First, I would like to say congratulations to our next president of the United States. No matter who everyone voted for, we are all keeping an eye on how the future of our struggling America pans out.  Secondly, there was something that America should really pay attention to, and that is an amazing effect the internet had on the election of our 44th president.
The internet AND social networking tools contributed to the Barack Obama being elected. According to businessstandard.com,“Obama, on his part, has refined the digital act further — a fact revealed during his presidential announcement speech in Springfield last October when he said: “Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age…” A few examples of this being implemented, was in the case where almost 300,000 people created accounts on the barackobama.com website, he became the first YouTube politician, got involved on Facebook, MySpace, text messaging and all other avenues of the internet for fund raising and party awareness.
Another interesting aspect in this presidential campaign was, “Obama has proposed the creation of the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure that the American government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will have a specific focus on transparency, by ensuring that each arm of the federal government makes its records open and accessible as the e-government Act requires. The CTO will also ensure technological interoperability of key government functions”, according to Business Standard.
No matter who was elected, the excitement of the internet and the power it can have also excited Leadpile Lead Exchange. We are in it for the long hall on wherever this great internet craze LEADS us!

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!

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????????

Social media is an area of marketing that is very popular.  Some critics say how can you do effective marketing with social media, and then you hear others say if you are not in the social media arena, you better get into it!
Many surveys that I read spoke about the effectiveness of social media sites and a common point was raised in a lot of these surveys:  consumers buy things that their peers/friends/contacts in these social networking sites also buy.  The most successful companies are using the networking sites, but ALSO creating interactive advertising that involves the people on the sites.  Conducting surveys, questionairs and other brief interactive/conversational marketing tactics.  Not only does this type of marketing get the feedback of the people, it allows companies to get some potential word of mouth advertising going.  This could be an ideal place where a company rolls out new products and gets the potential momentum for that product, even before it hits the shelves.  
Social networking sites are part of the social media craze.  Other examples of social media are blogs (like this one), social news sites and sites like youtube.  All these sites have something in common- a common place for people to express their thoughts and opinions, yet also read what others are talking about too.  How can you go wrong reading some unbiased feedback about a particular subject that you are interested in?  The old way of marketing was companies had their websites and you had to take their word everything they said on the website was actually correct.
I would say social media is something that could make or break companies.  Therefore, treating customers with the utmost respect is ideal, because if you don’t- you could be all over the next blog entries.  
On a final note, I have had a lot of conversations with prospective clients that did their homework before joining the Leadpile marketplace.  This “homework” is them visiting various social media sites and reading positive posts about the marketplace.  So THANK YOU social media!

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.