http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/getFeed.kickAction?quantity=25 New blogs from CSheehy on AutoPro Workshop Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:03:17 GMT Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:03:17 GMT mwillins@advanstar.com (AutoBizGuru) mwillins@advanstar.com (AutoBizGuru) KickApps Feed Builder 2013-02-16T00:03:17Z 25 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?as=31710&sortType=recent&tags=null 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Perils-of-Call-Tracking/blog/6511907/31710.html Call Tracking Phone Numbers - the Wrong Call for Local Marketing Also posted: Alltop - Internet Marketing | B2C | Yahoo Small Business | Sidewalk Talkby SBco. [image] Have you been tempted to use one of those marketing services that reports on how many calls your business receives from your search or social listings? I see their ads touting their local marketing services everywhere (heck – even I get them!), so surely they must be onto something – RIGHT? There is so much to think about when it comes to internet marketing – being able to quantify where your leads comes from seems a no-brainer.  Oh, if only if it were that easy, I mean – businesses tell me all the time how difficult it is for them to know what marketing tactics works and which ones don’t - what tools or services would be good for them, and what’s going to hurt them.  So when a client was asking me about these services recently – I went directly to the source and sent them the following excerpt from Google to answer their question. Q:  Does it matter whether I include multiple telephone types? A:  You should only provide the phone number for the location of the actual local business. Types of phone numbers that should not be included are: call tracking numbers and phone numbers that are not specific to a business location [source] The question was pretty unspecific – so it’s easy to imaging that the person was referring to possibly using both a main phone number and fax number, or perhaps they were inquiring about using a sales and service numbers on their website or within their linkbuilding.  Regardless of the lack of specificity – the answer from Google was very specific. Even Google discurages call tracking numbers As it turns out, a business phone number has some very important SEO data that search engines use to quantify a business.  The phone number is a foundation data element that is vital for local internet marketing.  The trade refers to this data-set as NAP (Name, Address, Phone), and the phone number helps authenticate a business  via it’s area code (state validation) and phone prefix (town/city/neighborhood). When the phone number is replaced with a generic number that is not consistent with the local standards – they loose that vital component of authentication. The loss of local-identity wasn’t something that was mentioned in the information my client had received.  Neither was the question as to what happens when a business no longer subscribes to the service?  The short answer is – they loose again. I’m sure there is a business that could find these types of services valuable – but in my experience (and from Google's clear public statement), local businesses like automotive and auto body repairers that rely on local marketing should steer clear of the calling. By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Call Tracking Phone Numbers - the Wrong Call for Local Marketing Also posted: Alltop - Internet Marketing | B2C | Yahoo Small Business | Sidewalk Talkby SBco. [image] Have you been tempted to use one of those marketing services that reports on how many calls your business receives from your search or social listings? I see their ads touting their local marketing services everywhere (heck – even I get them!), so surely they must be onto something – RIGHT? There is so much to think about when it comes to internet marketing – being able to quantify where your leads comes from seems a no-brainer.  Oh, if only if it were that easy, I mean – businesses tell me all the time how difficult it is for them to know what marketing tactics works and which ones don’t - what tools or services would be good for them, and what’s going to hurt them.  So when a client was asking me about these services recently – I went directly to the source and sent them the following excerpt from Google to answer their question. Q:  Does it matter whether I include multiple telephone types? A:  You should only provide the phone number for the location of the actual local business. Types of phone numbers that should not be included are: call tracking numbers and phone numbers that are not specific to a business location [source] The question was pretty unspecific – so it’s easy to imaging that the person was referring to possibly using both a main phone number and fax number, or perhaps they were inquiring about using a sales and service numbers on their website or within their linkbuilding.  Regardless of the lack of specificity – the answer from Google was very specific. Even Google discurages call tracking numbers As it turns out, a business phone number has some very important SEO data that search engines use to quantify a business.  The phone number is a foundation data element that is vital for local internet marketing.  The trade refers to this data-set as NAP (Name, Address, Phone), and the phone number helps authenticate a business  via it’s area code (state validation) and phone prefix (town/city/neighborhood). When the phone number is replaced with a generic number that is not consistent with the local standards – they loose that vital component of authentication. The loss of local-identity wasn’t something that was mentioned in the information my client had received.  Neither was the question as to what happens when a business no longer subscribes to the service?  The short answer is – they loose again. I’m sure there is a business that could find these types of services valuable – but in my experience (and from Google's clear public statement), local businesses like automotive and auto body repairers that rely on local marketing should steer clear of the calling. By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:03:17 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Perils-of-Call-Tracking/blog/6511907/31710.html CSheehy 2013-02-16T00:03:17Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop Call Tracking Phone Numbers - the Wrong Call for Local Marketing Also posted: Alltop - Internet Marketing | B2C | Yahoo Small Business | Sidewalk Talkby SBco. [image] Have you been tempted to use one of those marketing services that reports on how many calls your business receives from your search or social listings? I see their ads touting their local marketing services everywhere (heck – even I get them!), so surely they must be onto something – RIGHT? There is so much to think about when it comes to internet marketing – being able to quantify where your leads comes from seems a no-brainer.  Oh, if only if it were that easy, I mean – businesses tell me all the time how difficult it is for them to know what marketing tactics works and which ones don’t - what tools or services would be good for them, and what’s going to hurt them.  So when a client was asking me about these services recently – I went directly to the source and sent them the following excerpt from Google to answer their question. Q:  Does it matter whether I include multiple telephone types? A:  You should only provide the phone number for the location of the actual local business. Types of phone numbers that should not be included are: call tracking numbers and phone numbers that are not specific to a business location [source] The question was pretty unspecific – so it’s easy to imaging that the person was referring to possibly using both a main phone number and fax number, or perhaps they were inquiring about using a sales and service numbers on their website or within their linkbuilding.  Regardless of the lack of specificity – the answer from Google was very specific. Even Google discurages call tracking numbers As it turns out, a business phone number has some very important SEO data that search engines use to quantify a business.  The phone number is a foundation data element that is vital for local internet marketing.  The trade refers to this data-set as NAP (Name, Address, Phone), and the phone number helps authenticate a business  via it’s area code (state validation) and phone prefix (town/city/neighborhood). When the phone number is replaced with a generic number that is not consistent with the local standards – they loose that vital component of authentication. The loss of local-identity wasn’t something that was mentioned in the information my client had received.  Neither was the question as to what happens when a business no longer subscribes to the service?  The short answer is – they loose again. I’m sure there is a business that could find these types of services valuable – but in my experience (and from Google's clear public statement), local businesses like automotive and auto body repairers that rely on local marketing should steer clear of the calling. By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding abrn, blogs, call reporting, call tracking, local marketing, local optimization, marketing, search marketing nonadult false Perils of Call Tracking text blog abrn,blogs,call reporting,call tracking,local marketing,local optimization,marketing,search marketing 455 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 6511907 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Comfortably-Numb/blog/6462539/31710.html Comfortably Numb By Chris Sheehy | search marketing specialist [image] I have been speaking with a well-established auto body shop that is utterly resistant to marketing his business, professing he is always busy and is well known in town as his reasons not to market his business.  And indeed he is, on both accounts; he’s a swell guy too… But thinking that he is too busy and too popular to market is simply absurd!  You only need to look at the businesses that were once thought to be too strong to fail to see how wickedly wrong this could end. 1.       General Motors – 3 generations strong 2.       IBM – 2 generations 3.       Microsoft – 1 generation 4.       Apple – industry reports are postulating the king of “Mac” is on its downturn As in life – business can learn from the history of others… In addition to the big businesses above, also consider all the great small businesses in your town that were vibrant and strong just a couple decades ago and are dinosaurs today (if in business at all).  All too often the common denominator to these failures - complacency.  Running a business comfortably numb – that’s simply not sustainable. While marketing strategy is unique from one business to another, there are a few things that a sustaining business – like my friends - could and should do to ensure they remain king-of-the-hill in their marketplace for years to come. ·         Website – got to have one ·         Active promoting and marketing of their website o   Search engine optimization, search engine marketing, linkbuilding ·         Active in Facebook o   It’s most likely where their customers (and fans) are o   1/7 people on this planet have a Facebook account o   It IS where their future customers are – no doubt about that ·         Ask for online reviews o   Search engines love them, as do new customers ·         Showcase your success in the local papers – strut your stuff ·         Be the biggest community activist o   Invest the most time, not money – don’t worry, it will come back to you   Don’t ever think you’re business is too big to fail, we’ve seen what happens when we do that…   About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England.Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co Comfortably Numb By Chris Sheehy | search marketing specialist [image] I have been speaking with a well-established auto body shop that is utterly resistant to marketing his business, professing he is always busy and is well known in town as his reasons not to market his business.  And indeed he is, on both accounts; he’s a swell guy too… But thinking that he is too busy and too popular to market is simply absurd!  You only need to look at the businesses that were once thought to be too strong to fail to see how wickedly wrong this could end. 1.       General Motors – 3 generations strong 2.       