Automotive Advertising Agencies Must Lead, Follow, Or Get Out of the Way

I am a self described old school car guy but perhaps my definition of that well earned title has a different meaning than many of my contemporaries have assigned to it. My definition of a car guy is an entrepreneurial business man that is driven to win, who values relationships as a team builder and who prides themselves as being a community leader. The people skills needed to accomplish most goals in the car business are built on an understanding of human nature which has survived in the virtual world of today’s Internet Super Highway. However, the technologies and online processes needed to communicate to customers have changed dramatically and us car guys need to stay ahead of the curve to stay competitive.Similarly, automotive advertising agencies serve the retail auto industry in much the same way that they have for decades. However, since the one constant in the auto industry is change — and human nature is also a constant — then change in the automotive advertising industry must be limited to the technologies that have developed to serve the newest media of choice; the Internet. Agencies are still striving to improve the reach, frequency, cost per impression and the basic R.O.I. of their automotive advertising campaigns delivered to a qualified and targeted audience, however in my considered opinion there has been a paradigm shift in automotive advertising as a result of the empowerment that the Internet has extended to the online car shopper.Conventional wisdom supports the position that selling processes on the virtual showrooms being built on the Internet Super Highway must replicate and integrate with those used in the brick and mortar showrooms on local car rows, however that is reflective of the needs of the auto dealers, not the customers. Structured selling systems require repetitive processes that eliminate redundancy of data input and accommodate follow up and management monitoring which has little value to consumers who just want to know if the auto dealer has the vehicle that they want and how much will they have to pay for it.Old school wisdom suggest that the goal for the dealer after an initial contact by phone, email or by an online visitor to their website is to make an appointment to get the customer into the showroom since, after all, you can’t sell them a car on the phone or on the Internet — or can you? New technology based solutions like AutoTransaXion introduced by Argistics provide an online transaction tool with a two way video customer interaction application that links to the auto dealer’s DMS, CRM and ILM in a comprehensive push/pull manner that replicates the real world selling process. The enhanced transparency and relevancy provided by this online communication tool satisfies the needs of the online car shopper while providing a seamless transition that allows the auto dealer and the consumer to complete an online transaction.Most Automotive advertising agencies recognize the need to provide transparency and relevancy to attract online car shoppers but few are aware of solutions such as AutoTransaXion to convert these new opportunities on the World Wide Web to sales. Budget challenged auto dealers are demanding that their automotive advertising agencies deliver more for less and staying in touch with new technology is one way to deliver.Another opportunity to leverage online resources for automotive advertising agencies in the know can be found in new online inventory based marketing platforms like ronsmap.com that utilizes its game changing technology to integrate social networking media with their platform. The extended reach and frequency of message provided by their vBack Ask-a-Friend / Tell-a-Friend application increases S.E.O. for the auto dealer by integrating their social networking engine with every vehicle posted on ronsmap, the auto dealers’ website and third party sites that the auto dealer posts their inventory on. As a result, leads and sales are increased exponentially as they tie into the viral messages powered by their C2C marketing methods vs. more commonly utilized B2C methods offered by banner ads and other attempts to market into social networking communities from the outside in vs. the ability for vBack to market from the inside out.In addition, the Intelli-Leads gathered by ronsmap and their vBack application are enhanced by the market intelligence gathered by their SellersVantage application which provides real time information on the online consumer beyond the typical name, IP address, contact information and questions regarding the vehicle they selected. SellersVantage provides the auto dealer with the comparable vehicles that the customer may have considered through ronsmap as well competitive information on similar vehicles currently being offered on the Internet. As a result, conversion rates are increased for the auto dealer and the transparency and relevancy for the car shopper is enhanced. Of course none of this is possible if the automotive advertising agency doesn’t know about ronsmap and similar leveraged online marketing platforms to recommend to their auto dealer clients.Understanding and applying the rules established by the search engines to maximize the S.E.O. for their auto dealer clients is another challenge for automotive advertising agencies that requires them to listen and learn about new Internet applications before they can presume to serve their clients’ needs. Social media has earned a weighted position on Google that is only matched by their similar respect for video to reflect consumer preferences. A generation of T.V. watchers has matured into video-centric consumers that prefer to watch an online video of a vehicle vs. a typical display ad listing features and benefits or even a set of pictures. SiSTeR Technologies has a video production platform, Video CarLot, that hosts applications like their vShock and VidBrid that produce professional quality videos from still pictures extrapolated from an auto dealer’s website using human voice, existing video footage and multi-schema layers with interactive information for the consumer to increase the transparency and relevancy of the experience.In addition, SiSTeR is able to increase the vSEO of the dealer by distributing each produced video directly onto the search engines through their dedicated API with You Tube with their own URL, file name and associated search words and meta tags. Couple that with the linked micro-site offered by their vShock application that follows custom business rules established by the auto dealer to display the selected vehicle video with other similar vehicles chosen from their online inventory and you can see the added value of an automotive advertising agency that knows to suggest this video platform to their clients.Other new vendor solutions offered by companies like CityTwist.Com who offers a do it yourself email platform with over one hundred and twenty five million double opt-in email addresses to facilitate conquest sales for auto dealers and Bull Dog Marketing Technologies who provides an internal data based marketing platform capable of delivering direct mail or email messages with personal URLs and custom vehicle selection and price quotes in monitored monthly campaigns for sales and service will also provide enough of an R.O.I. to support the fees that they paid to the automotive advertising agency that suggested them. Simply put, today’s automotive advertising agencies must lead, follow or get out of the way of those forward thinking agencies that accept their new areas of responsibility that include listening and learning about new Internet based technologies to recommend to their clients.

