Join em or beat em either way is a win

I have been toying with the idea of using wordpress for dealer micro sites for quite sometime now and finally broke down today and set one up.  It is designed to help a dealer generate leads the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid and my friend Alvin Newton has one set up for the Saburu Impreza.  After speaking with my programmer tonight about recoding a plugin to send adf/xml leads to a dealers crm/ilm we brainstormed on using wordpress as a full fleged car dealer website and may be real close in bringing this about.

This may be the way to go to offer dealers a very low cost way to build an online presence that does not require a contract or a monthly bill for the website itself.  Basically it would just be some core file changes to wordpress to set different levels of permissions and to pull in inventory listings.  Then the dealers only cost would be their inventory solution which if they use a lot service company or do it themselves it will be really easy but eventually we would look to use a solution like AutoWebEngine which can poll a dms or pull a feed from from a lot service.

So for a basic install with limited design work a dealer will be able to have a full functioning website for less than $1500 with minimal mothly cost for hosting less than $10.00 a month and if they want top end design work it could be done for around $1000.  So they could get a high end website launced and ready to go for less than $2500.

The only downside would be content, they would have to do it themselves or hire it out as well.  Still even if they used a content service they should be under $4000.  I should have this ready to goto market by the end of first quarter 2009.   This will be a huge win for the dealer community when it happens.

What will be great about using wordpress as the CMS is that once the site indexes the SEO will be instant as I proved with a post a couple weeks ago about dealer search engine marketing.  Basically that post is still beating a website vendor for their name and product descriptions, which should be unheard of.

I have had a couple vendors approach me for white label SEO service for their dealers websites but none have entered into serious negotiations with me yet.  One of the mid size players has even offered me a reseller agreement but I would not sign it because they also wanted a no compete, not going to happen.  Now if they wanted to contract me to consult for them or provide white label SEO with a decent minimum then it may be possible for them to get a no compete out of me but without consideration I am not going to give up development plans just for the right to sell a product.

Another vendor did want me to consult them on thier platform but they wanted a NDA.  Meaning I could not list them as a client or a reference.  However they did not want to pay the fee I felt was warranted to give up that right.

I will give it until the end of the year before I start the development of an inexpensive website solution for car dealers to see if all of the cross talk means anything.  I will either join up and help a vendor market themselves and their clients or go it on my own and take business from them.  Either way it is a win, because my craigslist solution for car dealers is really catching on like wild fire and I am picking up clients daily, except over the holidays.  The good thing is I will have a client list in place no matter which direction I go.

car dealer websites, automotive digital marketing, 2009 ford escape hybrid, saburu impreza

Good Things Can Come from Perceived Negatives - re Dealer.com

A few days ago I blogged here about my interaction with dealer.com and over the weekend finally made contact with one of their executives. He reached out to me and we had a meeting of the minds sort of. It was relatively a short conversation but now there is a different level of respect I believe.

I was invited to visit their office in Vermont and offered a demo of their search marketing platform. I am looking forward to the demo of their product and it was expressed that they wanted feedback on the pros and cons of it.

Currently I manage $15,000 a month in pay per click advertising budget for dealer clients and affiliate arbitrage and use a myriad of keyword research tools and competition spy tools that dealers and consultants should use if they are serious about using pay per click to market a car dealership. So I would be interested to see what value their tool provides to dealers that use it.

I believe they have a genuine interest in providing value for their dealers and understand that automotive seo is not a set it and forget process or free. Maybe they will want to take advantage of my white label seo solution (<< site is intentionally sandboxed and not finished, clients come first over personal marketing) or request my services to consult their seo department.

It was quite easy to show that SEO does not take ages and my example actually did better than I imagined beating out dealer.com for their product description. I figured my site would come in second or thrid given that it is on a crappy .info domain and has ZERO authority. This shows that the dealer.com site needs seo help as well. A web vendor should never be able to lose their name and product description searches.

