WHAT IS YOUR #PADUCAH #USED #CAR #LOT #SOCIAL MEDIA STANDING????????????

THE used car business has changed 180 degrees over the past 25 years. The old way of doing business generally consisted of a small dealership that would deal directly with entire familes for their vehicle needs. In many cases #used car dealerships often times repeatly sold vehicles to three and four generations of the same family. It was often unheard of to shop around for a better deal as one dealership was "the family dealership that everyone went too" . The internet has changed the whole landscape of the new and used car business. Used and New Car Dealerships can no longer depend on long time repeat customers. A dealership's social media presence can either lead a dealership to profit or downfall in a short period of time. A dealer that considers retirement and wishes to sell his long established business might be very discouraged at the value of his long standing business if he has NO SOCIAL MEDIA connections. Consider, Dealer A and Dealer B Dealer A long standing dealership 90 per cent of sales repeat customers no website and uses social media very little. Dealer B New business very active in social media, up to date website gains 90 per cent of market share from internet. Lower profit margin but sells more units per month with less salemen. Social Media Checkoff list Dealer Website up-to-date 100 points Dealer Blog 75 points Ebay presence 50 points Craigslist prersence 85 points Linked in presence 50 points FaceBook presence 85 points Twitter presence 50 points Pinterest presence 50 points Instagram presence 50 points If your dealership score is less than 300 points it is recommended that you consider revisiting social media. I have heard arguments that only 25% of many dealerships sales comes from the internet. If you dealership is relaying on repeat business the future of your business model is questionable.

#CATERING TO THE FEMALE CAR BUYER

DURING THE 1950'S, 60'S, and as late as the 70's and early 80's purchasing a new or used car meant many weekends of tire kicking and visiting new car show rooms and used car lots. The man of the house generally negotiated the terms of the sale and usually aside from color and extra's the women of the house keep quiet and just did not get involved. The internet changed the whole landscape of new and used car sales. The invention of the internet allowed women to search out information about cars, prices, terms, and warranties. I witnessed an elderly lady in Cracker Barrel discussing MVP and a host of terms I did not even understand. The women of today thanks to the internet are better educated and informed about a vehicle purchase and in many cases know more about the product than the AVERAGE CAR SALESMAN!. Dealerships that once tacked in overpriced add'ons now are subject to the seasoned eye of a female buyer. The old style of selling cars by beating down the buyer are over.

#HOW TO PROFIT FROM POLICE IMPOUND AUCTIONS

I have been a licensed Used Car Dealer in the state of Kentucky for over 10 years. My family has been in the used car business in some area for over 75 years. I have written a book that will be published this fall titled "How To Profit From Police Auctions". I accidently discovered this hidden source of used cars . I was a Navy Recruiter and was searching gatherings of qualified applicants in order to meet my monthly quota. I had visited every college, tech school, union hall in the San Francisco Bay Area. I started thinking out of the box and put my uniform on and realized that every week 100's of qualifed individuals frequented these sales. I handed out business cards every week in order to find people for the U. S. Military!!! I learned that a person did not need a DEALERS LICENSE! DID NOT NEED A USED CAR LOT! in order to buy and resell these types of vehicles and many people were making their living buying, selling, and trading vehicles from these sales. I also learned that often times "COLLECTABLE CARS" were sold for a fraction of their valueat these sales. I continued to visit these sales even after my retirement from the military service and took the plunge and bought (2) GMC pickup trucks on the same day for under $500. each. The California Department Of Motor Vehicles requires that in order for vehicles to be registered an individual must have insurance, smog certificate and all back registeration fees must be paid in order to get a clean title. The above factors can often kill your profit margin. However, if a vehicle is shipped out of the state of California to a state that does not require a smog you are exempt. The back fees on these vehicles were also waived. I have learned over the past 10 years the hard way about "Police Impound Auctions". I will share my plan to my readers for a price of $4.98 and a full refund if your are not satisfied. Whether, you want to start small and buy a cheap car to flip or buy more expensive vehicles this book will help you avoid many of the pitfalls I have experienced. The book IS NOT A GET RICH QUICK BOOK. The book is for people that want to either supplement their income or make a living from the sale of these types of vehicles. I want to mention (2) other items before you submit your email address. I will give the first 50 people A FREE BOOK that makes a comment on this blog once the book is complete and prior to publish date. I outsource all of my mechanical work, outsource all vehicle shipping and sell all vehicles AS IS. I will also will have an email address and phone number is you have any questions once you buy the book about purchasing "Police Impound Cars." Thank all of you readers for encouraging me to write this blog and following me daily.

#CONSUMERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA MORE FOR VEHICLE PURCHASE

Latest News Social Networks Guide Dealership Selection Online dealership reviews on social media networks are now playing the most important role in the dealership selection process. The Spring 2013 Automotive Social Media and Reputation Trend Study released by Digital Air Strike included an in-depth analysis of how 650 U.S. dealers use social media and an online survey of 2,000 consumers who purchased a vehicle in the last 6 months. The majority of car buyers said they consider review sites as "helpful" in their decision as to where to purchase a vehicle. The study found that 24 percent of consumers consider online review sites to be the "most helpful" factor, exceeding all other factors including the 15 percent of car buyers who consider dealership websites "most helpful". The study also showed that review sites are becoming increasingly important in organic search. Eighty-one percent of car buyers who use review sites said they look at review scores in search results. The dealer component of the study revealed that, on average, five review sites show up in search results. Car buyers use the top five sites 13 percent more than just 6 months ago. The most popular review sites are Cars.com (61 percent, previously 55 percent), Edmunds.com (54 percent, previously 50 percent),), Google Plus Local (37 percent, previously 44 percent), Yelp (14 percent, no change), and Yahoo (11 percent, no change) - the same rank order as the October 2012 study. The study went on to reveal that there is a 43 percent probability that a consumer will search for a local dealer on Facebook using Facebook's new Graph Search. The study revealed 67 percent of car buyers search for local business using mobile devices with 41 percent having "checked-in" to a local business using their mobile device. Additional Facebook findings include: There is a 59 percent probability that a consumer will trust a review from a Facebook friend more than reviews on other sites. 27 percent of car buyers click on mobile ads on Facebook. There is a 45 percent probability that a consumer will view the dedicated feed for brands in the forthcoming Facebook News Feed. Clicks on automotive dealership Facebook ads more than doubled from October 2012 to April 2013 - from 16 percent up to 39 percent.

#TRUE CAR PROVIDES TRADE'IN CAR VALUE

eNews U.S. News Adds TrueCar's ClearBook U.S. News & World Report has expanded its relationship with TrueCar Inc. to now incorporate ClearBook, TrueCar's used-car valuation tool, in various places on the U.S. News Best Cars website. TrueCar will be the exclusive provider of trade-in value and used car estimated market value data and pricing to 30 million annual visitors. With the introduction of ClearBook on U.S. News Best Cars, consumers visiting the site can now do the following: Find used vehicle pricing information for thousands of makes and models within a consumer's local area including Expected Sale Price, Recommended List Price and Trade-in Price. View rankings of used car models based on a price range so consumers can find the best used cars within their budget.

#AUTO START-UP WINS BUSINESS SCHOOL CONTEST

eNews Auto Start-Ups Win Business School Contest The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced that student team ZenKars won the $30,000 Perlman Prize at the 2013Wharton Business Plan Competition (BPC). The prize was awarded at the Wharton School's 15th Annual Venture Finals onApril 24 where student finalists received more than $115,000 in combined cash prizes and in-kind legal/accounting services. ZenKars, which also received Wharton BPC's "Committee's Choice Award," is an online retailer of used cars targeting a $600 billion market. Jean-Mathieu (Jim) Chabas and Venkat Jonnala, co-founders and second year MBA students, have created an online model connecting used cars from corporate directly to consumers. Their "peaceful buying experience" for the buyer offers competitive prices, detailed vehicle information, convenience and warranties. The ZenKars co-founders met last summer on Facebook while looking for roommates in Philadelphia.They eventually found themselves batting entrepreneurial ideas around and landed on what has become ZenKars, which was soon accepted into the DreamIt Ventures accelerator, from whom they received additional seed funding. The Venture Finals, which is the yearlong Wharton BPC's culminating event, attracted nearly 300 venture capitalists, business leaders, faculty members and students. This year, 140 conceptswere submittedfor the competitive phase of the Wharton BPC. While the Venture Finals judges deliberated over the top three prizes, the "Great Eight" Finalist teams competed for the Michelson "People's Choice Award," which allowed the audience of hundreds to vote on their favorite elevator pitch. This year the crowd favorite was MacuLens whose eyeglass lens technology helps reduce the glare of high intensity auto headlights. MacuLens also won the Venture Finals second place award of $15,000.

#CONSUMERS SEEK DOMESTICS ONLINE

eNews Consumers Seek Domestics Online According to page views on Kelley Blue Book's website, which is defined as every time a KBB.com user visits a Web page, domestic automakers Chrysler and Ford continue to see the largest increases. Chrysler increased to 7.2 percent of page views on KBB.com, up from 6.1 percent last year, while Ford has seen the largest jump, to 12.6 percent in April from 10.6 percent in April 2012. Hyundai/Kia reports the steepest drops in KBB.com page view traffic, down to 7.5 percent in April from a 12.3 percent share in April 2012. As gas prices have dropped, Kelley Blue Book also has seen segments with the most fuel-efficient vehicles drop. Subcompact car page views are down to 3.5 percent in April from 5.3 percent in April 2012. Compact car page views are down to 13.5 percent in April from 15.4 percent in April 2012.Hybrid vehicles page views also are declining, down to 3.2 percent of all KBB.com page views in April 2013, from 3.7 percent in April. The segments that saw some of the largest increases in KBB.com page views are compact crossovers, which had the largest segment increase, up to 13.8 percent in April from 12.6 percent in April 2012. In addition, luxury crossovers also increased from last year, to 5.9 percent in April from 5.1 percent in April 2012.