To our valued readers at the Credit Blog, Whiskey or What and I are passing the torch to a new blogging team here at the Credit Blog. Eric in Vegas will be joining us as the primary blogger, and will certainly bring new friends and a fresh team to the blog.

We're working on updating our articles, and the main thing that we want to focus on is how to pick a credit card. One of our older articles, How to Choose Credit Cards, gives the basics of navigating the credit card maze, but we are looking to put together new, easy to use resources to help people pick the card that's right for them. My attempt at simplifying the process is my new article, How to Pick a Credit Card, which distills the process into three simple questions:

1. Do you have good credit, bad credit, or no credit?

2. Do you carry a balance all the time, some of the time, or never?

3. Do you use your card extensively or rarely?

I hope this helps all our confused readers.

Happy Holiday to all you backyard barbequers! This month we will be highlighting Student Credit Cards and credit card education and we will be following the Credit Crunch closely as we move into the Fall buying season. Watch for feature blog entries on money matters and credit concerns. Take 5 minutes out from the Labor Day yard work to work on and expand your credit and lower your interest. Try applying for a 0%APR Balance Transfer Card, transfer balances, and expand your credit for the buying season.

When we first started marketing credit cards on the Internet with our old domain name in 2001, Direct Mail dominated the credit card marketplace, and the web was an amusing afterthought. While everyone supported online statements, when we wanted to get the web application, we often had to deal with boutique design shops that seemed in over their heads. We were convinced that in some cases they were printing out applications and faxing them to the bank.

Now, direct mailing responses are down over 75% from 10 years ago. In 1998, 1.2% of mailed out offers got a response, now it is 0.28%. While 42% of people got their credit cards from mailed out offers, the market is changing. Here at Cardpick.com, we are excited to have a team that has been finding credit card offers on the web for 7 years, and we look forward to it's continued rise as the dominant medium for getting information about credit cards and applying for credit cards.

The Most Popular Credit Cards on our site

From time to time Credit Card Al and I plan to feature credit cards and credit card companies that we see are becoming popular and where our customers at Cardpick.com are finding success with their credit card applications. Right now it looks like Bank of America and American Express are most popular for good credit to excellent credit applicants. In particular, the Bank of America Visa Signature® with WorldPointsTM with its frequent flyer miles is very popular on the website. Also, the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card is receiving a lot of attention. Both of these great credit cards are in the growing cash back and rewards credit card category. For small businesses that need a credit card, the rewards category continues to lead, with Advanta Bank and its Advanta Platinum BusinessCard with Rewards credit card in the forefront.