It is complete, I will be joining the Zipsearch! team! To say the least, I am excited for a couple of reasons. First, to join such a solid team that has so much potential. The Zipsearch! team has been consistently generating quality leads for the last 12 years and under the radar too. At one point they were a secret source of mine for Life Insurance leads. Secondly, I am excited to be back in the industry full time! My passion for the industry never died and continued to live through this blog even after I was not directly involved. I feel like I am an evangelist for the lead buyer and quality companies within the industry and that of course will never change. I am extremely excited to make a direct difference in the industry and continue to help lead buyers by delivering the highest quality leads possible. My position at Zipsearchwill be the online Media Manager which will manage all our lead-gen strategies and techniques. Thirdly, I am excited because my views of lead-gen are in-line with Zipsearch!. My goal is to generate quality, not quantity. What does this mean? Leads will not be generated with the goal of generating a click only, this means no crazy square dancing turtles or crazy teaser rates. These types of ads generate quantity, which is fine for most lead generators, but we will focus on quality.
This takes much more work and thought, but the pay off is huge for the lead buyer, consumer and ultimately Zipsearch. This as far as I am aware of is the only situation where a lead buyer and extreme lead critic has taken this kind of role. To say the least, I am excited.
The industry has gone through many changes on the last 12 months. Lead buyers have suffered and faltered do to market conditions and poor lead management. Tier 1 lead providers have been exposed for unfair pricing, over selling leads and questionable lead-gen tactics and now our suffering because of it, showing quarter after quarter loses. The rough times are not over for many, but for others opportunities to rise to the top are all around. Companies like Zipsearch, QuinStreet, Bills.com and Adchemy are poised to take the industry by storm. (see I am still fair and unbiased 
) The industry is becoming more and more concerned with education and quality. Companies like Leads360 and Kaleidico are holding client education events with one goal in mind and that is to help the lead buyer and the lead generation companies. The ideas are new and evolving, but none the less are going to benefit so many. I know I am maybe in my own little silo, as Atul Patel likes to say, but I am excited and feel that the industry is changing for the best.
Similar to the fires that ripped through the mountains less than a mile from my house, the old has been burned away and new fresh grass is beginning to sprout from the ground healthier than ever before. Like the ash from the fire, the mistakes we have made in the past fertilize our thoughts and help grow new ideas, innovation and opportunities. The industry is sprouting and I am excited because I am apart of it. I officially start January 2nd and I look forward to meeting my new family at Zipsearch and continuing to grow industry relationships.
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Congratulations! Here’s to a your new venture, fun, ingenuity and success in 2008!
Paul
Congratulations LeadCritic. I think you bring an interesting balanced perspective between lead buyer and now lead seller.
Thanks for the mention. I still do agree that industries operate in silos, but you are clearly helping break that mold by crossing from buyer to seller. That’s an example of cross-pollination that is desperately needed.
I look forward to staying in continued news and insight. Look out for some interesting new offerings I am planning for the lead space.
Cheers, Atul
Awesome, look forward to working with you.
Thanks everyone!
Congratulations. David is a very smart guy and obviously made a great move to bring you on.
Not familiar with you Mr Critic. I have worked internet leads for 10+ years now and tested 150 leads from Zip Search last year and placed one policy. That is the worst lead/placed policy average I have ever tested. They never even called to see if I wanted to renew or ask me how it went. So, what are you bringing to the table that can affect bad leads and bad service?
Ouch, Time for LC to bring out his magic touch to this former client!
Ed,
I am sorry to hear that! As a Lead Buyer I have had many many experiences just like that too and I hate it. I am going to bring my lead buyer mentality and all the bad experience that went along with it and share them with Zipsearch so situations like this will be less likely to happen. Also, as a Internet marketer my goal has always been to generate the best possible lead and that is what I plan on doing at Zipsearch.
We, too use to use Zip Search. The leads were good in most of 2006 then early on in 2007 they went bad suddenly. After working the bad leads for about 3 more months, we finally pulled out. The internet lead generation company we are using now isn’t much better. Would love to explore again with Zip Search but want better customer service when the leads are bad.
Lead Guru,
Ouch?Maybe, I guess. I see this as an opportunity for improvement and a positive thing. If consumers never voiced their complaints, like we used to do all the time, companies would never be able to improve. Feedback, positive or negative is the life blood for companies like ours. They help us grow. Most companies are far from perfect and have clients that were either not happy with their product or software. The smart companies use complaints like these to improve and that is what we will do. Thanks Ed for the feedback and thanks LeadGuru for being a joker, lol
Joy,
I had a similar situation happen to me also, not with Zipsearch, because I wasn’t not buying from them at the time, but from other providers. I can’t speculate why, but I look forward to hearing this feedback if it happens on my watch. Trust me, I will be completely open to it. Like I said above, feedback like this helps lead providers improve and optimize their lead generation strategies. That is why when I was a lead buyer I tried to be as open as possible with feedback to my providers. I suggest that every lead buyer and lead provider be open to this feedback.
This is what Bill Rice had to say on this topic.
http://bettercloser.com/2007/10/16/lead-quality-decline-or-market-change/
Congrats Lead Critic.
Lead Critic
CONGRATS!!! I knew you couldn’t stay out for long…this business is like the mob…”Just when you think you are out, they pull you back in”
Anyhow glad to have you back. Call me when you get settled in at the new place.
Happy Holidays
Michael Ferree (aka leadcritic),
Good luck, zipsearch could use your buyers perspective