Online Social Engagement in the Car Business

The car business is known for it’s slow adoption of new ideas and paradigm shifts.  I speak with dealers and vendors daily about online automotive marketing.  Some of the things I see and hear are comical.  Most dealers shun social media, mainly because they do not understand it.
When they think of social media and networking [...]

Setting the standard in the Automotive Industry

The car business is always slow to adopt new things. Sometimes I feel it is because the companies that serve the industry feel that the less information that is brought in from outside sources the easier it is for people companies to capture a captive audience.

Historically online automotive marketing has been dominated by OEMs [...]

Building a Blog Community

My new job is building a blog community at at www.drivingsales.com and it is turning out to be a huge challenge at times.  People want to blog and talk about their experiences so they say.  We take the time to get them set up and going show them how things work and then nothing, nadda [...]

Online Debates and the Implications of them..

I am a fairly vocal person when it comes to certain topics in and out of the automotive industry.  I love a lot of the things going on and really am not that knowledgeable many areas.  However, having 20 years of high ticket retail experience you come to know certain things about dealing with consumers.  [...]

The Perils of Blogging

I maintain several high traffic blogs as well as some that do not receive much traffic at all.   Because of my blogging I have raised the dander of a few in the past.  However I have always been careful to not publish anything that would place me in legal peril, so I thought.
A recent article [...]

Build it and they will come – So they say!!

I have recently taken on a career move that will prove to be a challenge to say the least. I have been commissioned by DrivingSales.com as their blog manager and SEO. In the past just managing my own blogs and performing SEO for myself has been an easy task. I had no [...]

Your Roledex is Not Your Network – The World Is

I have been collecting names, phone numbers and email address for over a decade.  I have USED these contacts in the past as a way to accomplish my goals.  That is why you build a network like this.  If someone may have the possibility to help me somewhere in the future I made sure I [...]

Social networking or self promotion?

As an Internet Sales Manager I am always looking to network inside of the niche and belong to many automotive marketing social networks.  I did an article not long ago about how “Automotive Social Networking is failing miserably” and now understand why.
Social Networking can be a great tool to make friends and find new clients.  [...]

Don’t Be a Jackass in Blog Comments

I love to participate in online communities and love the give and take that you get. In a recent exchange I was trying to point out to someone how just building a dealer micro site in it self does not make it work wonder. It does take some SEO work and also was [...]

Online Communites – Are they worth the effort?

Online communities are the back bone of web 2.0 and I belong to many of them.  Some of the ones I belong to talk about online automotive marketing, affiliate marketing, children with cleft lips and credit repair resources.
The dynamics that exist in these communities are amazing.  There are leaders, followers, whiners and self promoters.  Exactly [...]