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Home Business Online Opportunity

Various improvements in the internet use have made it possible for one to actually work from home. In order to have a successful home business online opportunity one needs to have a few accessories in order to carry out the job effectively. One of the opportunity in the internet that one can take advantage of includes online jobs, marketing products and sale of various products on the internet. This opportunity only requires one to have access to internet and a computer. Networking is also one of the requirements of online jobs. This is because it helps one to expand the market base of the services offered to the market. A good online network can determines the success of a business in the internet. One gets to have access to more ideas that can actually be used to develop the online business.A home business online opportunity is very easy for one to take part in as it does not require a lot of documentation that accompanies establishment of other forms of business. Online writing services are one of the opportunities that one can take advantage of form the internet. The only requirement one needs to have register with one of the many writing agencies available in the internet. This is usually free and the only requires skills and will to perform the job. There are many writers who have successfully being able to employ people to do the writing for them at a fee which is usually paid at the end of the month.One should be ready to take risks in order to be successful. This is because in most case the online business requires one to work with people that one does not have a visual knowledge of. Hence one needs to be able to work on basis of trust and honesty in order to successfully establish and take advantage of a home business online opportunity. Credibility is one of the virtues that determine the success of an online business. One has to work honestly with the online clients in order to get a reliable supply of work.Record keeping is one of the requirements of an online business. One needs to take time to record all the business carried out in the online business. This will help to solve disputes and provides details that are used to advertise the business to the clients online. In business the client is the most important aspect in business. To develop a home business online opportunity one has to ensure that the services are quality and follow the specifications of the clients. This will help to build the reputation of the business and the image of the business to the clients.Advertisements tools can be used to advertise the online job to people all over the world. There are various advertisement tools that are cheaper and very effective such as use of products and developing blogs that are related to the business. The success of a home business online opportunity depends solely on the quality of the services offered to the clients.

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Fashion Design Schools – 7 Tips To Find The Best

If you want to make a big splash in the fashion design industry, then choosing the right school is the best place to start. Fashion design may not be everybody’s choice of career, but if you have talent in this field, there are plenty of opportunities available.There are 7 main things you need to look for when choosing your fashion design school. Although there are fashion design schools around, they can be few and far between, and have quite different backgrounds and focus. So knowing what things to consider makes a big difference. Let’s take a look at the main things you need to assess.FocusIf you have a particular area of the industry you want to focus on, such as women’s casual wear, then it’s important that you find a fashion design school which is strong in this field. Also, look at what the school has to offer. Does it focus solely on fashion design, or does it offer lots of other courses as well. Is the school well known for fashion design, particularly in your field of interest? Also, does the school have a history of participating in fashion design competitions, or does it have any other projects that help to take students out into the fashion world.CurriculumThis can take a little more digging, but it’s worth finding out what exactly is covered in the curriculum. The range of subjects covered can vary widely between different fashion schools, so it’s worth doing the research to find one that covers the types of subjects you want to study. To some extent this comes back to your main area of interest in designing. So if you have a specific area of fashion design you want to pursue, choose a school with a curriculum that matches. If you’re not sure what you want to do, then choose a school with a more ‘one size fits all’ curriculum.AccreditationCheck to see what forms of accreditation the fashion design school has. Accreditation is a way of ensuring a school has attained certain levels of educational quality. Look for accreditation from the U.S. Department of Education. You can also check with the State Postsecondary School Licensing Bureau.TeachersSee if you can find out the quality of the teaching staff. It’s great if there are established designed teaching there, because that indicates the industry has confidence in the school. What is the usual student to teacher ratio? This can make a big difference, particularly in hands-on subjects, because a big group makes it hard for the teacher to assist everyone individually. Be wary, though, if the class sizes are too small – this could mean the school is struggling in some way, and also limits the opportunity to share ideas and brainstorm with other students.CostProbably the factor that’s most important to many of us – how much will it cost to attend the school? It’s nice if you’re in a situation where cost doesn’t matter, but for most of us, we need to be practical. If the tuition fees are high, you may find you have to spend far to many hours working in a part-time job and so leave yourself short of time for your schoolwork.ScholarshipsIf finances really are a problem, then it’s worth asking your school of choice if they offer any sorts of scholarships. This can be a great way to attend the fashion design school of your choice, because some scholarships are based on fashion design competitions. If you have talent, you may be able to win a scholarship. So found out what scholarships they offer, and what sort of terms they have.Job PlacementsFinally, this may not seem important when you’re first heading off to the fashion design school you’ve chosen, but it can matter in the long run. Does the school offer any assistance with job placement? This can make the difference between finding a job fairly quickly, and spending months searching. Also, take a look at the alumni of the school. What sort of careers have they developed? If there are plenty of successes, that can indicate a good training program at the school, as well as open up opportunities for job placements.In the end, only you can choose the fashion design school that best meets your needs. If you have a favorite fashion designer, maybe check out his or her educational background and see where they studied. That may help you to decide. But make sure you spend some time investigating all your options. The school you choose will make a big impact on your life and career prospects, so choose carefully. If you do, you’ve taken the first step to a successful career in fashion design.

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