GM IPO Stock Purchase For Employees, Retirees, Dealers

GM IPO Stock Purchase For Employees, Retirees, Dealers

GM is coming out of bankruptcy swinging, Initial Public Offering of stocks to Employees, Retirees, and Dealers.

This coming off a money making summer for GM and also timed well with the roll out of the highly anticipated Chevy Volt Plug in Electric Car.

GM Employees, Dealers, and retirees have until October 22 to decide if they want to gamble on GM's future. GM CEO stated that the IPO price would be in the 20-25 dollar range, but there have been no concrete details set fourth yet.

The Government is expected to release approximately 20 percent of their more than 300 million shares. The Government will release the other portion of their 60 percent ownership over the coming months and years to recoup the investment in saving the auto giant.

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano

229.251.2462

Thomas@Ieracitano.com

TheDigitalCarGuy.com

Can't Make it Here, We'll Take it There!

want a website or an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

GM IPO Stock Purchase For Employees, Retirees, Dealers

GM IPO Stock Purchase For Employees, Retirees, Dealers

GM is coming out of bankruptcy swinging, Initial Public Offering of stocks to Employees, Retirees, and Dealers.

This coming off a money making summer for GM and also timed well with the roll out of the highly anticipated Chevy Volt Plug in Electric Car.

GM Employees, Dealers, and retirees have until October 22 to decide if they want to gamble on GM's future. GM CEO stated that the IPO price would be in the 20-25 dollar range, but there have been no concrete details set fourth yet.

The Government is expected to release approximately 20 percent of their more than 300 million shares. The Government will release the other portion of their 60 percent ownership over the coming months and years to recoup the investment in saving the auto giant.

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano

229.251.2462

Thomas@Ieracitano.com

TheDigitalCarGuy.com

Can't Make it Here, We'll Take it There!

want a website or an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

Why Customers Put Off Maintenance

Why Customers Put Off Maintenance


Sixty-four percent of vehicle owners have put off vehicle maintenance and repair. It is difficult to quantify how much money that would amount to in your service and parts departments, but it's enough to matter. The top reasons they put off maintenance are as follows:

• 65 percent are afraid that the cost would be more than expected.

• 34 percent do not have the time.

• 28 percent do not believe the needed repair or maintenance is serious.

How many of those reasons are within the control or at least influence of your service consultants? All of them, of course. Here are a few ideas that will help overcome these objections.

Costs More Than Expected
Offer an "Ironclad Price Guarantee." There are monetary pitfalls to this, of course. It will be necessary to prepare your team for this change in culture. Most service departments believe that accurate estimates for some repairs are impossible; perhaps that is true. However; for the majority of the work a typical shop performs today, an accurate estimate is quite reasonable. Once you create your process and guarantee, promote it as a reason to do business with your shop – "We have an Ironclad Price Guarantee" – it will differentiate you from the other shops and overcome the top objection. The true test of your culture will come when someone misses an estimate by $200. What do you do—try to bump the customer or stick to your guarantee?

Don't Have Time
Offer shuttle rides to and from anywhere as long as it is close enough to make sense. There are still many stores that will drop people off but not bring them back to the store when the work is done. Have you forgotten that the customer pays your bill when you bring them back? Do not make it difficult to do business with you; bend over backwards to make your business accessible and people will spend money with you.

Offer very cheap rental cars that are immediately available. Many stores use an outside rental agency, and the wait for the vehicle to arrive turns this benefit into a handicap. Do not make your customers wait. Remember, making your dealership easy to do business with wins every time.

Offer pickup and delivery of the customer's vehicle. I understand the logistical challenges; at one time I had a small herd of retired folks shuttling cars. If you really want to make this work, you can. Hire an on-demand staff of retired folks, have a log (written or electronic) to track the dropoffs and pickups and assign one person to manage the process. I had one of the drivers who was very organized manage it. Customers will actually pay you for this convenience, by the way. Set the price based on the cost of your drivers plus gas, but keep the price as inexpensive as possible. Take a map and draw circles around the store's location and continue out to a point that becomes impractical. Each ring has a set price. Think of this as a marketing strategy and not a profit center, much like oil changes.

Not a Serious Problem
Train your service consultants how to respond to the perceived need of the repair/maintenance. Most of your customers do not understand how their vehicles operate or what work is important. Your customer's opinion is heavily influenced by hearsay from conversations with equally uniformed people. Train your service consultants to speak about the repairs/maintenance needed in the future in great detail. This conversation is more than the statement: "Next time we need to do the 45,000-mile maintenance." They need to create value and explain why it matters and why do it at your store.