IBM – 2 generations 3.       Microsoft – 1 generation 4.       Apple – industry reports are postulating the king of “Mac” is on its downturn As in life – business can learn from the history of others… In addition to the big businesses above, also consider all the great small businesses in your town that were vibrant and strong just a couple decades ago and are dinosaurs today (if in business at all).  All too often the common denominator to these failures - complacency.  Running a business comfortably numb – that’s simply not sustainable. While marketing strategy is unique from one business to another, there are a few things that a sustaining business – like my friends - could and should do to ensure they remain king-of-the-hill in their marketplace for years to come. ·         Website – got to have one ·         Active promoting and marketing of their website o   Search engine optimization, search engine marketing, linkbuilding ·         Active in Facebook o   It’s most likely where their customers (and fans) are o   1/7 people on this planet have a Facebook account o   It IS where their future customers are – no doubt about that ·         Ask for online reviews o   Search engines love them, as do new customers ·         Showcase your success in the local papers – strut your stuff ·         Be the biggest community activist o   Invest the most time, not money – don’t worry, it will come back to you   Don’t ever think you’re business is too big to fail, we’ve seen what happens when we do that…   About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England.Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:21:55 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Comfortably-Numb/blog/6462539/31710.html CSheehy 2012-11-13T07:21:55Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop Comfortably Numb By Chris Sheehy | search marketing specialist [image] I have been speaking with a well-established auto body shop that is utterly resistant to marketing his business, professing he is always busy and is well known in town as his reasons not to market his business.  And indeed he is, on both accounts; he’s a swell guy too… But thinking that he is too busy and too popular to market is simply absurd!  You only need to look at the businesses that were once thought to be too strong to fail to see how wickedly wrong this could end. 1.       General Motors – 3 generations strong 2.       IBM – 2 generations 3.       Microsoft – 1 generation 4.       Apple – industry reports are postulating the king of “Mac” is on its downturn As in life – business can learn from the history of others… In addition to the big businesses above, also consider all the great small businesses in your town that were vibrant and strong just a couple decades ago and are dinosaurs today (if in business at all).  All too often the common denominator to these failures - complacency.  Running a business comfortably numb – that’s simply not sustainable. While marketing strategy is unique from one business to another, there are a few things that a sustaining business – like my friends - could and should do to ensure they remain king-of-the-hill in their marketplace for years to come. ·         Website – got to have one ·         Active promoting and marketing of their website o   Search engine optimization, search engine marketing, linkbuilding ·         Active in Facebook o   It’s most likely where their customers (and fans) are o   1/7 people on this planet have a Facebook account o   It IS where their future customers are – no doubt about that ·         Ask for online reviews o   Search engines love them, as do new customers ·         Showcase your success in the local papers – strut your stuff ·         Be the biggest community activist o   Invest the most time, not money – don’t worry, it will come back to you   Don’t ever think you’re business is too big to fail, we’ve seen what happens when we do that…   About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England.Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co abrn, auto body, blogs, linkbuilding, local marketing nonadult false Comfortably Numb text blog abrn,auto body,blogs,linkbuilding,local marketing 822 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 6462539 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Leave-That-Google-Review-Alone/blog/6392139/31710.html [image]Your business is adored by its customers - but be careful with sharing their Google reviews. Picture this... Your auto body shop receives a glowing review from one of your adoring customers, so good in fact that as you sit atop your building overlooking the city below, you think to yourself - you couldn't have written it any better.  The suns warming rays are shining thru a double-rainbow, trees are dancing, and the animals are all your friends now... you are in a very happy place indeed. So after a few hours of basking in your glorious self, you scrape that review from Google and paste it to your website so everyone else can see your awesomeness. Yep - I've been here before too.  No doubt, it's a good place to be. You should be proud that your customers thought enough about your business to slow themselves down and share their experience as a Google review.  This is certainly worthy of celebration! However, did you know that you just diluted the marketing potential of that review by posting it on your website?  Yep - you did.  Moreover, if (when) Google sees that it has been duplicated on your website, they just might remove it from their index. "Duplicate" being the operative word here. While the practice of repurposing your wickedness (Wicked in a good way - it's a New England thing) has been the standard for years, Google recently (last week actually) made the statement that duplication of their reviews would be considered "duplicate content" (See what Google has to say about it here) - for which they assess penalties, like reducing your ranking on their search engine.    So in effect - you just innocently broke the rules.  Don't beat yourself up about it though; it's not easy to keep up with Google's twice-a-day changes to their algorithm - admittedly, even for the pros.  I suggest you take a good look at the testimonials and reviews you have shared on your website and think long and hard about the ones shared from Google.  Sometimes it's best not to share...  About: Sidewalk Branding Company is a Rhode Island local marketing & SEO/SEM firm. Award winning and internationally published, they focus on getting solopreneurs and small businesses (less than 25 employees or so) discovered online – locally. [image]Your business is adored by its customers - but be careful with sharing their Google reviews. Picture this... Your auto body shop receives a glowing review from one of your adoring customers, so good in fact that as you sit atop your building overlooking the city below, you think to yourself - you couldn't have written it any better.  The suns warming rays are shining thru a double-rainbow, trees are dancing, and the animals are all your friends now... you are in a very happy place indeed. So after a few hours of basking in your glorious self, you scrape that review from Google and paste it to your website so everyone else can see your awesomeness. Yep - I've been here before too.  No doubt, it's a good place to be. You should be proud that your customers thought enough about your business to slow themselves down and share their experience as a Google review.  This is certainly worthy of celebration! However, did you know that you just diluted the marketing potential of that review by posting it on your website?  Yep - you did.  Moreover, if (when) Google sees that it has been duplicated on your website, they just might remove it from their index. "Duplicate" being the operative word here. While the practice of repurposing your wickedness (Wicked in a good way - it's a New England thing) has been the standard for years, Google recently (last week actually) made the statement that duplication of their reviews would be considered "duplicate content" (See what Google has to say about it here) - for which they assess penalties, like reducing your ranking on their search engine.    So in effect - you just innocently broke the rules.  Don't beat yourself up about it though; it's not easy to keep up with Google's twice-a-day changes to their algorithm - admittedly, even for the pros.  I suggest you take a good look at the testimonials and reviews you have shared on your website and think long and hard about the ones shared from Google.  Sometimes it's best not to share...  About: Sidewalk Branding Company is a Rhode Island local marketing & SEO/SEM firm. Award winning and internationally published, they focus on getting solopreneurs and small businesses (less than 25 employees or so) discovered online – locally. Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:28:35 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Leave-That-Google-Review-Alone/blog/6392139/31710.html CSheehy 2012-10-10T22:28:35Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop [image]Your business is adored by its customers - but be careful with sharing their Google reviews. Picture this... Your auto body shop receives a glowing review from one of your adoring customers, so good in fact that as you sit atop your building overlooking the city below, you think to yourself - you couldn't have written it any better.  The suns warming rays are shining thru a double-rainbow, trees are dancing, and the animals are all your friends now... you are in a very happy place indeed. So after a few hours of basking in your glorious self, you scrape that review from Google and paste it to your website so everyone else can see your awesomeness. Yep - I've been here before too.  No doubt, it's a good place to be. You should be proud that your customers thought enough about your business to slow themselves down and share their experience as a Google review.  This is certainly worthy of celebration! However, did you know that you just diluted the marketing potential of that review by posting it on your website?  Yep - you did.  Moreover, if (when) Google sees that it has been duplicated on your website, they just might remove it from their index. "Duplicate" being the operative word here. While the practice of repurposing your wickedness (Wicked in a good way - it's a New England thing) has been the standard for years, Google recently (last week actually) made the statement that duplication of their reviews would be considered "duplicate content" (See what Google has to say about it here) - for which they assess penalties, like reducing your ranking on their search engine.    So in effect - you just innocently broke the rules.  Don't beat yourself up about it though; it's not easy to keep up with Google's twice-a-day changes to their algorithm - admittedly, even for the pros.  I suggest you take a good look at the testimonials and reviews you have shared on your website and think long and hard about the ones shared from Google.  Sometimes it's best not to share...  About: Sidewalk Branding Company is a Rhode Island local marketing & SEO/SEM firm. Award winning and internationally published, they focus on getting solopreneurs and small businesses (less than 25 employees or so) discovered online – locally. abrn, auto body marketing, baclkinking, blogs, customer review, internet marketing, link building, reviews, search engine marketing, seo nonadult false Leave That Google Review Alone! text blog abrn,auto body marketing,baclkinking,blogs,customer review,internet marketing,link building,reviews,search engine marketing,seo 1134 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 6392139 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_SEO-Ninja-strikes-again/blog/6355161/31710.html   Have You Ever Been Ambushed By The SEO Ninja? By Chris Sheehy | Auto body search marketing specialist   [image]I was working with a small business recently who had hired a “SEO Ninja” to increase their visibility on search engines as well as to make them more discoverable when people search online for what they sell. The strategy concentrated on website optimization (on-page SEO) and in building more links pointing back to their website (linkbuilding) – a very smart tactic indeed. However, this small business didn’t call me to do this work – they were calling me for damage control!  