If you have no idea what has been happening in Iran, it is probably because you’ve been living under Iraq a rock.  I’m going to try to stay out of the politics behind it, but Iran is the “religious democracy” with an Ayatollah as the head of government and an elected president who serves as the “faceman”.  The recent Presidential election ended up in conspiracy as many of the citizens did not believe the outcome (who, why, what are irrelevant for the purpose of this article).  As a result Iranians poured into the streets in protest of the election results.  During the protests, violence broke out and the Iranian government banned foreign news reporters from the country.

Without adequate reporting how is the world keeping up with everything that is happening in Iran?  How are Iranian citizens rallying people to their cause?  Social media!

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An Important Video Message from AutoTrader.com

Alan Smith, Sr. Vice President of Dealer Sales, and Chip Perry, CEO

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Alan Smith and Chip Perry talk about the challenging times and some of the changes that are taking place at AutoTrader.com. This is a good message, I recommend watching it in it’s entirety. If you have an opinion, lets keep them positive and/or professional.

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Even though the Cash for Clunkers Legislation has not passed yet, there is a lot of potential business already circulating around this program.  If you’re the first on the scene, you can seriously rule your market for anyone trying to find more information about the bill.

First:  Build your site and prepare your staff
“This bill is not official”, and those should be the first words out of your mouth, followed by a big BUT.  “But, when the bill is passed we want to be the dealership that earns your business.  Let me tell you a bit about the bill as it currently sits – have you visited the Cash for Clunkers page on our website (Checkered Flag’s Cash for Clunkers page)?  We are a participating Cash for Clunkers dealership, and ready to help you with the program when it does launch.  Basically, the program covers vehicles over X years old with a combined MPG of less than XX…”  you get the idea.

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EL SEGUNDO, CA–(Marketwire – June 11, 2009) – CarsDirect announced today that it is offering free online used car inventory listings to recently terminated Chrysler and General Motors franchise dealers in an effort to help dealers drive sales during the current transition period.

“Many of our dealer partners who have received termination notices aren’t simply closing up shop,” said Ken Potter, vice president and general manager of automotive sales and industry relations at CarsDirect. “Some plan to change brands, while others are shifting to a used car focus. But the next few months are crucial. We hope this offer helps dealers sell more cars as they work to stay in business and remain fixtures in their communities during the transition.”

CarsDirect will provide any dealership that received a termination notice from Chrysler or GM with 60 days of free used car listings on its network of sites, exposing the listings to 25 million monthly online visitors. The CarsDirect network includes listings on the CarsDirect.com Used Car Channel and SellMyCar.com, and targeted syndication of listings throughout the CarsDirect Automotive Network, one of the world’s largest collections of auto enthusiast websites.

Dealers are free to post their entire used car inventories, including unlimited photos of each vehicle. They are also eligible for a special rate on CarsDirect used inventory listing products after the conclusion of the 60-day free period.

“Last month, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of CarsDirect, and many of our dealer partners have been with us since Day One,” said Potter. “Our dealers helped us achieve the success we enjoy, and we’re hopeful that this offer helps dealers sell a few more cars during this uncertain period in the industry. We are grateful for our many strong dealer relationships and look at this as an opportunity to pay our dealers back.”

For more details on the no-charge CarsDirect used car listings program, eligible dealers can call (310) 280-4282 or e-mail kpotter@carsdirect.com.

About CarsDirect
CarsDirect (www.carsdirect.com) is a leading online automotive shopping service and research portal, providing new and used automobiles and related products and services, such as loan and lease financing. CarsDirect is a division of Los Angeles-based Internet Brands (www.internetbrands.com), a leading operator of community and e-commerce consumer websites.

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Over 5 years ago I was approached by our Vice President of Variable Ops who wanted me to take what I had done as our Honda Internet Manager and spread it through all the stores in our group.  He told me the job was temporary and not to expect it to last more than a year or 2.  He titled me the Internet Director and my job was to train “Internet Sales Agents” on how to move a lot of cars through digital communication.  His thoughts were that I would eventually find a store to call home and continue working my way up in a more traditional manner.

Since he asked me to do this job back in March of 2004, my job title has changed and I’ve worked my way into quite a few very different directions.  Once we had figured out a good way to handle not just Internet leads, but all incoming non-physical traffic too, and we had the right people in place I was able to focus more on things like our website, new technologies, and CRM.  It is the CRM that gets you!

The most important technology of any dealership is the one that promotes process.

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