Chances are the post about the dealer.com seo challenge may loose it's rankings because I have better things to do with my time than keep a post ranked to prove a point, the point was made and delivered. Providing value to my clients comes first, even though that post did open the door with a large dealer group (22 rooftops) to help them drive more online traffic to their stores.

Humility in the auto industry is almost unheard of. Sure I love to pound my chest because I pwned a big corporate vendor just as they like to claim they are the best with the products they offer and pound thiers. Online interactions should be give and take and pave the way for mutual fulfillment of goals and that requires humility from all parties. That is the biggest lesson learned here.

There is tons of room for growth in this regards in the auto industry, at all levels, and using education as a marketing tool will win if the education you are providing is accurate. We all have to learn to be brutally honest about our own products and services. Misguiding potential or current clients in the education process is a recipe for disaster. Even worse than that is believing what you are preaching is gospel without really knowing the facts yourself.

Is it negative or an education?

I have been accused of being negative recently by people I would not expect it from.  It may be because I called unintelligent marketing and sales techniques "A House of Cards".  While I understand how that could be considered negative to some, especially the ones who build them.

My intention was not to be negative but really to show that many of the big vendors in the automotive digital marketing arena only design products that are only semi effective or claim mastery of a process they cannot implement.  To that extent they are building a house of cards that is easily toppled when more effective processes and techniques are used.

The big corporate structures make it impossible for them to adapt fast enough and deploy effective strategies.  Just because they can't do something well they pitch that it cannot be done.

Because I poked a big hole in a recently presented myth people I respect accused me of being negative, for using the words "House of Cards".  Sure my personal marketing tactics are aggressive, I do not have the benefit of a huge marketing budget, but they are effective as well are my techniques.

I consult with a handful of dealers across the country and my product is auto dealer web traffic using very effective means.  It is accomplished using aggressive dealer SEO, craigslist and various link building campaigns.  I even use pay per click for car dealers for certain types of campaigns.  The thing is each dealers situation is different and market climate requires different techniques.  Nothing is cookie cutter.

To be sucessful in my opinion is to provide value first and become a partner with the dealership and be nimble enough to change direction when need be.  Build the foundation first and build long term relationships!!

Is what is good for the goose good for the gander? Dealer.com Debacle

I love social networking but I hate it when misinformed people preach things as gospel. I recently had an interaction at my favorite automotive social network and saw a comment from a Dealer.com executive that just reeked of BS. What is even worse is I gave him a link to his post for search engine marketing to help drive traffic to them and that is when good intentions turned into garbage.

The original post I did talked about ways to drive online traffic to car dealers but I stand by the fact that search engine marketing is a very expensive way to drive traffic to a dealership. However they did not like me referencing them in that extent.

The comment was made by their executive that SEO "takes ages" where as search engine marketing is instant and allegedly more effective than SEO. This is just not true and I did a fun blog post to show how easy it is to get almost instant search engine rankings without buying them and pointed out that #9 in the SERPs is more effective than #2 paid listing. See it at Dealer.com Search Marketing vs SEO.

After I did the mild jostling blog post I was contacted by a different executive with dealer.com with an offer to educate me on search engine optimization. I did not realize that I was that inept at SEO and my theories are wrong. But low and behold that post is already winning terms that Dealer.com should have and never get pushed out of the top spot.

[Dealer.com loosing dealer.com search engine marketing]

Dealer.com is worried about losing their search terms however they encourage dealers to buy their competitors names. I guess they are concerned that it may cost them business when holes are punched in their sales pitches and they realize they are the ones that need an education. I doubt they will contact me to train them even though I would probably work cheaper than most SEO trainers. Why is it ok for their clients to do it but not ok when other automotive vendors do it?

Now other bloggers are picking up my post. Some are republishing it and other are referencing how dealer.com lost their keywords and I did another post about the dealer.com search marketing holes.

Dealer.com left me a message that was unprofessional in tone and nature offering me an education in SEO. I called them back and was talked down to still, I terminated the call. Guess they don't like it when people show others the light and will not put up with intimidation tactics.