After losing more than 85% of their regular website traffic volume they realized they got duped by an out-of-area search engine scammer, and unfortunately, this story plays out all the time… Fast forward nine months from when they started working with this SEO firm, and the only thing this business website is optimized for is being ignored by search engines, and the 134,000 links pointing back at their business website are mostly spam, from other countries, or are in foreign languages (that’s automation for you).   Not very helpful for a local business. Making matters worse, these backlinks are nearly void of the high quality authoritative links useful for building a strong online business presence. This poor business got screwed. To be fair though – I see the same thing happen with DIY attempts at search engine optimization & marketing all the time too – but certainly a pro should know better. Like any small business decision, price was a major deciding factor in the selection process “…the [SEO] firm was affordable – they dropped their price considerably to get my work…” says the business owner.  There is no doubt in his mind now why the price was so cheap. Not surprisingly – this SEO firm is no longer in business. Nevertheless, its owner (the SEO “expert”) is now gainfully employed as a Managing Director with a different SEO firm, whose blog even has an article posted last month on the importance ofquality back-linking! Although they are not confident enough to have this post published – you can say anything you want on your own business blog, it’s unlikely to be contested. Perhaps it’s the same firm that’s been calling your business every week?! Scammers are in every industry, and with the constant barrage of these “SEO ninja’s” proclaiming they can get your business ranked #1 on the search engines – seemingly overnight or for just a few hundred dollars – it’s difficult to know who wears the white-hat, and who wears the black.   I recently outlined some ways of identifying SEO scammers from specialists in an article to help small businesses know what to look for.  Maybe if this business owner had bumped into my story when doing their online due-diligence things could have been different for them. Being published (not self-blogging) is one of the greatest litmus tests for any profession. By being “published” – I mean, there is a person at the receiving end who can deny an article if it is without substance or is inaccurate. The internet marketing industry is ruthless in its critique of inaccurate representation or wrongful advice in published articles. It is a good bet that if your marketing pro is frequently published within their vocation – or even better – within the marketing community (without overt challenges for which they cannot support) – they most likely know their stuff. If the price of hiring an internet marketing pro seems too expensive for your business – consider the alternatives… Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co. an internet marketing & SEO/SEM firm focused on getting solopreneurs & small/medium sized businesses discovered online – locally.  “be DISCOVERED”  (For the record - the image below illustrates some of the places we have been published over the past year...) [image]     Have You Ever Been Ambushed By The SEO Ninja? By Chris Sheehy | Auto body search marketing specialist   [image]I was working with a small business recently who had hired a “SEO Ninja” to increase their visibility on search engines as well as to make them more discoverable when people search online for what they sell. The strategy concentrated on website optimization (on-page SEO) and in building more links pointing back to their website (linkbuilding) – a very smart tactic indeed. However, this small business didn’t call me to do this work – they were calling me for damage control!  After losing more than 85% of their regular website traffic volume they realized they got duped by an out-of-area search engine scammer, and unfortunately, this story plays out all the time… Fast forward nine months from when they started working with this SEO firm, and the only thing this business website is optimized for is being ignored by search engines, and the 134,000 links pointing back at their business website are mostly spam, from other countries, or are in foreign languages (that’s automation for you).   Not very helpful for a local business. Making matters worse, these backlinks are nearly void of the high quality authoritative links useful for building a strong online business presence. This poor business got screwed. To be fair though – I see the same thing happen with DIY attempts at search engine optimization & marketing all the time too – but certainly a pro should know better. Like any small business decision, price was a major deciding factor in the selection process “…the [SEO] firm was affordable – they dropped their price considerably to get my work…” says the business owner.  There is no doubt in his mind now why the price was so cheap. Not surprisingly – this SEO firm is no longer in business. Nevertheless, its owner (the SEO “expert”) is now gainfully employed as a Managing Director with a different SEO firm, whose blog even has an article posted last month on the importance ofquality back-linking! Although they are not confident enough to have this post published – you can say anything you want on your own business blog, it’s unlikely to be contested. Perhaps it’s the same firm that’s been calling your business every week?! Scammers are in every industry, and with the constant barrage of these “SEO ninja’s” proclaiming they can get your business ranked #1 on the search engines – seemingly overnight or for just a few hundred dollars – it’s difficult to know who wears the white-hat, and who wears the black.   I recently outlined some ways of identifying SEO scammers from specialists in an article to help small businesses know what to look for.  Maybe if this business owner had bumped into my story when doing their online due-diligence things could have been different for them. Being published (not self-blogging) is one of the greatest litmus tests for any profession. By being “published” – I mean, there is a person at the receiving end who can deny an article if it is without substance or is inaccurate. The internet marketing industry is ruthless in its critique of inaccurate representation or wrongful advice in published articles. It is a good bet that if your marketing pro is frequently published within their vocation – or even better – within the marketing community (without overt challenges for which they cannot support) – they most likely know their stuff. If the price of hiring an internet marketing pro seems too expensive for your business – consider the alternatives… Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co. an internet marketing & SEO/SEM firm focused on getting solopreneurs & small/medium sized businesses discovered online – locally.  “be DISCOVERED”  (For the record - the image below illustrates some of the places we have been published over the past year...) [image]   Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:21:53 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_SEO-Ninja-strikes-again/blog/6355161/31710.html CSheehy 2012-09-21T05:21:53Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop   Have You Ever Been Ambushed By The SEO Ninja? By Chris Sheehy | Auto body search marketing specialist   [image]I was working with a small business recently who had hired a “SEO Ninja” to increase their visibility on search engines as well as to make them more discoverable when people search online for what they sell. The strategy concentrated on website optimization (on-page SEO) and in building more links pointing back to their website (linkbuilding) – a very smart tactic indeed. However, this small business didn’t call me to do this work – they were calling me for damage control!  After losing more than 85% of their regular website traffic volume they realized they got duped by an out-of-area search engine scammer, and unfortunately, this story plays out all the time… Fast forward nine months from when they started working with this SEO firm, and the only thing this business website is optimized for is being ignored by search engines, and the 134,000 links pointing back at their business website are mostly spam, from other countries, or are in foreign languages (that’s automation for you).   Not very helpful for a local business. Making matters worse, these backlinks are nearly void of the high quality authoritative links useful for building a strong online business presence. This poor business got screwed. To be fair though – I see the same thing happen with DIY attempts at search engine optimization & marketing all the time too – but certainly a pro should know better. Like any small business decision, price was a major deciding factor in the selection process “…the [SEO] firm was affordable – they dropped their price considerably to get my work…” says the business owner.  There is no doubt in his mind now why the price was so cheap. Not surprisingly – this SEO firm is no longer in business. Nevertheless, its owner (the SEO “expert”) is now gainfully employed as a Managing Director with a different SEO firm, whose blog even has an article posted last month on the importance ofquality back-linking! Although they are not confident enough to have this post published – you can say anything you want on your own business blog, it’s unlikely to be contested. Perhaps it’s the same firm that’s been calling your business every week?! Scammers are in every industry, and with the constant barrage of these “SEO ninja’s” proclaiming they can get your business ranked #1 on the search engines – seemingly overnight or for just a few hundred dollars – it’s difficult to know who wears the white-hat, and who wears the black.   I recently outlined some ways of identifying SEO scammers from specialists in an article to help small businesses know what to look for.  Maybe if this business owner had bumped into my story when doing their online due-diligence things could have been different for them. Being published (not self-blogging) is one of the greatest litmus tests for any profession. By being “published” – I mean, there is a person at the receiving end who can deny an article if it is without substance or is inaccurate. The internet marketing industry is ruthless in its critique of inaccurate representation or wrongful advice in published articles. It is a good bet that if your marketing pro is frequently published within their vocation – or even better – within the marketing community (without overt challenges for which they cannot support) – they most likely know their stuff. If the price of hiring an internet marketing pro seems too expensive for your business – consider the alternatives… Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co. an internet marketing & SEO/SEM firm focused on getting solopreneurs & small/medium sized businesses discovered online – locally.  “be DISCOVERED”  (For the record - the image below illustrates some of the places we have been published over the past year...) [image]   abrn, blogs, local, marketing, search engine marketing, search engine optimisation, search engine optimization, search marketing, sem, seo nonadult false SEO Ninja strikes again! text blog abrn,blogs,local,marketing,search engine marketing,search engine optimisation,search engine optimization,search marketing,sem,seo 901 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 6355161 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_11-Pinterest-Alternatives/blog/6267041/31710.html [image]     Pining For Pinning?   Welcome Aboard With These 11 Pinterest Alternatives!   By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co.   You read it everywhere – pinning on Pinterest is great for business.  From increasing brand awareness and customer engagement to making more sales, Pinterest is a proven powerhouse. “Pinning” as it is called, refers to the posting of files to a sharing website – Pinterest being the market leader.  These files are usually images, but could be documents, pdf files, or video.  For this article – I will focus on images, as they are most common. Think of pinning as an electronic corkboard for your pictures, video, and letters – but with messaging & sharing capabilities – get the picture now?   Referred to as “pins”, images could be downloaded from your computer or easily taken from websites through a simple clipping/pinning tool called a bookmarkelet – my toolbar is full of them.  