Kathi Kruse put together a great post on the topic of dealership blogging, and I thought I’d expand on the “how do blogs sell cars” aspect.
I believe that people are tired of shady deals, and today it takes minimal effort to minimize their risk.
If your success is tied to gaining trust, and your preference is to get referral business, then it’s time you put effort into blogging. Nothing I know is more effective in gaining true insight than reading someones blog.
Let me just throw it out there on a silver platter, the good guys blog and engage – the bad ones can’t, and won’t.
How can I make such a bold statement? Show me one example of someone who’s ripping people off *and* blogging, using Twitter, etc.
I’m not talking spammers either, I mean real people who deceptively blog, because essentially that’s what they’d be doing. You think your going to see a post titled “The poor old man that I got an extra $5k out of”, no you wouldn’t.
Those guys are hiding. So back to my point. You blog and you remove reasonable doubt that you’re one of them. You don’t and you’ll be losing your business to those that do, because that’s a sure thing.
Today, people go for sure things.
So How Do Blogs Sell Cars?
Well as a matter of fact they don’t.
You do.
And who are you? That’s easy, give me about 5 minutes to find you on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere you maintain a profile.
I’ll come back in a minute or two once I know your favorite food, your first car, what high school you went to, where you work, etc.
Why do I want to go through all that trouble?
For one, I value who I share my time with so lets hope you don’t come up with a string of bad reviews because that’s a deal killer for me.
Are you with me so far? If not, let me illustrate the point a bit more.
Saving myself the trouble of dealing with crooks
No, you’re not a crook, I hope. Actually, the crooks I use in this example give crooks a bad name, they are the lowest forms of life that I know.
I’m talking about those bank executives, the ones that stole all that money and basically ruined our economy?
I think the majority of Americans feel they deserve jailtime, despite not one of them has gotten any.
Besides having possession of stolen money, what else might they have in common?
Ready for this? An online presence. So your homework for today is: Why do you think they aren’t members of LinkedIn, Twitter, etc?
Is it because they don’t need to be, or are they in fear of the backlash that might follow?
Backlash can paint a fairly vivid picture for us.
Luckily, the world is filled with good people who do things for others. Not because they want attribution, but because they can help.
These are the people I want to have relationships with.
These are people that get my money.
So, what again was your question? Oh, right. How do blogs sell cars?
They don’t, you do.
How do blogs sell you?
They don’t, your readers do.
How do your readers sell you?
They don’t, their 500 followers on Twitter do.
See my point. Good.
What You Can Do – Invest in Blogging
I run a business, and my business helps people and companies develop their brand by blogging. You can be blogging tomorrow, so contact me for a custom blog.
If you own a small business, and have minimal revenue, this is still the best way to build relationships and educate customers about your product or service. I will give anyone who can’t invest in a blog, the opportunity to learn how a blog can change their business, for free. Send me an email at scott@tuneyfish.com and a brief explanation of your situation, these are evaluated individually so please include a link to your current website, and/or any individual profiles where I can learn who you are.
I help established businesses like car dealerships and financial advisors build their brand, increase their traffic with SEO, and create conversations in social media and get the most loyal customers ever. If your business relies on building relationships and word of mouth referrals, then lets talk, you can submit your info and see basic pricing all at once.
Remember, it’s easier to “say” you want to start blogging, only to delay it for a million different reasons. The best thing you can do is to start blogging immediately and ask questions later, because odds are you and your customers will be learning together as you go.