Lead Generation
Zillow Mortgage Gets Negative Reviews (from Non-Adopters)
I have been following the Zillow Mortgage discussion with great interest. By reserving follow-up to my early commentary in BusinessWeek I have an opportunity to survey the discussion and distill a few important observations:
Zillow did something radical
The harshest criticisms are from non-participants
Smart folks are observing and participating with the intent to learn
This is an important […]
Reply.com Launches Blog and Lead Exchange
Reply.com just launched a new blog and revealed their new lead exchange. It appears the lead marketplace concept is about to get a bit more competitive, with Reply.com being one of two new entrants that I have heard whispers of emerging.
The concept of a lead exchange seems simple, but I think the challenge is in […]
Are You Creating a Customer Army?
We live in unique times. We are increasingly connected to the Internet. That connection is increasing social. That social connectivity is community.
The question becomes are you still trying to gather customers and make sales? Or are you creating a Customer Loyalty Army?
Wired featured Legos’ community strategy back in 2006, but we are still trying to […]
Where Have All of the Local Real Estate Ads Gone?
Have all of the real estate agents and brokers in your community lost faith and closed up shop? What happened to all of the local real estate ads in your local newspaper?
According to a new report from Borell Associates, they have moved their real estate marketing dollars online:
Total ad spending on real estate has declined […]
Nature or Nurture? Debating Math or Conversation in Advertising.
ESPN’s move to kick ad networks out of their premium content and brand has sparked several classic debates about publisher monetization. What is the best, and most profitable, way to monetize your content?
There are certainly two strong positions to be debated:
Commoditization of ad inventory can dilute the perceived value of the content and brand
Unsold […]
What Would a Jason Calacanis Mortgage Startup Look Like?
A pondering post by Jason Calacanis (Mahalo) about a camp to help startup entrepreneurs got me thinking. What would a Calacanis trained entrepreneur’s mortgage or real estate business look like?
Here is my guess:
It would be efficient with it’s capital and startup costs
It would have an expensive expresso machine
It would leverage the Internet
It would blog
It would […]
Morning Market Reads
Friday around the Web in lead generation:
FTC swinging big fines (settlements) and changing online lead generation
UK mortgage lead marketplace kicks off series on sales best practices
Is your online marketing and advertising asking customers to buy?
Ever want to ask a top affiliate marketer anything?
Learn to write a better blog for your company
What else should we be […]
21Mar2008 | Bill Rice | 0 comments | Continued
Zillow Giving Out Free Mortgage Leads
Has Zillow gone mad? They are obviously pursuing an innovative path.
Zillow is not yet revealing the whole strategy, but here is a peek at what to expect from Zillow Mortgage:
“…our new mortgage offering is coming soon. While we’re still several weeks away from an official launch, effective today, lenders can apply to be one […]
Does Your Ad Ask For Feedback?
Should your ads be asking for feedback? The increasing clamor for quality and increasing conversation marketing makes this a compelling question posed by Steve Rubel over at Micro Persuasion.
Have you added a feedback link to your advertising? Would you be willing to? Would you rather buy leads from a lead provider that did?
Affiliates Talk About Quality Too
If you thought discussions of quality where exclusive to lead providers let me help you tune into the affiliate market.
Jason Calacanis, who has probably cornered the title of #1 Internet shit stirrer over the last couple of weeks (love him or hate him he is a great meme/conversation starter), kicked off the discussion with his […]
The Cluetrain Manifesto is Modern Marketing
I came across this pointer from Doc Searls blog this morning. It references a professor at Kent State using The Cluetrain Manifesto as core curriculum in his PR course(s).
(By the way, Kent State is a great place to get smart people from. One of our senior software engineers who has been with us since the […]
California FHA Loan Limits: Get Them While Equity is Hot
Should be a busy weekend for smart mortgage broker and lenders. Bounce this list of CA FHA loan limits off your prospect and past client databases. See if there is someone you can help today.
These clients will want you to call!
If you are a lead provider and sell these types of targeted FHA leads; comment, […]
Affiliate Marketing, I Hardly Knew Ye!
Lead generation is enjoying all of the volatility and uncertainty the mortgage market can dish out. It is often hard to tell if lead providers are sinking or swimming, but there some are certain they are spinning. In covering this turmoil we have talked a lot about the major players: Bankrate, LendingTree, LowerMyBills, some of […]
4Mar2008 | Bill Rice | 0 comments | Continued
Lead Generation Economics 101
The last couple of weeks, amid the dynamics of the mortgage market, there has been interesting commentary on recession and online ad spending. The contagion effect of the mortgage meltdown is alive and well and creating havoc in the lead generation market.
I thought, since I have had multiple inquiries into my opinion on potential investments […]
Does Your Lead Provider Do Co-Registration?
Many do and certainly is worth asking the question. The positive and negatives of co-registration has been debated and there are certainly a right way and a wrong way for publishers and advertisers to us this technique.
Here is an excellent primer in co-registration networks and some of the “hidden” things to look for when you […]
I like the Lead Exchange model but how can a lead exchange make money to survive? The generator gets ...
Don't know salestwit will gonna make a impact or can replace the bulky hosted CRM's but anyway I like the ...
Those are some great tips on using the internet for leads! 
I have to laugh at someone putting an affiliate link to LMB here... Come on people... 
My pleasure Dan. Glad you enjoyed it. Bills.com is a pretty smart company. 
THat was a really nice write up, I read about this BillsIQ thing today online and when I searched then ...
Just to clarify - the highest bidder in your search above is a lead gen company! 
I'm seeing PPC costs go way up because of people cross-monetizing them; i.e. selling and upselling them using squeeze pages. ...