These pinned images are displayed on themed pages (Cars, Trucks, The Shop...whatever) commonly referred to as boards.  Everything posted is free for others to see – and if they like what they see, viewers can share your pinned images with their followers.  Essentially, one can build a team of business ambassadors who are just pining for your next board post to help spread your message to the world.     That’s how you’re using Pinterest right now – isn’t it?   Pins usually guide the viewer to a website destination either by linking the image to your website or by listing your website URL within the description box.  So pinning as it turns out, could actually be a search engine marketing tool for your businesses.  Judging by the popularity of Pinterest, your efforts could pay huge dividends! Whether an auto dealership, auto body shop, tire store, or B2B vendor – pinning is a great way to share your brand & stories.  In addition, by including these links pointing back to your website (aka: linkbuilding) pinning could even elevate your ranking on search engines, thus drawing more organic online-visibility to your business. Admittedly, most businesses I speak with see the enormous potential of pinning, but struggle with finding things to pin – so here are some suggestions to consider: ·        Exterior & interior shots of your building o   TIP: Think of that one spot at your business (inside or out) where you stand and think to yourself “Man, this place is awesome!” That’s your anchor image! ·        Detail pictures of the things around your business  ·        The things you do, make, service, serve, fix, buy, or sell o   Your happy customers enjoying these things o   Your happy staff doing these things o   Your company celebrating these things ·        Your money shot o   Logo, signage, mailers & postcards, business card, website screenshots ·        If the pressure of taking your own pictures freaks you out - consider hiring a photographer for the day. And do not forget to share & like the pins from your followers that match your business values & mission – that’s the social side of marketing.   Now unless you’ve been living on the space station the past couple years, I don’t think I have said anything yet that you haven’t already read or heard – these points are headline material every day.  But what you might not know is that Pinterest is not the only game in town.   Yep – it’s true, while Pinterest has the most market-share (for now), there are many more pinning sites worthy of consideration for both universal pinning (like Pinterest) as well as for niche market pinning too - like pinning sites just for guys! No doubt about it – pinning is powerful!   A look into the backend of pinning reveals why this is so – here is a short list at what search engines could pick up on in your pins: File Title (If the image is from your computer, it’s that file name) Pin Title (This is the name you give it online) Description (think: keywords, location, #, $, URL) Shares (these are triggers to search engines too) Likes (or some type of “NICE-ONE!” acknowledgement – again, an SEO trigger)   While some pinning platforms harvest even more SEO data: Tags Categories Region (Country / State) # hashtags {look for us #sidewalkbrandingco} Online Destination (website) Online Image Destination (the specific image URL) DoFollow Links   It’s worth repeating – Pinning Is A Powerhouse For Business!   So if you are just pining to do more pinning for your business – or just getting started, consider these 11 Pinterest alternates – Happy Pinning!   Authority#  Site      {Listing criteria far below} Universal Pinning (most like Pinterest) 7*  PINTEREST 6    PEARLTREES 6    SPRINGPAD 5    CLIPIX 5    IMAGE SPARK 4    BOLT 4    PICCSY 4    PINSPIRE 4    LEARNIST 4    DROPULA 4    GENTLEMENT   Each pinning site was reviewed for the following criterion: ·         Grid Display o    Grids display more images than column formats for more viewing nirvana ·         Family/Work Safe Viewing o    Some pinning sites have safe viewing filters o    No surprises – the men’s sites draw the most concerns ·         Gender Focus o    Women – Men - Everyone ·         Visible Text Box o    Displays description information ·         Comments o    Permits comments to pins ·         Bookmarklet o    A button to add to your browser toolbar that makes pinning super-easy ·         Download o    Permits downloading files from your computer to the pinning site ·         Search Indexation o    The ability for an optimized pin to populate into organic search results ·         Authority o    Refers to Google’s ranking of a website as calculated as Page Rank (PR) – the higher the PR number - the more authority that site has with Google.  o    Generally speaking  PR of 1-3 low | 4-6 good | 7+ exceptional ·         Not every site listed is the right choice for every business – nonetheless, pinning options are aplenty – so get out there, share your images, tell the stories of your business, and get DISCOVERED in the process!   TIP: Do not forget to use keywords & search engine optimization (SEO) with your pins to take full advantage of their marketing potential   About this study: Over 80 pinning websites where analyzed, 28 rose to the top in Universal pinning (11 shown here) - the remaining relegated under niche marketing categories Sites are displayed for Authority ranking greater than 3 * There is only one website for this Authority rank  About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England. Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co [image]     Pining For Pinning?   Welcome Aboard With These 11 Pinterest Alternatives!   By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co.   You read it everywhere – pinning on Pinterest is great for business.  From increasing brand awareness and customer engagement to making more sales, Pinterest is a proven powerhouse. “Pinning” as it is called, refers to the posting of files to a sharing website – Pinterest being the market leader.  These files are usually images, but could be documents, pdf files, or video.  For this article – I will focus on images, as they are most common. Think of pinning as an electronic corkboard for your pictures, video, and letters – but with messaging & sharing capabilities – get the picture now?   Referred to as “pins”, images could be downloaded from your computer or easily taken from websites through a simple clipping/pinning tool called a bookmarkelet – my toolbar is full of them.  These pinned images are displayed on themed pages (Cars, Trucks, The Shop...whatever) commonly referred to as boards.  Everything posted is free for others to see – and if they like what they see, viewers can share your pinned images with their followers.  Essentially, one can build a team of business ambassadors who are just pining for your next board post to help spread your message to the world.     That’s how you’re using Pinterest right now – isn’t it?   Pins usually guide the viewer to a website destination either by linking the image to your website or by listing your website URL within the description box.  So pinning as it turns out, could actually be a search engine marketing tool for your businesses.  Judging by the popularity of Pinterest, your efforts could pay huge dividends! Whether an auto dealership, auto body shop, tire store, or B2B vendor – pinning is a great way to share your brand & stories.  In addition, by including these links pointing back to your website (aka: linkbuilding) pinning could even elevate your ranking on search engines, thus drawing more organic online-visibility to your business. Admittedly, most businesses I speak with see the enormous potential of pinning, but struggle with finding things to pin – so here are some suggestions to consider: ·        Exterior & interior shots of your building o   TIP: Think of that one spot at your business (inside or out) where you stand and think to yourself “Man, this place is awesome!” That’s your anchor image! ·        Detail pictures of the things around your business  ·        The things you do, make, service, serve, fix, buy, or sell o   Your happy customers enjoying these things o   Your happy staff doing these things o   Your company celebrating these things ·        Your money shot o   Logo, signage, mailers & postcards, business card, website screenshots ·        If the pressure of taking your own pictures freaks you out - consider hiring a photographer for the day. And do not forget to share & like the pins from your followers that match your business values & mission – that’s the social side of marketing.   Now unless you’ve been living on the space station the past couple years, I don’t think I have said anything yet that you haven’t already read or heard – these points are headline material every day.  But what you might not know is that Pinterest is not the only game in town.   Yep – it’s true, while Pinterest has the most market-share (for now), there are many more pinning sites worthy of consideration for both universal pinning (like Pinterest) as well as for niche market pinning too - like pinning sites just for guys! No doubt about it – pinning is powerful!   A look into the backend of pinning reveals why this is so – here is a short list at what search engines could pick up on in your pins: File Title (If the image is from your computer, it’s that file name) Pin Title (This is the name you give it online) Description (think: keywords, location, #, $, URL) Shares (these are triggers to search engines too) Likes (or some type of “NICE-ONE!” acknowledgement – again, an SEO trigger)   While some pinning platforms harvest even more SEO data: Tags Categories Region (Country / State) # hashtags {look for us #sidewalkbrandingco} Online Destination (website) Online Image Destination (the specific image URL) DoFollow Links   It’s worth repeating – Pinning Is A Powerhouse For Business!   So if you are just pining to do more pinning for your business – or just getting started, consider these 11 Pinterest alternates – Happy Pinning!   Authority#  Site      {Listing criteria far below} Universal Pinning (most like Pinterest) 7*  PINTEREST 6    PEARLTREES 6    SPRINGPAD 5    CLIPIX 5    IMAGE SPARK 4    BOLT 4    PICCSY 4    PINSPIRE 4    LEARNIST 4    DROPULA 4    GENTLEMENT   Each pinning site was reviewed for the following criterion: ·         Grid Display o    Grids display more images than column formats for more viewing nirvana ·         Family/Work Safe Viewing o    Some pinning sites have safe viewing filters o    No surprises – the men’s sites draw the most concerns ·         Gender Focus o    Women – Men - Everyone ·         Visible Text Box o    Displays description information ·         Comments o    Permits comments to pins ·         Bookmarklet o    A button to add to your browser toolbar that makes pinning super-easy ·         Download o    Permits downloading files from your computer to the pinning site ·         Search Indexation o    The ability for an optimized pin to populate into organic search results ·         Authority o    Refers to Google’s ranking of a website as calculated as Page Rank (PR) – the higher the PR number - the more authority that site has with Google.  o    Generally speaking  PR of 1-3 low | 4-6 good | 7+ exceptional ·         Not every site listed is the right choice for every business – nonetheless, pinning options are aplenty – so get out there, share your images, tell the stories of your business, and get DISCOVERED in the process!   TIP: Do not forget to use keywords & search engine optimization (SEO) with your pins to take full advantage of their marketing potential   About this study: Over 80 pinning websites where analyzed, 28 rose to the top in Universal pinning (11 shown here) - the remaining relegated under niche marketing categories Sites are displayed for Authority ranking greater than 3 * There is only one website for this Authority rank  About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England. Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:40:55 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_11-Pinterest-Alternatives/blog/6267041/31710.html CSheehy 2012-08-09T02:40:55Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop [image]     Pining For Pinning?   Welcome Aboard With These 11 Pinterest Alternatives!   By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co.   You read it everywhere – pinning on Pinterest is great for business.  