Your service consultants should have three solid reasons to complete the most common repairs/maintenance's. This sounds simple but it is not. Test your team, ask them for three solid reasons to rotate tires, change the air filter or replace the fuel filter.

There are six reasons that motivate consumers to complete work on their vehicles:

1. Safety
2. Reliability
3. Appearance
4. Comfort
5. Money
6. Performance

Most consumers have one of these as their primary motivator. If you discuss reliability as the reason for the repair, but the consumer is motivated by money, your chances of selling that repair are greatly diminished. There are many more ideas that impact the customer, but this should get you thinking. It is very easy to ignore some or all of these. After all, you have probably tried some in the past and they did not work so you stopped, or you know someone who failed, etc. Do not ignore these points; they matter. Remember, dealerships perform less than 25 percent of all repairs completed on vehicles. How good can we be? Do something today.

No More Shopping at Target

No More Shopping at Target
-------------------------

My wife can be a little demanding at times. For example, she insists that I accompany her when she wants to do some shopping at Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I find shopping to be more than a little boring and I prefer to get in and get the stuff I want and go. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse and look at everything. Well, yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target store.


Dear Mrs............,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the woman's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away". This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms
on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?" EMTs were called.

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the "Mission Impossible" theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled PICK ME! PICK ME!"

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!"

And last, but not least:

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here". One of the clerks passed out.
---------------------------

Doc! the man yells. I've lost my memory!
Calm down, sir. When did this happen.
The man looked at him. When did what happen?
----------------------
A guest in a posh hotel comes down to breakfast and
called over the head waiter and read from the menu
I'd like one under cooked egg so that it's running,
and one over cooked egg that it's tough and hard to eat.
I'd also like grilled bacon which is a bit on the cold side,
burnt toast, butter straight from the freezer
so that it's impossible to spread, and
a pot of very weak, lukewarm coffee.
That's a complicated order sir, said the bewildered waiter.
It might be quite difficult.
The guest replied sarcastically, It can't be that difficult
because that's exactly what you brought me yesterday! 

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano

Thomas@Ieracitano.com

http://DigitalCarGuy.com

want an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

General Motors Co is recalling model year 2009 and 2010 Chevrolet Impala sedans

DETROIT- General Motors Co is recalling
322,409 model year 2009 and 2010 Chevrolet
Impala sedans because front seat belts may
not be properly anchored, the automaker and
federal regulators said on Friday.

No injuries or fatalities have been reported in
cases where the seat belts were not securely
anchored or twisted, GM said in a letter to the
U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.

GM said it will begin asking its Impala
customers later this month to bring the
sedans to dealerships for inspection and
repair if necessary, free of charge.

Through mid-August, GM told NHTSA it had
received 32 warranty reports of seat belts
having separated from their anchorage.

The vehicles involved in the recall were
assembled in Ontario from April 2008 to
March 2010, GM said. NHTSA said of the
303,100 Impalas recalled in the United States,
about two-thirds of them were 2009 models.

2010 Year End Model Close Out Deals

2010 Year End Model Close Out Deals

Posted: 10 Oct 2010 10:04 AM PDT

If you have not taken advantage of a close out 2010 model Car, Truck, or SUV, you may want to act fast!

Car Company's are moving these vehicles as fast as possible and they are going quick. At one time, November and December were the months with the greatest incentives, but It seems to be a race to see who can liquidate Model Close Outs the quickest.

It is not only moving these vehicles so they don't get stuck with them at year end, but they also want to unveil the new models coming out. Many consumers want to be the first to own next years model, whether it be a new design or just the idea of saying they have the new 2011.

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano

Thomas@Ieracitano.com

http://TheDigitalCarGuy.com

want an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

When Detroit Was In Its Full Glory

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano

229.251.2462

Thomas@Ieracitano.com

http://DigitalCarGuy.com

Can't Make it Here, We'll Take it There!

 

