The difference between being a bestselling author and starving artist is a fine line we walk everyday…

Word Tracks in our business is a crucial and vital part of our strategy and successes…

However, as important as they are… They only account for 7% of our communication skills!

  This is a topic every manager should address with their…

Grand Theft Auto – How Citizens Fought for the American Dream

May 14 and 15, 2009 – two days in which Chrysler and General Motors, with the help of the government, literally stole the life’s work from nearly 2,000 business owners.

Two years later, the history from the dealers’ perspective of those days are hitting the bookstores. And they are must reads for anyone associated with the automotive retail industry.

The first book out this…

Southside Financial Group Launches National Subprime Loan Portfolio Program to Help Franchised and Independent Auto Dealers Achieve Greater Liquidity

Arlington, Texas, October 17, 2011 -- Southside Financial Group (http://www.southsidefg.com), an active purchaser of auto finance receivables, today announced the launch of a nationwide program…

Things are moving fast these days.  Business is conducted at the speed of a mouse click.  To gain a competitive advantage and have any chance at success, you not only have to know who your competition is, but you need to understand them as well.  Too many managers, owners, and top executives have lost sight of the real competition out there.  So, just who is the real…

Erik Qualman, keynote speaker for the 11th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, would like to welcome YOU to attend with a personal message.

What's his keynote going to be about?

Socialnomics: It's a People Driven Economy,…

In a class action lawsuit filed on June 21, 2011 against AutoNation (Santa Clara Superior Court, entitled Lilly v. AutoNation, Case No. 1-11-CV-203569), attorneys are claiming that AutoNation is in violation of the California Labor Code by misclassifying commissioned sales reps as exempt from overtime and, in addition, issuing deduct vouchers post-sale for losses in commissionable gross due to repair or…

The 11th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is excited to announce that our keynote speaker will be Erik Qualman, best-selling author of "Socialnomics"!

Erik Qualman has recently advised/given keynotes with the following: Coach, Facebook, UGG Australia, Starbucks,…

This post is attributed to my colleague Tim Rose at AM Magazine in the UK http://www.am-online.com. It poses some very interesting views on the future direction of retail outlets as a result of some major research carried out in the UK regarding solus vs multi-franchise outlets....

"Research from a global automotive consultancy is likely to add weight to some carmakers’ demands for solus dealerships when dealers’ current…

They don't make them like Red McCombs any more. Billy Joe (B.J. or Red, as he known) is a legend -- not just in automotive retail -- but in the history of American business.

When you have a few minutes, check out Brad Wernle's profile of MCombs in Automotive News. Wernle is one of the top reporters in automotive and does an awesome job of capturing…

What do you do when you have a customer in the showroom, you’ve done the presentation and the test drive and got some degree of commitment from them, then they turn around and tell you that they “just need to go and see the Audi first, to put it out of my mind”?

It’s a tricky one – because…

Aussie ‘trust survey’ shows car sales ranked lower than the 'oldest profession'

The credibility of the Australian retail motor trade is at an all time low it seems. But why?

According to the findings of the annual ‘Trust Survey’ 2010 carried out by Reader’s Digest Australia, the car sales sector was rated less trustworthy than the oldest ‘profession’ in a poll that asked respondents to rank forty professions in order of perceived…

Although the iPhone app was intended to let users stay connected with their Facebook friends while on the go, auto dealers can also take advantage of this technology to make their automotive mobile marketing campaigns more interactive and more in-tune with the social media. With the release of Facebook for iPhone’s newest version (version 3.4), one added feature is particularly useful for business owners: the ability to check-in at actual events.

Checking-In to…

Do you have a social media strategy for your dealership? Maybe you’ve met with your marketing department or your management team to discuss how you should go about posting to Facebook or Twitter. The discussions and the opinions can be endless- who should post, how often, what to post and what time of day and on and on and on.

Unfortunately, during all this planning and strategizing we often forget the key to…

Polk/AutoTrader.com Study Finds Online Vehicle Shopping Influences Dealership Choice

02/07/2011…

As we all get ready for the Holiday season, some of us are already starting to put together our goals for new year. I know, but it is just around the corner.

I just wanted to share with Dealers and others today, how you can increase business and start saving tens of thousands of dollars. In the new age of marketing your business, all the rules have changed. The question you need to ask, looking at your efforts, is this: Do our efforts expose, acquire or engage our…