From increasing brand awareness and customer engagement to making more sales, Pinterest is a proven powerhouse. “Pinning” as it is called, refers to the posting of files to a sharing website – Pinterest being the market leader.  These files are usually images, but could be documents, pdf files, or video.  For this article – I will focus on images, as they are most common. Think of pinning as an electronic corkboard for your pictures, video, and letters – but with messaging & sharing capabilities – get the picture now?   Referred to as “pins”, images could be downloaded from your computer or easily taken from websites through a simple clipping/pinning tool called a bookmarkelet – my toolbar is full of them.  These pinned images are displayed on themed pages (Cars, Trucks, The Shop...whatever) commonly referred to as boards.  Everything posted is free for others to see – and if they like what they see, viewers can share your pinned images with their followers.  Essentially, one can build a team of business ambassadors who are just pining for your next board post to help spread your message to the world.     That’s how you’re using Pinterest right now – isn’t it?   Pins usually guide the viewer to a website destination either by linking the image to your website or by listing your website URL within the description box.  So pinning as it turns out, could actually be a search engine marketing tool for your businesses.  Judging by the popularity of Pinterest, your efforts could pay huge dividends! Whether an auto dealership, auto body shop, tire store, or B2B vendor – pinning is a great way to share your brand & stories.  In addition, by including these links pointing back to your website (aka: linkbuilding) pinning could even elevate your ranking on search engines, thus drawing more organic online-visibility to your business. Admittedly, most businesses I speak with see the enormous potential of pinning, but struggle with finding things to pin – so here are some suggestions to consider: ·        Exterior & interior shots of your building o   TIP: Think of that one spot at your business (inside or out) where you stand and think to yourself “Man, this place is awesome!” That’s your anchor image! ·        Detail pictures of the things around your business  ·        The things you do, make, service, serve, fix, buy, or sell o   Your happy customers enjoying these things o   Your happy staff doing these things o   Your company celebrating these things ·        Your money shot o   Logo, signage, mailers & postcards, business card, website screenshots ·        If the pressure of taking your own pictures freaks you out - consider hiring a photographer for the day. And do not forget to share & like the pins from your followers that match your business values & mission – that’s the social side of marketing.   Now unless you’ve been living on the space station the past couple years, I don’t think I have said anything yet that you haven’t already read or heard – these points are headline material every day.  But what you might not know is that Pinterest is not the only game in town.   Yep – it’s true, while Pinterest has the most market-share (for now), there are many more pinning sites worthy of consideration for both universal pinning (like Pinterest) as well as for niche market pinning too - like pinning sites just for guys! No doubt about it – pinning is powerful!   A look into the backend of pinning reveals why this is so – here is a short list at what search engines could pick up on in your pins: File Title (If the image is from your computer, it’s that file name) Pin Title (This is the name you give it online) Description (think: keywords, location, #, $, URL) Shares (these are triggers to search engines too) Likes (or some type of “NICE-ONE!” acknowledgement – again, an SEO trigger)   While some pinning platforms harvest even more SEO data: Tags Categories Region (Country / State) # hashtags {look for us #sidewalkbrandingco} Online Destination (website) Online Image Destination (the specific image URL) DoFollow Links   It’s worth repeating – Pinning Is A Powerhouse For Business!   So if you are just pining to do more pinning for your business – or just getting started, consider these 11 Pinterest alternates – Happy Pinning!   Authority#  Site      {Listing criteria far below} Universal Pinning (most like Pinterest) 7*  PINTEREST 6    PEARLTREES 6    SPRINGPAD 5    CLIPIX 5    IMAGE SPARK 4    BOLT 4    PICCSY 4    PINSPIRE 4    LEARNIST 4    DROPULA 4    GENTLEMENT   Each pinning site was reviewed for the following criterion: ·         Grid Display o    Grids display more images than column formats for more viewing nirvana ·         Family/Work Safe Viewing o    Some pinning sites have safe viewing filters o    No surprises – the men’s sites draw the most concerns ·         Gender Focus o    Women – Men - Everyone ·         Visible Text Box o    Displays description information ·         Comments o    Permits comments to pins ·         Bookmarklet o    A button to add to your browser toolbar that makes pinning super-easy ·         Download o    Permits downloading files from your computer to the pinning site ·         Search Indexation o    The ability for an optimized pin to populate into organic search results ·         Authority o    Refers to Google’s ranking of a website as calculated as Page Rank (PR) – the higher the PR number - the more authority that site has with Google.  o    Generally speaking  PR of 1-3 low | 4-6 good | 7+ exceptional ·         Not every site listed is the right choice for every business – nonetheless, pinning options are aplenty – so get out there, share your images, tell the stories of your business, and get DISCOVERED in the process!   TIP: Do not forget to use keywords & search engine optimization (SEO) with your pins to take full advantage of their marketing potential   About this study: Over 80 pinning websites where analyzed, 28 rose to the top in Universal pinning (11 shown here) - the remaining relegated under niche marketing categories Sites are displayed for Authority ranking greater than 3 * There is only one website for this Authority rank  About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England. Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co abrn, auto body marketing, blogs, marketing, pinning, pinterest nonadult false 11 Pinterest Alternatives text blog abrn,auto body marketing,blogs,marketing,pinning,pinterest 1970 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 6267041 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Top-4-Why-You-Don39t-Backlink/blog/6216647/31710.html Top 4 Reasons Businesses Don't Get Backlinks By Chris Sheehy  |  published with permission by MarketingProfs.com In this article, you'll learn... Four reasons businesses aren't getting enough website backlinks The importance of backlinks to your website's visibility and SERP rankings [image]   Website links that point to your business website are one of the most important search engine optimization (SEO) factors that influence the online visibility and search engine ranking of your business.   Those backlinks signal to search engines how influential and relevant your business is online; they trigger local citations of your business and aid in deepening your local market penetration. Therefore, those backlinks help increase the online visibility of your business and influence the discovery of your business—over your competition—by online searchers.   So, if backlinks are that awesome for SEO and search engine results page (SERP) rankings, why do so many businesses struggle to get links that lead to their websites? Here are my Top 4 reasons.   1. It's hard work (with no effective shortcuts) Sustainable results are best obtained via sweat equity. In this case, that translates to finger-numbing keyboarding. Automation doesn't cut it here because, typically, it's too general, so hitting the keys is your best bet.   Even publishing great content isn't enough in and of itself to get other websites to link to you. You need to get out there and promote that content (but that's a topic for another article).   Businesses have to commit to the notion that just as they have to be on the hunt for their next customer, so too do they need to be vigilant with their online linking. Linking is an all-the-time thing—not a one-time thing. Marketers don't know any secret tricks about "backlinking" other than those that "do" it... do well.   2. Commitment and consistency are fleeting Setting a monthly strategy of creating a set number of backlinks seems to work best for many businesses. Stay on track, and commit time to get the work done. Consistency is the key: an hour a day keeps the competitors away.   Search engines take into consideration how many links your website picks up within specific time periods. Generating links to your site in bulk might seem like a great idea and could provide a short boost to your ranking and branding, but that tactic will ultimately hurt your business when along with your link-building actions your SERP rankings take a dive.   Continual Trickle Linkonomics (yup, I just made that up) is the best strategy.   3. You might be linked-in with an SEO scammer There seem to be as many SEO scammers as search engine optimization specialists. Telling them apart is not that difficult, though, if you know what to look for.      •Scammers promise quick results for quick cash.   •Specialists (I'm refraining from using the word "expert" here) advise sustainable results over time and speak of your marketing dollars spent as a business investment rather than a quick spin of the return-on-investment (ROI) wheel.    •Scammers speak of guaranteed top listings or No.1 placement.    •Specialists will let you know that nobody—no one—can guarantee top search engine rankings or page rankings. Specialists are also more likely to show you a list of top-ranking client sites or testimonials that pan out when you do your due diligence.    •Scammers promise to list your business on hundreds of directories and search engines... practically overnight.    •Specialists speak of listing your business on relevant directories and online resources, and likely not on search engines, because they know that if other elements of your online marketing are in place, search engines will find you organically.    •Scammers speak of immediate results.    •Specialists speak of the big picture. Listen to your gut. If the promises sound too good to be true, they probably are. 4. Tricking the system will not serve you well Loopholes and SEO tricks are openly published online, but taking advantage of such trickery will eventually result in having fewer prospects knocking on your door. If you have doubts about using a particular tactic, or if your SEO Guru Ninja Rebel Fighter says things such as "Google won't even see this" or "It's safe; I've done this with other clients and haven't had any trouble," you should probably stop right there and reassess. Ultimately, the search engines will create ways to find the businesses that took advantage of their vulnerabilities, and they will most likely return the favor by reducing those businesses' rankings—or, worse, removing those listings altogether. The practice of implementing those aggressive SEO tactics is referred to as Black Hat SEO (think of it in cowboy terms), and those who follow best-practice standards are referred to as White Hat SEO specialists. Don't get me wrong: White Hat all the way may well not be the best strategy for a business in a tough market. Shades of gray exist. Sometimes, the pioneering SEO practitioners and their unconventional ways get the best results—but such specialists are also most likely to know the difference between a tightrope and a sidewalk. * * * Businesses that rank high on search engines do so because of many factors. Building backlinks to their website is, arguably, second only to website search engine optimization (on-page SEO) in terms of importance and lasting results. Committing the appropriate amount of time and money to link-building is a continual process that will provide long-term competitiveness and visibility via greater online search-engine discovery. Remember: Those who do—will do well.     Author Chris Sheehy is the founder of Sidewalk Branding Company.  An award winning and internationally published local marketing & SEO firm.  Get your business DISCOVERED.  