Of course you didn’t think we would close out the year without a post to sum up what happened here on DealerRefresh in 209, did you?
With the introduction of the new Dealer Forum, It’s been one eventful year to say the least. We had several goals mapped out for the first 6 months to a year for the Forum and have succeeded or better each one we set out to hit.
We added a Facebook Fan page where we currently have over 300 fans. Become a fan if you haven’t already!
Lets get started with the Top Blog Posts..
Process for displaying Inventory? – 36 comments
An article outlining the importance of good vehicle data on your website…
Autotrader.com Annual Sales Meeting 2009 – Another Side of AutoTrader? – 92 comments
A guest post by David Metter brings some heated discussions…
Long Term Email Follow-up – What are you sending your potential customer? – 21 comments
Engaging your customer with your long term email follow-up…
Increase Sales by Putting Web 2.0 in the Dealer Employee Handbook – 17 comments
Should we revisit the Dealership Handbook?
Are incentives dead? How do we advertise now? – 13 comments
I started selling cars 10 years ago; just before CSI became mainstream. I recall an excellent interest rate being around 8%…
Social Networking is more popular than emailing! What does that mean? – 42 Comments
According to Nielsen, more time is spent on Social Networking sites than is spent reading or sending emails…
Integration? What’s that and what do I do with it? What about my DMS? – 33 comments
Integration as defined on Dictionary.com: an act or instance of combining into an integral whole. Okay…that doesn’t really help…
Before You Sell that Used Car, SELL that Used Car! – 11 comments
Before you can sell that used car, it’s imperative you SELL that used car to your sales team first…
Is your Social Networking NOTworking? – 16 comments
How do car dealers advertise on facebook, MySpace, twitter and other social networking sites?
What is Cash for Clunkers (C.A.R.S.) Doing for YOU? – 262 comments
We’ll never forget about Cash for Clunkers – This post became a support thread for dealers and consumers…
Automotive Manufacturer Policies on Dealer Websites are too limiting and slow – 15 comments
This one needs to be posted on the homepage again!
Why We Suck! – 28 comments
What brought you here?…needed some money for some reason I bet. Did you intend to keep doing this after you got that needed money?…
Why Are Dealers STILL Not in Social Media? – 43 comments
A follow up article to an older article I wrote back in 2007 on why dealers are not in social media/networking?
Where Have All the Ups Gone? – 11 comments
Ahhhh…the good ‘ol days… Remember the weekends? The Sales Staff gets there nice and early with enough caffeine in their hands to jump-start a rhino, trailed by a cloud of cigarette smoke…
“Greetings – You Now Have 5 Seconds!” – 13 comments
When was the last time you thought about the way you greeted a customer?
Google Page One Management (GPOM) Strategies – 23 comments
The practice of using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques on car dealer business names and locations to position lead collection websites on Google Page One is not just limited to the automotive industry…
And of course lets not forget Alex’s latest post Why hasn’t CRM sold me more cars? with over 30 comments and counting
…and that’s just here on the blog.
The DealerRefresh Dealer Forum is so busy and full of information and new threads/topics, I’m not sure where to even start.
We hit 700 members today with OVER 500 threads. All this in less than 9 months and we haven’t even started.
Some of the top topics in the Dealer Forums include…
Low Cost Live Chat Software – This turned into a manual for dealers getting into chat.
SEO 101 For Dealers – Lots of information on SEO for car dealers
How are your phone skills? – Jerry Thibeau offers up from free service and consulting while sharing the results
Taking videos of your vehicles – Tons of best practices and examples of dealer videos and walkarounds
Facebook Advertising for Car Dealers – How are you leveraging facebook?
In today’s market how do ISM’s really track success?
Display Advertising/Re-targeting – Considering display advertising or re-targeting?
One of the great features about the DealerRefresh Forum; it’s not always about business. It’s also a place to take and break and build relationships while having some “off-topic” conversations…
Adobe Creative Master suite for Mac
Modern Warfare 2 – yes we have several gamers in the forums
What Cool Tech Gift did you get for the Holiday?
This only scrapes the surface on all the different topics we had in 2009 and will continue to have into 2010.
Lets not forget about our sponsors throughout the year. They have helped with the financial to build out and maintain the blog and forum. Show them some love by clicking on one of their banners and browsing through their services.
While you are in the forums, take the 2010 Internet Marketing Survey
Looking forward to a GREAT 2010! See you there.