It is the car business an egos are strong and the big players try to bully people. They are picking the wrong market environment to try that in. Now they will get beat down by the little players in the automotive niche. Kinda like a hundred midgets on a bear. There will be some bloody midgets but they will win and force the bear into submission. I got plenty of bandages and do not care.

dealer.com, search engine marketing, seo, sem

Getting Reconized Without Even Trying!!

Lately I have been doing a lot of work at an automotive social network helping build the content base.  The task is never ending.  It is fun to watch a site grow in ways that you would not expect.  One thing I did not realize due to my affiliation there people recognize me as an authority on automotive SEO.

It surely is not based on the seo of the site that I work for it is based off the content that I have published regarding SEO principals and calling out smoke and mirrors from vendors in the niche.  Most in the car business just do not get it at all including the ones that claim they do.

Today I got an unexpected request from someone I have never met due to our connection at www.plaxo.com.  It actually floored me to say the least.  I guess that is a benefit of trying to maintain a strong social presense.

One thing that really gets me though is the true lack of understanding of how the longtail can really benefit car dealers and how owning terms like Cincinnati used car dealer or New Jersey car lots can provide more value to the dealer in the quality of traffic they recieve than owning terms such as special finace.

Hopefully the industry will have an awakening and I will be a part of it.

Some things are better done in private

I have received flack from people in the automotive industry over pages I controlled on squidoo.com, I have since transferred them to someone who is learning affiliate marketing.  They are starting their squidoo empire on concentrating of special financing terms in the automotive industry.

Just based on interactions I have had from a dealership employee regarding Tulsa special financing over pages I controlled is what prompted me to make the transfer and get out of the automotive affiliate marketing arena.  It is a tough decision for me, but managing the top automotive blog, regarding automotive marketing, has caused me to make this decision.

That affiliation will undoubtedly propel my place in the automotive industry to the next level.

squidoo.com, automotive blog, special financing

Brand Dilution - Overcoming It

Almost daily I get calls from non decision makers in the auto industry asking for advice and help. Tonight I had a long talk with one of my best friends, who I met online, about maximizing my presence. One thing is that I have found is that the people who sign the check in the car business are not the ones looking online for answers.

One of the biggest things I took away from this conversation is sometimes you have to give a lot to take a little. This is ok and is how things work and it produces good karma. He attributes that to being one of the top Suzuki Auto dealers in the US.

In the past I was very giving with my time and knowledge and have realized that people will suck as much of it as you are willing to give. While at the same time they are put off when you ask for a return of a favor or even money. Free consulting makes you a broke consultant and I am tired of doing that while at the same time some of that has to be given freely to get your name in front of other that do sign the checks.

Now instead of diluting my brand I will concentrate on a focused direction to show people how to market their business locally and make my services available to them.

brand building, paul rushing, suzuki auto

Brand Conversion - One piece at a time....

When I was an Internet Sales Manager I had created several lading pages to have consumers contact me directly to save money on their next vehicle purchase. Now I have a tremendous amount of content out there that I must either convert to affiliate marketing or just value added content to those people who find it.

When I was the ISM we carried the Hyundai product and I LOVED IT. So I concentrated there in my personal online branding. Now that I no longer anticipate ever working at a car dealership I have started that conversion process. The first of many pages that needs editing is my Hyundai Dealer page. I just hope that it does not lose visitors since I reworked it.

hyundai dealer, hyundai dealership, hyundai branding

Garbage creates more garbage

I am working real hard to build my brand and to try to keep things that may seem negative to others out of my personal content publishing. Some things I have not been doing real well is giving links to others in my content. Usually when I blog about something I reference my own content and not do a good job of attributing others.

So I have set a new goal for myself. Every time I reference my own content I will make sure I reference two other sources if it is on properties that I control. This will accomplish a couple of things.