Read more at MarketingProfs: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/7488/top-4-reasons-businesses-dont-get-backlinks#ixzz20897oUvG Top 4 Reasons Businesses Don't Get Backlinks By Chris Sheehy  |  published with permission by MarketingProfs.com In this article, you'll learn... Four reasons businesses aren't getting enough website backlinks The importance of backlinks to your website's visibility and SERP rankings [image]   Website links that point to your business website are one of the most important search engine optimization (SEO) factors that influence the online visibility and search engine ranking of your business.   Those backlinks signal to search engines how influential and relevant your business is online; they trigger local citations of your business and aid in deepening your local market penetration. Therefore, those backlinks help increase the online visibility of your business and influence the discovery of your business—over your competition—by online searchers.   So, if backlinks are that awesome for SEO and search engine results page (SERP) rankings, why do so many businesses struggle to get links that lead to their websites? Here are my Top 4 reasons.   1. It's hard work (with no effective shortcuts) Sustainable results are best obtained via sweat equity. In this case, that translates to finger-numbing keyboarding. Automation doesn't cut it here because, typically, it's too general, so hitting the keys is your best bet.   Even publishing great content isn't enough in and of itself to get other websites to link to you. You need to get out there and promote that content (but that's a topic for another article).   Businesses have to commit to the notion that just as they have to be on the hunt for their next customer, so too do they need to be vigilant with their online linking. Linking is an all-the-time thing—not a one-time thing. Marketers don't know any secret tricks about "backlinking" other than those that "do" it... do well.   2. Commitment and consistency are fleeting Setting a monthly strategy of creating a set number of backlinks seems to work best for many businesses. Stay on track, and commit time to get the work done. Consistency is the key: an hour a day keeps the competitors away.   Search engines take into consideration how many links your website picks up within specific time periods. Generating links to your site in bulk might seem like a great idea and could provide a short boost to your ranking and branding, but that tactic will ultimately hurt your business when along with your link-building actions your SERP rankings take a dive.   Continual Trickle Linkonomics (yup, I just made that up) is the best strategy.   3. You might be linked-in with an SEO scammer There seem to be as many SEO scammers as search engine optimization specialists. Telling them apart is not that difficult, though, if you know what to look for.      •Scammers promise quick results for quick cash.   •Specialists (I'm refraining from using the word "expert" here) advise sustainable results over time and speak of your marketing dollars spent as a business investment rather than a quick spin of the return-on-investment (ROI) wheel.    •Scammers speak of guaranteed top listings or No.1 placement.    •Specialists will let you know that nobody—no one—can guarantee top search engine rankings or page rankings. Specialists are also more likely to show you a list of top-ranking client sites or testimonials that pan out when you do your due diligence.    •Scammers promise to list your business on hundreds of directories and search engines... practically overnight.    •Specialists speak of listing your business on relevant directories and online resources, and likely not on search engines, because they know that if other elements of your online marketing are in place, search engines will find you organically.    •Scammers speak of immediate results.    •Specialists speak of the big picture. Listen to your gut. If the promises sound too good to be true, they probably are. 4. Tricking the system will not serve you well Loopholes and SEO tricks are openly published online, but taking advantage of such trickery will eventually result in having fewer prospects knocking on your door. If you have doubts about using a particular tactic, or if your SEO Guru Ninja Rebel Fighter says things such as "Google won't even see this" or "It's safe; I've done this with other clients and haven't had any trouble," you should probably stop right there and reassess. Ultimately, the search engines will create ways to find the businesses that took advantage of their vulnerabilities, and they will most likely return the favor by reducing those businesses' rankings—or, worse, removing those listings altogether. The practice of implementing those aggressive SEO tactics is referred to as Black Hat SEO (think of it in cowboy terms), and those who follow best-practice standards are referred to as White Hat SEO specialists. Don't get me wrong: White Hat all the way may well not be the best strategy for a business in a tough market. Shades of gray exist. Sometimes, the pioneering SEO practitioners and their unconventional ways get the best results—but such specialists are also most likely to know the difference between a tightrope and a sidewalk. * * * Businesses that rank high on search engines do so because of many factors. Building backlinks to their website is, arguably, second only to website search engine optimization (on-page SEO) in terms of importance and lasting results. Committing the appropriate amount of time and money to link-building is a continual process that will provide long-term competitiveness and visibility via greater online search-engine discovery. Remember: Those who do—will do well.     Author Chris Sheehy is the founder of Sidewalk Branding Company.  An award winning and internationally published local marketing & SEO firm.  Get your business DISCOVERED.  Read more at MarketingProfs: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/7488/top-4-reasons-businesses-dont-get-backlinks#ixzz20897oUvG Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:35:37 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Top-4-Why-You-Don39t-Backlink/blog/6216647/31710.html CSheehy 2012-07-09T17:35:37Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop Top 4 Reasons Businesses Don't Get Backlinks By Chris Sheehy  |  published with permission by MarketingProfs.com In this article, you'll learn... Four reasons businesses aren't getting enough website backlinks The importance of backlinks to your website's visibility and SERP rankings [image]   Website links that point to your business website are one of the most important search engine optimization (SEO) factors that influence the online visibility and search engine ranking of your business.   Those backlinks signal to search engines how influential and relevant your business is online; they trigger local citations of your business and aid in deepening your local market penetration. Therefore, those backlinks help increase the online visibility of your business and influence the discovery of your business—over your competition—by online searchers.   So, if backlinks are that awesome for SEO and search engine results page (SERP) rankings, why do so many businesses struggle to get links that lead to their websites? Here are my Top 4 reasons.   1. It's hard work (with no effective shortcuts) Sustainable results are best obtained via sweat equity. In this case, that translates to finger-numbing keyboarding. Automation doesn't cut it here because, typically, it's too general, so hitting the keys is your best bet.   Even publishing great content isn't enough in and of itself to get other websites to link to you. You need to get out there and promote that content (but that's a topic for another article).   Businesses have to commit to the notion that just as they have to be on the hunt for their next customer, so too do they need to be vigilant with their online linking. Linking is an all-the-time thing—not a one-time thing. Marketers don't know any secret tricks about "backlinking" other than those that "do" it... do well.   2. Commitment and consistency are fleeting Setting a monthly strategy of creating a set number of backlinks seems to work best for many businesses. Stay on track, and commit time to get the work done. Consistency is the key: an hour a day keeps the competitors away.   Search engines take into consideration how many links your website picks up within specific time periods. Generating links to your site in bulk might seem like a great idea and could provide a short boost to your ranking and branding, but that tactic will ultimately hurt your business when along with your link-building actions your SERP rankings take a dive.   Continual Trickle Linkonomics (yup, I just made that up) is the best strategy.   3. You might be linked-in with an SEO scammer There seem to be as many SEO scammers as search engine optimization specialists. Telling them apart is not that difficult, though, if you know what to look for.      •Scammers promise quick results for quick cash.   •Specialists (I'm refraining from using the word "expert" here) advise sustainable results over time and speak of your marketing dollars spent as a business investment rather than a quick spin of the return-on-investment (ROI) wheel.    •Scammers speak of guaranteed top listings or No.1 placement.    •Specialists will let you know that nobody—no one—can guarantee top search engine rankings or page rankings. Specialists are also more likely to show you a list of top-ranking client sites or testimonials that pan out when you do your due diligence.    •Scammers promise to list your business on hundreds of directories and search engines... practically overnight.    •Specialists speak of listing your business on relevant directories and online resources, and likely not on search engines, because they know that if other elements of your online marketing are in place, search engines will find you organically.    •Scammers speak of immediate results.    •Specialists speak of the big picture. Listen to your gut. If the promises sound too good to be true, they probably are. 4. Tricking the system will not serve you well Loopholes and SEO tricks are openly published online, but taking advantage of such trickery will eventually result in having fewer prospects knocking on your door. If you have doubts about using a particular tactic, or if your SEO Guru Ninja Rebel Fighter says things such as "Google won't even see this" or "It's safe; I've done this with other clients and haven't had any trouble," you should probably stop right there and reassess. Ultimately, the search engines will create ways to find the businesses that took advantage of their vulnerabilities, and they will most likely return the favor by reducing those businesses' rankings—or, worse, removing those listings altogether. The practice of implementing those aggressive SEO tactics is referred to as Black Hat SEO (think of it in cowboy terms), and those who follow best-practice standards are referred to as White Hat SEO specialists. Don't get me wrong: White Hat all the way may well not be the best strategy for a business in a tough market. Shades of gray exist. Sometimes, the pioneering SEO practitioners and their unconventional ways get the best results—but such specialists are also most likely to know the difference between a tightrope and a sidewalk. * * * Businesses that rank high on search engines do so because of many factors. Building backlinks to their website is, arguably, second only to website search engine optimization (on-page SEO) in terms of importance and lasting results. Committing the appropriate amount of time and money to link-building is a continual process that will provide long-term competitiveness and visibility via greater online search-engine discovery. Remember: Those who do—will do well.     Author Chris Sheehy is the founder of Sidewalk Branding Company.  An award winning and internationally published local marketing & SEO firm.  Get your business DISCOVERED.  Read more at MarketingProfs: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/7488/top-4-reasons-businesses-dont-get-backlinks#ixzz20897oUvG abrn, auto body, blogs, internet marketing, marketing, search engine, sem, seo nonadult false Top 4: Why You Don't Backlink text blog abrn,auto body,blogs,internet marketing,marketing,search engine,sem,seo 2460 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 6216647 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_What39s-In-A-Name/blog/6098553/31710.html What’s In A Name? By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company   [image]“Auto Body”, “Autobody”, “Body Shop”, “Collision Center” – all the same right?  