auto for 2008!  You ready?  Announcing the most popular car around, the TOYOTA CAMRY.  Listing price $22,859.  Sold an amazing 228,874 cars this year.  Take a vacation with the money you will save on gas with 23-34mpg.

Surprised to only see 2 trucks in the top ten?  I think not.  Overall car sales are down 10% this year compared to last year.  Leadpile Lead Exchange deals a lot with the Auto Finance vertical and the volume of leads coming through our system is slightly down also, however we are expecting it to turn around any day now!
There you have it, the top 10 autos for 2008!

Capturing a name, number, email, address, best time to call, can get really expensive. If you want to target geographically, by zip or state, it will increase your price and lower the amount of traffic you are getting. A lead can be really inexpensive, if you are just capturing email address, and you incentivize it, but if you are looking to attract customers that are genuinely interested in your service, its not going to be .20 cents or .50 cents, it will be way more expensive. You can expect prices as these if you are looking for lists, but why would you do that when you have the Yellow Pages and costs you nothing. You can definitely get leads for such a price, but those will be leads that are generated from the yellow pages, or aged data (lists) of consumers that showed an interest in your service years ago.  So what is the price for a good, real time, exclusive leads? It depends, it can be very expensive, depending how competitive is your vertical.  You will get what you are paying for. In other words, you are going to be happy with the return on your investment (ROI).

Advertisers have to consider that publishers or lead exchanges are eating the cost of any leads that are invalid.  Paying anywhere between .25 to $1.50 per click, or even $15, does not guarantee a conversion. Even if we get a conversion, it will not necessarily mean that you, as a buyer, will accept the lead. If you are a Debt Settlement buyer, you might want only want $15,000 and above in Unsecured Debt, which will significantly increase the price to produce that lead. 

Lead exchanges welcome advertisers to join the marketplace to HOST their offers. Paying the right price for the lead, working with the lead exchange to optimize your campaign and filter the lead sources, will ensure a successful campaign for you, as a buyer, and for the Lead Exchange and its publishers. 

Think of it this way, lets say you need to travel to a different state.  Would you rather rent a bike or a car? By renting a bike, you will save money on gas and get in a better shape If you are concerned about the time you need to get to your destination, this will not work too well for you, and renting a car might be more suited for you. Time is money, and we all know it very well.

Make great choices and you will see more money coming into your business! Buy quality, real time exclusive leads, and you can be assured that Leadpile will be on your side from start to end! Pay the price that they are worth and you will get the satisfaction that you are searching for!

Leadpile’s Motto: “Good is the Enemy of Great!” – Jim Collins, Good to Great

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?

This tops the cake on articles I have read lately… some politicians are thinking about reducing the speed limit because of the higher gas prices. According to the Wall Street Journal, politicians are entertaining the idea to make some changes to our standard speed limit of 55 mph. The 55 mph speed limit has been around since 1974, so alot of us never saw the uproar that was caused when that speed limit was implemented years ago.
U.S. Energy Department is potentially calculating all these speed demons could save the equivalent of 29 cents to 94 cents a gallon if they slowed down just to 60 mph, but also reduce the fuel they burn by about 7% to 23%. It seems that some are talking about raising this as a potential vote, however it does not appear it will get to far. Most politicians don’t seem to want to admit that they would promote this sort of change.
Something else to think about with regards to the changes going on with the economy.
1. Go out and get a more fuel economy style of car, to save money on gas.
2. Drive slower to save gas.
What’s next for automobile drivers?

So good idea or bad?

The Following is a from Bankrate.com by Laura Bruce, September 12^th, 2005. I thought this would be an interesting post for People following Online Payday at the Lead Exchaneg Blog.

It’s a tempting alternative to walking into the check-cashing store on the corner. Online payday lenders are popping up on the Internet, offering fast, short-term loans to cash-strapped consumers, in the anonymous comfort of cyberspace.

But if you borrow from these businesses, you might have more to worry about than the astronomical interest rates traditionally associated with payday lenders in general.

For starters, you’ll provide an amazing amount of personal data — Social Security number, driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name and, of course, your name, address and employment information — to the Web site.

You’ll also give your checking account number and bank routing number, so the lender will have access to your account. The lender will deposit your loan into your checking account and dip into your account to extract interest, fees and the principal. Some require that you fax them your latest pay stub, most recent bank statement, photo ID and a voided check.

But to whom are you giving this information? More than likely you won’t have a clue. Many Web sites that pop up when you do a search for something such as “payday loans” aren’t lenders at all. Take Advance Cash Loans, which states at the bottom of its home page, “Advance Cash Loans is not an online provider of online payday cash advances. We simply connect people seeking fast cash advances with online providers of instant cash advances so they can get the advance cash that they need, as soon as possible.”

A Consumer Federation of America (CFA) survey, of 100 online payday lenders and referrals sites, found that many are run from outside the United States and, perhaps, out of reach of American laws.

“You don’t know where your information is going,” says Jean Ann Fox, director of consumer protection at CFA.

“Many times you can’t find who the domain is registered to. There are Internet payday lenders outside the country, in Canada and on islands in the Caribbean that you can’t find with a magnifying glass. It’s like handing a stranger a blank check.”

Bankrate.com tried to contact three payday lenders. Only one could be contacted, and no one there would answer questions or return calls.

Are these businesses fly-by-night scammers that will steal your identity, trap you into budget-busting, long-term borrowing habits, or illegally siphon money out of your bank account? Nope, not necessarily. But you should think long and hard before sending your information to companies that are so stingy about their own information, Fox says.

