A lesson in social espionage, from Search Engine Watch. Competitive intelligence is incredibly important for analyzing and tracking your competitors, whether it’s in SEO, PPC, or social media. What follows is an account of how I used public soc

Build customer loyalty with rewards and other tactics that motivate, according to Marketing Profs. Remember S&H Green Stamps? Our mothers and grandmothers would collect these gummed stamps from supermarkets, gas stations, and other stores, pastin

The best times to use social platforms, from Entrepreneur. Almost every small business, 81 percent, is on social media, and 94 percent of them use these social platforms for marketing purposes (attracting clients and building a brand), according to r

8 steps to fix your online reputation, according to Ragan.com.  Sean McGinnis recently wrote an interesting post about online reputation and how he ended up in porn. One day, he Googled himself to discover an adult movie called “The Fluffer

Today’s buy/sell market is robust and dealership values are very strong. This chart is based on the Kerrigan Advisors franchise values in the current buy/sell market. Each franchise in the chart is designated with a high, average and low multiple.

Most franchised dealers are not in the business of debt collection; but it is an occupational hazard. Without a buy here pay here lot or a related finance company, the bulk of the debt arises from the service department and body shop work. A typical

As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously stated, “No one ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same person.” The same principle of constant change also applies to the automobile market—

At a recent dealer group presentation, a used vehicle manager asked me an astute question: “Dale, how can you tell when a used vehicle may need a price change?” I liked the question because it suggested the manager was a thoughtful and proactive

If you are a licensed auto dealer, you’ve surely dealt with obtaining a surety bond as a requirement for your license. Hopefully you haven’t dealt with surety bond claims. However, it helps to be informed and prepared in case you do get a bond cl