We recognize all these name iterations as simply different terms for auto body repair businesses, but do search engines see it the same way as we do; and could selecting one name or phrase over the other influence our visibility on search engines?  Po-tay-toe or po-tah-toe; it's still just a potato.  Isn't it? With the internet proving to be a significant lead generation tool for small businesses - the auto body industry included – businesses are discovering that local marketing is a hyper-competitive marketplace and being discovered online is getting increasingly complex.  The days of set-it-and-forget-it website marketing are long gone, today’s businesses need a strategy with quantifiable results for their hard earned marketing spend.  With respect to internet marketing – this means selecting the right words that will enable your business to rank well on search engines thus be discovered by more buying-prospects searching for what you have to offer. Regardless of what the name is on the sign outside your body shop – the wording you use for your internet marketing plays a significant impact on both overall visibility and brand recognition by your customers and prospects searching for you online.  A businesses listing on Google for example – is often the first impression a new customer has of your company.  Conversely, for your older customers who haven’t needed your services in a while who look your business up on the internet instead of searching for your business card - that they most likely misplaced - low ranking on search might cause them to be lured away from your business by your competition who appears more prominent in the local auto body repair scene – judging solely by that businesses higher ranking and increased visibility on the search engines. High ranking on search engines is all in the words – choose the right ones, and they will come. I was talking with John Shoemaker from JSE Collision Consulting a few months ago about a client of his who was setting up a new auto body shop.  I was included in some email exchanges between the two for my input on what to name this new business - from both an offline and online perspective.  The overwhelming recommendation John and his client was getting from the local vendors and from a recommended local marketing firm, was to name this new business “Town Collision Center” (For this article “Town” = the actual town the business is in). My advice was vastly different from what they were hearing.  I advised they incorporate the dominate local identifier (their actual town name in this case, but it could have been a nearby city name if they are on the outskirts) along with the phrase “auto body” not only in the name of the business as seen from the street, but in their online presence too. I was rigid with my suggestion of “Auto Body” - not autobody, bodyshop, body shop, collision repair, and certainly not collision center.  Auto Body. Being that my business specializes on the unique inbound marketing needs of the auto body repair industry, I have done some name-game studies; and Auto Body is –by far- the phrase that pays.  That said, identifying the need to incorporate “Auto Body” into their business website title and marketing wordtrack is only half of the name game. Think for a moment how you search for something online.  If you were looking for great pizza in New Haven CT (hands down, the greatest pizza town in the US), this might be how your search could play out:             >Pizza< (whoa – way too many results)             >Pizza restaurants in CT< (refined, but not specific) >Pizza restaurants in New Haven CT> (that nails it!) Doing this search, Giulios Pizza and Restaurant pulls top rank (for a non-paid listing, called organic search results).  But having lived in New Haven half my life, I can tell you that Modern Apizza is the local favorite.  So why aren’t they ranking #1 in the search? Apizza is a thin-crust pizza unique to New Haven CT; it even has its own Wikipedia page; if you want good pizza in CT, Apizza is what you're looking for.  Rolling back on that search – this time replacing Pizza with “Apizza” you’ll find the beloved Modern Apizza owns the search engine results page (aka: SERP) with four-listings on the first page of Google. Pizza or apizza – auto body or collision center.  What’s in a name? Done right, body shops using the targeted term “Auto Body” in the key elements of their website and within their online marketing wordtrack (like on Facebook, LinkedIn, and directory listings) will rank higher in search because overwhelmingly that is consistently the phrase people search for.  How much so?  Take a look at this study we conducted: [image] With 823,000 searches every month, “Auto Body” is by far the most searched for phrase in the study.  The results were slightly different for mobile searches. “I am surprised; “bodyshop” is most often associated with a bath & body company while searches for “body shop” leads with women’s care products before getting into the auto body listings, and any use of "collision" gets just a fraction of the traffic.  Auto Body is the clear winner - it really pays to do your research.” said John Shoemaker after reviewing the findings. Now for the second part of the name game;  including your location reference within the name of your business to target your business locally – so it’s discovered by more local people.  This is pretty straightforward, the focus though is to do some local keyword research to see if your actual town name should be added to the front or back of the principle keyphrase Auto Body.  The in-between words, such as of, the, and in are referred to as stop words – search engines will ignore these words in the title of your website – so looking back at the original discussion I had with John over the naming of a new business "Town Collision Center", I was thrilled to hear his client had indeed selected "Auto Body of Town” as their namesake – both online as well as for their business identity.  Search engines will see it as Auto Body Town – and that’s about as tight as you can get with name optimizing (aka: search engine optimization SEO). After hammering out some solid metric on how to best position this business for high visibility on search engines, their success in online marketing is off to a solid start.  Website optimization followed by search engine marketing, and social media postings will round up a solid online marketing strategy for new and established businesses alike.  The name game – played well.   About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England. Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co What’s In A Name? By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company   [image]“Auto Body”, “Autobody”, “Body Shop”, “Collision Center” – all the same right?  We recognize all these name iterations as simply different terms for auto body repair businesses, but do search engines see it the same way as we do; and could selecting one name or phrase over the other influence our visibility on search engines?  Po-tay-toe or po-tah-toe; it's still just a potato.  Isn't it? With the internet proving to be a significant lead generation tool for small businesses - the auto body industry included – businesses are discovering that local marketing is a hyper-competitive marketplace and being discovered online is getting increasingly complex.  The days of set-it-and-forget-it website marketing are long gone, today’s businesses need a strategy with quantifiable results for their hard earned marketing spend.  With respect to internet marketing – this means selecting the right words that will enable your business to rank well on search engines thus be discovered by more buying-prospects searching for what you have to offer. Regardless of what the name is on the sign outside your body shop – the wording you use for your internet marketing plays a significant impact on both overall visibility and brand recognition by your customers and prospects searching for you online.  A businesses listing on Google for example – is often the first impression a new customer has of your company.  Conversely, for your older customers who haven’t needed your services in a while who look your business up on the internet instead of searching for your business card - that they most likely misplaced - low ranking on search might cause them to be lured away from your business by your competition who appears more prominent in the local auto body repair scene – judging solely by that businesses higher ranking and increased visibility on the search engines. High ranking on search engines is all in the words – choose the right ones, and they will come. I was talking with John Shoemaker from JSE Collision Consulting a few months ago about a client of his who was setting up a new auto body shop.  I was included in some email exchanges between the two for my input on what to name this new business - from both an offline and online perspective.  The overwhelming recommendation John and his client was getting from the local vendors and from a recommended local marketing firm, was to name this new business “Town Collision Center” (For this article “Town” = the actual town the business is in). My advice was vastly different from what they were hearing.  I advised they incorporate the dominate local identifier (their actual town name in this case, but it could have been a nearby city name if they are on the outskirts) along with the phrase “auto body” not only in the name of the business as seen from the street, but in their online presence too. I was rigid with my suggestion of “Auto Body” - not autobody, bodyshop, body shop, collision repair, and certainly not collision center.  Auto Body. Being that my business specializes on the unique inbound marketing needs of the auto body repair industry, I have done some name-game studies; and Auto Body is –by far- the phrase that pays.  That said, identifying the need to incorporate “Auto Body” into their business website title and marketing wordtrack is only half of the name game. Think for a moment how you search for something online.  If you were looking for great pizza in New Haven CT (hands down, the greatest pizza town in the US), this might be how your search could play out:             >Pizza< (whoa – way too many results)             >Pizza restaurants in CT< (refined, but not specific) >Pizza restaurants in New Haven CT> (that nails it!) Doing this search, Giulios Pizza and Restaurant pulls top rank (for a non-paid listing, called organic search results).  But having lived in New Haven half my life, I can tell you that Modern Apizza is the local favorite.  So why aren’t they ranking #1 in the search? Apizza is a thin-crust pizza unique to New Haven CT; it even has its own Wikipedia page; if you want good pizza in CT, Apizza is what you're looking for.  Rolling back on that search – this time replacing Pizza with “Apizza” you’ll find the beloved Modern Apizza owns the search engine results page (aka: SERP) with four-listings on the first page of Google. Pizza or apizza – auto body or collision center.  What’s in a name? Done right, body shops using the targeted term “Auto Body” in the key elements of their website and within their online marketing wordtrack (like on Facebook, LinkedIn, and directory listings) will rank higher in search because overwhelmingly that is consistently the phrase people search for.  How much so?  Take a look at this study we conducted: [image] With 823,000 searches every month, “Auto Body” is by far the most searched for phrase in the study.  The results were slightly different for mobile searches. “I am surprised; “bodyshop” is most often associated with a bath & body company while searches for “body shop” leads with women’s care products before getting into the auto body listings, and any use of "collision" gets just a fraction of the traffic.  Auto Body is the clear winner - it really pays to do your research.” said John Shoemaker after reviewing the findings. Now for the second part of the name game;  including your location reference within the name of your business to target your business locally – so it’s discovered by more local people.  This is pretty straightforward, the focus though is to do some local keyword research to see if your actual town name should be added to the front or back of the principle keyphrase Auto Body.  