• notify other blogs and individuals that I am referencing their content and help increase traffic to my properties
• increase the search engine trust my properties have
• bring better value to those who view my content
• better establish "My Brand"

What does this have to do with "Garbage"? Well it means when I see garbage and blog about it for now on I will link to it, regardless. I just have not figured out a way to call out BS from car guys in such a way as they can save face and not appear hyper critical. I just have to make a choice on providing real value vs playing my cards close to my chest and getting people to pay for the knowledge.

garbage content, paul rushing, building a brand,

Diluting My Brand? Maybe, Maybe not!

Had a long conversation this evening about brand dilution.  There are so many ways this can hurt, while at the same time it also helps build market saturation.  My biggest product right now is Paul Rushing without a defined product offering.  That does not stop engagement.  Almost daily I have people reach out to me for advice and opinions and also have people attempt to interfere with my search engine reputation management efforts for what ever reason.

I have been cast into a public eye in the the automotive industry best practices arena, while I will openly admit that pushing a mouse to follow a defined process is not my strong point, adapting to current changes in the search markets and online publishing are.  My efforts backed by a defined process for follow through is what will win.

Here in the very near future I will be publishing some online marketing and networking how tos to capitulate the brand that I have built into a marketable product.  I have spent to much time on proofs of concepts versus delivering quantified results for others.  I am looking forward to the challenge.

search engine reputation management, online branding, auto industry best practices.

Trying to reach giant squidom

Many people who have known me more than 30 minutes or so realizes that I love Squidoo.  One thing that I have not been doing is engaging the community there like I should probably.  This is really not a good thing.  I am trying to get into the Giant Squid club.  This give some unique benefits once you are in.

One of the biggest things it stops lenses from being a work in progress.  If you don't understand what the means it is ok.  It took me a while to figure it out as well.  If you don't use squidoo or have a desire to then it does not matter.

If you want to know more about squidoo just visit Paul Rushing on Squidoo.

squidoo, giant squid, paul rushing

Having Fun Helping Others

One of my favorite user generated content sites is Squidoo.com. I love to build pages there some are for business, some are for fun and others are to prove a point.

I know that sometimes exerting effort to prove a point can actually be counter productive at times but it still is fun. On of the social networks there was an exchange about "dealer micro sites" and the ISM from Jim Glover Chevrolet took the time to get really caustic in his remarks to me. So I built a page that effectively showed up in Google for what he considers a "money" term.

The cool thing about Squidoo is you can use the platform to build effective landing pages like I am doing for a friend of mine who happens to be trying to sell Suzuki Autos. I made this page to help him get traffic for Kansas City Suzuki Dealer, I sure hope it works.

kc suzuki dealer, dealer micro sites, jim glover chevrolet

Automobile Industry Events - J.D. Powers Automotive Internet Roundtable

The JD Powers and Associates Automotive Internet Roundtable will be held October 7th - 9th at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas Nevada. As a member of the staff of the premier Automotive Social Network hopefully I will be able to attend to network with auto industry professionals.

While there is a competing conference at the same time, which will probably have more dealers in attendance, this will be an opportunity to reach out to the community that supported me when I was threated to be sued by Ziegler Enterprises.

Also as a result of building up my search engine presence I have been engaged by a new friend, Scott Pitman, of mine to help Suzuki of Wichita build some lenses on squidoo. Hopefully this will help in their online marketing mix.

Hopefully all of the anchor text that I have added to this blog does not hurt my efforts, because some people consider me knowledgeable in Automotive SEO. I would hate to get this site sandboxed...

Networking in the Car Business - Fun Stuff

I really enjoy networking and have become fairly out spoken in viewing my opinion of proper protocol at various automotive social networking to the point that some do not even like for me to enter conversations.

I have been dubbed the king of blog debates by some and people will go out of their way to assault my credentials when I try to contribute to the conversation. It has happened more than once. here and here are two good example. If you visit those links though you really need to look at the whole threads tough.

It has helped me build my brand to the point of almost being highly respected in the industry in certain aspects of online marketing. I will be the first one to admit there are areas that I am not the most knowledgeable in, process being one of them, automotive inventory management being another. On the inventory management side of it though I can draw from enough experience from the manufactured home industry to probably make solid calls in that regard if given enough data.