want an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

ANY OF  THESE LOOK FAMILIAR? Today's cars may be faster, safer, more luxurious and get better gas mileage -  BUT THEY DON'T EVEN COME CLOSE ON LOOKS ! When Detroit Was In Its Full Glory__ 19 56 Ford Thunderbird 19 57 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible 1960 Plymouth Fury 19 59 Chevrolet Impala 2Dr hardtop 19 56 Ford Fairlane Victoria 19 58 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V Four Door Landau 19 57 Buick Roadmaster 2 Door Hardtop 19 57 Lincoln Premiere four-door Landau 19 59 Buick 2 Door Convertible 19 59 Edsel Citation Ford lost $ 35 0 million ($1.55 billion in 20 09 dollars) on the venture. 19 58 De Soto 19 59 Mercury Colony Park Country Cruiser 19 58 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special 19 58 Dodge Custom Sierra 1949 Oldsmobile 88 19 59 Ford Thunderbird Convertible 1949 Kaiser Virginian 1960 Imperial Crown Convertible 1953 Studebaker Commander 1949 Pontiac Four Door 1960 Chevrolet Impala Four Door Hardtop 19 59 Mercury Four Door Hardtop 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88 Two-Door Sedan 19 57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser 19 54 Mercury Sun Valley 1960 Chrysler Valiant 1960 De Soto Fireflite 1960 Chevrolet Corvair 19 57 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz 1960 Mercury Colony Park Country Cruiser 19 56 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe de Ville 19 57 Dodge Royal Lancer 1960 Dodge Dart Pioneer 19 57 Lincoln Premiere 1960 Dodge Polara Matador 19 56 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible 19 50 Studebaker Starlight What a trip down memory lane

Make the Search Engines Love Your Inventory

Make the Search Engines Love Your Inventory

When the topic of inventory management is brought up to car dealers, certain things always come to mind. How should it be priced? How often is it updated? How many pictures should you take?
While these are all important, one aspect that is regularly forgotten is how to drive the right traffic to the specific vehicles that people want to buy. Some would say that PPC advertising is the way to go, and that can definitely be effective if you have the extra budget, but we're going to talk about the proper optimization techniques that will drive your inventory to the top of the search engines organically.

From the Top Down
When optimizing an inventory page, the first thing you should look at is your URL structure. Is it keyword-rich?

Does it look like this: yourdealer.com/chantilly-used-2009-acura-mdx-vid64161934-aah520548a

Or does it look like this: yourdealer.com/used-inventory/details.htm?vehicleId=9302a9800a0a006401d63e96e6745f54

Notice in the first URL there are four key components to the string:
1) The target city is in the URL.
2) The year, make and model are in the URL.
3) It specifies new or pre-owned.
4) The keywords in the URL are just after the ".com," making this page as close to the top level of the domain as possible.
These simple components are exceptionally important in helping your vehicles rank for terms such as "Used Acura MDX Chantilly." A term like that is low-volume, but the quality of the visitors from it cannot be mistaken. If they type in a search phrase like that, they know what they want and where they want to find it. Will your inventory be found like that?
Proper Titles
This part is easy, but often overlooked. The title of your page (and therefore the title tag as well) should clearly state what vehicle you are selling, where it can be found and what you want to do with it.
Sounds straightforward, right? If you have a 2010 Acura MDX for sale in Chantilly, that's exactly what your title should be: 2010 Acura MDX For Sale Chantilly
That's it. No need to make it complicated. The title tag serves two purposes: it helps with search engine optimization and is presented to people on search engine results pages. As such, you want it to be found with the right keywords and you want to compel a click-through from the search engines. If you keep it simple and include everything you need, you're on the right track to success.
Unique Content
You may have 35 Acura MDXs on your lot right now. Each one will have a similar URL and a similar title tag, so how do you differentiate them?
Using on-page content, you have the opportunity to make an impact in the search engines. Talk about the cars! Make sure the content in the description, both visible on the page and in the meta descriptions, is unique and different from the others you have in stock. Ideally, this will be done manually with proper, compelling, individually-written descriptions. This isn't practical for most, so having a system that does it automatically is acceptable.
After the Car is Sold
The biggest flaw with having a search-engine-indexed inventory piece on your site is what happens to the page after the vehicle is sold. The vast majority of Web sites simply remove the page and use a "custom 404" to take people back to the home page when they click on the vehicle's URL. This is bad.
A 404 is an error. The last thing you want is to present a page to the search engines, let them get the page ranked, then "embarrass" them by having that page removed soon after. This makes the search engines lose trust in the site and can hurt the overall rankings.
Once inventory is sold, make sure the URL is still working in some way or another. You can keep a "This vehicle is sold but view similar vehicles below" page up, or you can use a proper 301-redirect which tells the search engines that the page has been moved or replaced.
An ideal situation is to do both. Keep the "Sold" page up for a certain period of time to keep it ranking well until you have other vehicles that move up into that position. Then, have the page redirected.
Be warned; many Web site providers claim that they use 301-redirects. This is something of a half-truth. Other pages may have 301-redirects, but inventories are almost exclusively converted to custom-404 errors once a vehicle is sold.
What Else?
There are other things you can do to make the search engines love your inventory, but if you start with these you're heading in the right direction. Use social media to promote certain specific inventory items from time to time (but do NOT automatically feed them to your profiles). Drive other links to your pages. Make sure you have your inventory in a proper sitemap.
The list can go on and on, but know one thing: people love to look at inventory. You will never realize how your leads can increase if you don't do what it takes to have the best inventory available to your customers and the search engines they use.


Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
Thomas@Ieracitano.com
http://DigitalCarGuy.com
Can't Make it Here, We'll Take it There!



want an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

GM No-Start Pass Lock Sensor

GM No-Start Pass Lock Sensor

Posted: 02 Oct 2010 07:32 PM PDT

If you have a GM vehicle that turns over, but will not start; check this. Turn your key to run without turning over and see if your Security light is flashing. Many times the Pass Lock Sensor will not recognize your key and will not crank. If your Security light is flashing, you can leave your key in the Run Position until the light quits flashing--it will light up solid after approximately 15 minutes. At this point, turn ignition off and then turn and crank!

This is especially true if your Security light has been coming on periodically while driving. Hope this helps get someone out of a jam because mine has acted up at a gas station twice now. You can have the Sensor replaced or you can deal with the 15 minute delays.

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano

Thomas@Ieracitano.com

http://DigitalCarGuy.com

Can't Make it Here, We'll Take it There!

want an email like this ?  go to http://123BrandMe.com

10 Useful Tips for New Sites

Optimal Linking for SEO: 10 Useful Tips for New Sites

The way you link, both internally and externally from your site, is crucial for achieving results in today's competitive market. Getting help from an SEO Agency can give you the advantage you need when it comes to search engine ranking and those all-important hits on your site.
 As SEO experts are bound to point out, it's a process that needs to be carried on over time and considered whenever you make any changes to your site. As a new site you'll need strategies to assist you in climbing the ladder to good Internet ranking placement as quickly as possible.

Here are 10 very useful tips on links and linking architecture for anyone with an interest in SEO, and if you're involved in marketing of any kind over the Internet, then that's you.

1. Think About Who Links to You

You'll already know the value of reputation when it comes to marketing your product or service. If sites that are associated with good quality products are clearly seen by users and search engines to link to your own then this will reflect well on you.

Pay close attention to the number of .com and .co.uk sites that link to you, for example, and think carefully about ways in which you can encourage others to do likewise.

2. Think About Who You Link to

The same rules as before. Linking to good quality sites reflects well on your own. Keep up to date with innovations and developments and stay relevant with fresh links on your pages. Try to develop a balanced portfolio of links on your site.

 
     

 
 3. Avoid Broken Links

As part of ongoing site maintenance for SEO you should be aware of any links that are no longer in use and remove them from your site.

4. Think About Relevance

This is very important. Link to sites with a clear relevance to your own only. Search engines pay special attention to this, as do users, and every irrelevant link on your page is detrimental.

5. Internal Links

Think about internal links and whether your site is user friendly. Make the most of internal links and get some advice from SEO experts about ways to link internally that will benefit your site's ranking.

6. Maps

Think about linking back to homepage and site maps. Make your site as easily navigable as possible. This will encourage users and benefit your site as search engines see these links when they probe it. A map is a useful way to introduce internal links and make the site easier to get around.

7. Link Building

Think about the use of exact match terms for link building. Build links using exactly matching anchor text. Remember though, don't get carried away - an excess use of keywords can be as bad as a lack. Using terms you want to rank for and that summarise the topic referred to, in moderation, can strengthen the ratings of your site by search engines.

Find a balance and use your senses. If you feel that you've gone overboard with repeated words or phrases in your internal links then you probably have.

 
     

 
 8. Avoid Cloaking

Search engines are increasingly sophisticated at detecting 'black hat' or unscrupulous SEO techniques. While it may be tempting to improve your popularity on the net by attracting unwitting visitors to your site, be aware that techniques that accomplish this can get you into trouble.

Users and search engines are alike in their approach to cloaking - they don't accept or tolerate it. Stay within the boundaries to avoid problems.

9. Look at Where Your Competitors Link

This is legal and it can give you an advantage or at least level the playing field somewhat when it comes to links. Go to Yahoo and type in link: www.competitorsite.com to get access to useful tools for viewing your competition's linking activity. Remember that knowledge is power.

10. Strategise

Have a solid strategy for linking to, from and within your site. Think before you link and use every intelligent strategy at your disposal. Getting advice from website optimization specialists can really help.

To conclude, it's hoped that some important considerations about link building were highlighted for you here in our list.

Some areas were only touched upon, and in an environment such as computing where change is a constant, it pays to stay abreast of developments. Remember that if you're short on time, search engine optimisation specialists are available for SEO and improving your ranking and your profits.

Need Help call or click Now!

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
Thomas@Ieracitano.com
http://DigitalCarGuy.com
Can't Make it Here, We'll Take it There!



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