“If you borrow from them, you’re not seen in line at the corner payday lender, so there’s privacy and that might be a selling point. But I hope it’s offset by sending all that personal information over the Internet. It’s a financial strip search. They want every piece of your financial information. People should be afraid to provide that information. I wouldn’t want to give that to someone over the counter, much less over the Internet.”

Traditional payday lenders — the so-called brick-and-mortar shops — are represented by Community Financial Services of America, a trade association. Online payday lenders have no such organization and, therefore, have no one to represent them. But Andy Jacob, CEO of Leadpile.com, a company that seeks leads for salespeople in the cash-advance business and other industries, calls the growth in online payday lending “explosive.”

“What’s happening in online is happening fast and furious. The major players are trying to position themselves to be the leader online. It’s a bifurcated space right now. There are many players that are lead generators that aren’t in the payday loan space and they’re attempting to secure the lead to themselves. Many payday-loan companies are late to the game. It’s challenging to figure out which company is doing what right now.”

The growth of online payday lending is presenting problems for state law enforcement officials and consumer advocates. Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation ordered 91 companies marketing Internet payday loans to stop. The companies were reportedly charging annual percentage rates averaging 300 percent and fees averaging $30. The state says none of the companies were licensed to offer loans to residents.

Some of the letters we sent to these companies were returned when the post office was unable to find the address,” says David Cotney, senior deputy commissioner at the Massachusetts Division of Banks. “That reinforces our concern about consumers handing over personal information. That’s one of the reasons licensing is required; it gives the consumer some recourse.”

James Brusselback, enforcement chief at Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, says his division is investigating some 10 online payday lenders.

“The difficulty with the online outfits is in locating them, and then some of them claim that our state law doesn’t apply to them, so we have that issue of trying to bring them under our state law. I guess part of their argument is that they’re not located in the state and that their home-state law is sufficient to protect their customers. The requirements in those states — Nevada and Utah — are far less than what we require.”

Karolyn Klohe, financial legal examiner in Brusselback’s department, says consumers can have a tough time stopping online payday lenders from taking money out of their accounts.

“A common complaint against online payday lenders is that the customer is required to give banking information, whereas if they walk into a payday lender store they give them a postdated check. But what’s happening online is the payday lender uses the bank information to make unauthorized withdrawals from the consumer’s account. They say they’re collecting funds owed to them. They can make these withdrawals in a way they can’t with a postdated check.”

Turning to a payday lender — online or on the corner — is almost universally discouraged by consumer advocates. But the alternatives can seem thin to someone who needs cash to see them through to the next paycheck. Many banks offer bounced-check protection plans that consumer advocates often equate with payday lending. A notable difference, perhaps, is that the consumer is less likely to be able to overdraw several times and end up owing money they probably can’t repay.

“The long-term solutions include getting a good spending plan and building a nest egg of savings,” says Fox. If you can afford to pay $45 every payday to keep a $300 loan from bouncing, then you can afford to save it so you don’t need to borrow in the future.

“Pawn shops are cheaper than payday loans. On rare occasions you can ask your employer for an advance. Negotiate directly with whomever you owe. Get a second job. Put off purchases until you can pay. None of these are comfortable. It’s appealing to write the check without having money in your checking account and walk out with cash, but it comes at a high price.”

In their survey of Internet payday loan sites, CFA found that loans of $200 to $2,500 were available, but $500 was the most-frequently offered. Finance charges ranged from $10 per $100 up to $30 per $100 borrowed. The most common rate of $25 per $100 translates into an annual percentage rate of approximately 650 percent if the loan is repaid in two weeks.

Many states have passed laws regulating payday and small loan laws. Consumer Federation of America has compiled important information that consumers should be familiar with before borrowing.

Today, I’m going to explain how to save money on gas!  Nation wide gas prices has hit an average of over $4 per gallon.  We can all agree that its ridiculously high.  Yet, we are going to continue to pay for gas to do our every day lifestyle driving; go to work, grocery shopping,  etc. So what’s a solution?  

I did a research today on new 2008 cars that you can purchase for underneath $15,000 that are fuel efficient.  What are you driving now?  A gas hustler?  Taking 8-16 mpg?  Wow, that can get pretty expensive on a weekly basis! Wouldn’t you agree its hurting your pocket?

Check out all these new 2008 cars that I found at great pricing and great mpg:

• Chevrolet Aveo5 SVM MSRP $10,235 27mpg
• Kia Rio Base MSRP $10,890  29mpg
• Toyota Yaris Liftback 5-Spd MT MSRP $11,550 32mpg
• Smart Fortwo Pure MSRP $11,590 36mpg
• Saturn ION 2 Sedan Manual MSRP $12,300 30mpg
• Nissan Versa Sedan 1.8 S MSRP $12,880 28mpg
• Honda Fit 5-Skd MT MSRP $13,950 31mpg
• Mazda MAZDA3 MSRP $13,995 27mpg
• Suzuki Aerio Sedan Base MSRP $14,299 27mpg
• Dodge Caliber SE MSRP $14,320 26mpg
• Ford Focus S Coupe MSRP $14,395 28mpg
• Scion xD 5-Door Wagon MSRP $14,550 29mpg

Now whatever your favorite “Make” is, I listed a few different types, your best solution is to buy a new car! Yes, go online fill out an auto financing application and purchase a gas saver!  You will see the difference.  Its a perfect time to buy.  What are you waiting for?  Still reading this blog?  Go online and fill a secured application and start saving money immediately. Not only will you feel great driving your new wheels but you will be happier with the gas money you are saving!