What I find funny though is some of the people who like to try and take stabs at me will also call me for advice and opinions. So I guess it is not a bad thing. It just goes to show if you have an opinion it does not hurt to give it even if it does not fall into the status quo.

Be Credible in Your Message

As you may well know I a am an Internet Sales Manager at Carl Gregory and building my brand is the most important part of my online marketing message. One thing I do not do is tell customers something to appease them. I am brutally honest even if it not what the customer wants to hear.

Today I inquired with a company that sells Internet Lead Management Tools and asked about a trade out or reduced rate of their services in exchange for advertising on two automotive blogs that I author. The response I received was incredible.

Please understand I do not mind being told no. That is not my gripe. I do mind being told no when no one even took the time to explore the sites in question. To me that just destroys any credibility in the denial of the request. Maybe it was just a salesperson no wanting to take a reduced commission due to reduced revenue or maybe it is the fact that the company in question is so wrapped up in themselves and think that their product cant be touched. I think it is the former but then again now the commission for the sale they will never get is $0.

Be Real Be You - Don't Hide Hide Behind a Handle

If you are trying to build a personal brand online one of the worst things you could do is hide behind aliases. If you are going to voice your opinion and want others to look at you as a resource you need to do it in your own name. There are some rare exceptions to this rule and your goal may not to build your brand.

In a recent exchange at a very popular automotive marketing blog a reader disagreed with my opinion, I don't have a problem with that. People disagree with me all the time. The other side of the exchange did not use their real name or even provide a link to their website. That I do have a problem with. What it tells me is that they feel that they need to hide from letting the world know who they really are. Their opinion sharply contrasted from mine yet they hid behind their initials JL while I used my real name, Paul Rushing


On the basis of the of the sharply contrasting views that "JL" stated it would appear that he worked for an Automotive Classified Vendor trying to protect an antiquated business model while remaining anonymous. JL's anonymity caused me to discount his entire opinion and not even consider his point of view, because I could not identify with the reason for his position, while it was obvious why held mine. I could only work from supposition, which is never good.

While it was not my goal to call JL out here, or was it? I am using this as an example of how not to build credibility in your position and to show a good example of why you should not hide behind a "handle" and try to sway other peoples opinion to yours.

If JL's Identity is that of a representative of one of the online classified vendors then he should realized I was the Internet Sales Manager at Carl Gregory Chrysler Dodge Hyundai and his sharply contrasting view would not help save the cancellations coming down the pipe for these vendors and may of even hastened the decision. If he does not work for one of these sites then his Identity may of helped me understand his position better. Either way I am of the same opinion still...

Why Brand You?!?

I guess the better question is why not "Brand You". In todays world virtually anything anyone wants to know about you is available online and how you brand yourself can make or break your online success.

No matter if you are marketing affiliate products on line, business to business products or high ticket retail items your first priority should be to brand you, then the products you represent second, unless you are paid directly for building the company brand.

This goes against conventional wisdom and may be hard for many to grasp, especially corporate pinheads. There are many ways to help you brand yourself first, blogs, user generated content, micro sites, Pay Per Click and the list goes on forever. It can be a daunting task to keep multiple levels of content moving forward but like with anything else you get back exactly what you put into it.

One thing you should do is to concentrate on your goals first and not the goals of others as you move forward in your branding mission. You are the only person who is going to look after your brand with the enthusiasm it deserves.

Personal Branding can be broken down to several levels:

• Search Engine Reputation Management - When people search for you what are they seeing? You need to be the one in control of this conversation.
• Establishing yourself as a resource - This can be accomplished in many ways, but some of the easiest ways is to get involved in Social Media and Networking in the Niche in which you wish to distinguish yourself.
• Building Trust - Create raving fans of your services to them. Create and online "brag book". One way is "User Generated Content". Check out my page : Paul Rushing on SquidWho. While it is not the only way it is one of the easiest.

While these are not the only things you can do it is a good place to start. Eventually I will create a free ecourse on building your brand which will also help build mine.

Until then go build you....