The in-between words, such as of, the, and in are referred to as stop words – search engines will ignore these words in the title of your website – so looking back at the original discussion I had with John over the naming of a new business "Town Collision Center", I was thrilled to hear his client had indeed selected "Auto Body of Town” as their namesake – both online as well as for their business identity.  Search engines will see it as Auto Body Town – and that’s about as tight as you can get with name optimizing (aka: search engine optimization SEO). After hammering out some solid metric on how to best position this business for high visibility on search engines, their success in online marketing is off to a solid start.  Website optimization followed by search engine marketing, and social media postings will round up a solid online marketing strategy for new and established businesses alike.  The name game – played well.   About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England. Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co Sun, 20 May 2012 20:51:54 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_What39s-In-A-Name/blog/6098553/31710.html CSheehy 2012-05-20T20:51:54Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop What’s In A Name? By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company   [image]“Auto Body”, “Autobody”, “Body Shop”, “Collision Center” – all the same right?  We recognize all these name iterations as simply different terms for auto body repair businesses, but do search engines see it the same way as we do; and could selecting one name or phrase over the other influence our visibility on search engines?  Po-tay-toe or po-tah-toe; it's still just a potato.  Isn't it? With the internet proving to be a significant lead generation tool for small businesses - the auto body industry included – businesses are discovering that local marketing is a hyper-competitive marketplace and being discovered online is getting increasingly complex.  The days of set-it-and-forget-it website marketing are long gone, today’s businesses need a strategy with quantifiable results for their hard earned marketing spend.  With respect to internet marketing – this means selecting the right words that will enable your business to rank well on search engines thus be discovered by more buying-prospects searching for what you have to offer. Regardless of what the name is on the sign outside your body shop – the wording you use for your internet marketing plays a significant impact on both overall visibility and brand recognition by your customers and prospects searching for you online.  A businesses listing on Google for example – is often the first impression a new customer has of your company.  Conversely, for your older customers who haven’t needed your services in a while who look your business up on the internet instead of searching for your business card - that they most likely misplaced - low ranking on search might cause them to be lured away from your business by your competition who appears more prominent in the local auto body repair scene – judging solely by that businesses higher ranking and increased visibility on the search engines. High ranking on search engines is all in the words – choose the right ones, and they will come. I was talking with John Shoemaker from JSE Collision Consulting a few months ago about a client of his who was setting up a new auto body shop.  I was included in some email exchanges between the two for my input on what to name this new business - from both an offline and online perspective.  The overwhelming recommendation John and his client was getting from the local vendors and from a recommended local marketing firm, was to name this new business “Town Collision Center” (For this article “Town” = the actual town the business is in). My advice was vastly different from what they were hearing.  I advised they incorporate the dominate local identifier (their actual town name in this case, but it could have been a nearby city name if they are on the outskirts) along with the phrase “auto body” not only in the name of the business as seen from the street, but in their online presence too. I was rigid with my suggestion of “Auto Body” - not autobody, bodyshop, body shop, collision repair, and certainly not collision center.  Auto Body. Being that my business specializes on the unique inbound marketing needs of the auto body repair industry, I have done some name-game studies; and Auto Body is –by far- the phrase that pays.  That said, identifying the need to incorporate “Auto Body” into their business website title and marketing wordtrack is only half of the name game. Think for a moment how you search for something online.  If you were looking for great pizza in New Haven CT (hands down, the greatest pizza town in the US), this might be how your search could play out:             >Pizza< (whoa – way too many results)             >Pizza restaurants in CT< (refined, but not specific) >Pizza restaurants in New Haven CT> (that nails it!) Doing this search, Giulios Pizza and Restaurant pulls top rank (for a non-paid listing, called organic search results).  But having lived in New Haven half my life, I can tell you that Modern Apizza is the local favorite.  So why aren’t they ranking #1 in the search? Apizza is a thin-crust pizza unique to New Haven CT; it even has its own Wikipedia page; if you want good pizza in CT, Apizza is what you're looking for.  Rolling back on that search – this time replacing Pizza with “Apizza” you’ll find the beloved Modern Apizza owns the search engine results page (aka: SERP) with four-listings on the first page of Google. Pizza or apizza – auto body or collision center.  What’s in a name? Done right, body shops using the targeted term “Auto Body” in the key elements of their website and within their online marketing wordtrack (like on Facebook, LinkedIn, and directory listings) will rank higher in search because overwhelmingly that is consistently the phrase people search for.  How much so?  Take a look at this study we conducted: [image] With 823,000 searches every month, “Auto Body” is by far the most searched for phrase in the study.  The results were slightly different for mobile searches. “I am surprised; “bodyshop” is most often associated with a bath & body company while searches for “body shop” leads with women’s care products before getting into the auto body listings, and any use of "collision" gets just a fraction of the traffic.  Auto Body is the clear winner - it really pays to do your research.” said John Shoemaker after reviewing the findings. Now for the second part of the name game;  including your location reference within the name of your business to target your business locally – so it’s discovered by more local people.  This is pretty straightforward, the focus though is to do some local keyword research to see if your actual town name should be added to the front or back of the principle keyphrase Auto Body.  The in-between words, such as of, the, and in are referred to as stop words – search engines will ignore these words in the title of your website – so looking back at the original discussion I had with John over the naming of a new business "Town Collision Center", I was thrilled to hear his client had indeed selected "Auto Body of Town” as their namesake – both online as well as for their business identity.  Search engines will see it as Auto Body Town – and that’s about as tight as you can get with name optimizing (aka: search engine optimization SEO). After hammering out some solid metric on how to best position this business for high visibility on search engines, their success in online marketing is off to a solid start.  Website optimization followed by search engine marketing, and social media postings will round up a solid online marketing strategy for new and established businesses alike.  The name game – played well.   About:  Chris Sheehy is an auto industry veteran with twenty-five+ years, has been published internationally within the automotive, auto body, insurance, and marketing industries and is the founder of Auto Body Consulting Group, a sister company to Sidewalk Branding Company, an award-winning Rhode Island based SEO and Local Marketing firm - named a Top Startup Business in New England. Sidewalk Branding Co. gets businesses discovered online by the people searching for what businesses have to sell using website optimization, on/off-page SEO, link building, inbound marketing, social media, search engine marketing, hyper local optimization, and content marketing.   More @ http://sidewalkbranding.co abrn, auto body, blogs, engine, keywords, marketing, optimization, search, search engine optimization, sem, seo nonadult false What's In A Name? text blog abrn,auto body,blogs,engine,keywords,marketing,optimization,search,search engine optimization,sem,seo 2495 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 5 ABRN / Blogs 2 6098553 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Write-Your-Website-Like-A-Book/blog/5055623/31710.html By: Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co.   The website has become the quintessential mark of contemporary business. Paying some attention to details here could really pay dividends for any (size) business. I am frequently asked over and over "how can I make our website better". Here's my advice.[image]Think Of Your Business Website - Like Writing A BookYou will need a story, an attractive cover, contents navigation, well written copy to fill the book, appropriate illustrations & graphics, an index, catchy book title and chapter titles, and a good idea of who will read your story so it will "speak" to them.You'll need to assemble the right team to put it all together, market it, manage it's distribution, and report on it's meeting your performance goals/expectations. Business websites need the same resource (time & money) and strategy considerations - but all too frequently do not get it.For many businesses, the days of DIY web design and marketing are a thing of the past, the internet marketing machine is much too complex and interconnected to invest into it part-time. Most people wouldn't dare fix their boiler or electrical fuse-panel; so too should small business recognize when it's time to outsource website, SEO, and internet marketing services. Well-designed websites get noticed, draw inbound leads, and convert browsers into buyers - starting with the end in mind by design.   about: Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company - a Rhode Island based seo & internet marketing firm connecting small businesses with buyers via website, social media, and search engine optimization & marketing. By: Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co.   The website has become the quintessential mark of contemporary business. Paying some attention to details here could really pay dividends for any (size) business. I am frequently asked over and over "how can I make our website better". Here's my advice.[image]Think Of Your Business Website - Like Writing A BookYou will need a story, an attractive cover, contents navigation, well written copy to fill the book, appropriate illustrations & graphics, an index, catchy book title and chapter titles, and a good idea of who will read your story so it will "speak" to them.You'll need to assemble the right team to put it all together, market it, manage it's distribution, and report on it's meeting your performance goals/expectations. Business websites need the same resource (time & money) and strategy considerations - but all too frequently do not get it.For many businesses, the days of DIY web design and marketing are a thing of the past, the internet marketing machine is much too complex and interconnected to invest into it part-time. Most people wouldn't dare fix their boiler or electrical fuse-panel; so too should small business recognize when it's time to outsource website, SEO, and internet marketing services. Well-designed websites get noticed, draw inbound leads, and convert browsers into buyers - starting with the end in mind by design.   about: Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company - a Rhode Island based seo & internet marketing firm connecting small businesses with buyers via website, social media, and search engine optimization & marketing. Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:00:51 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Write-Your-Website-Like-A-Book/blog/5055623/31710.html CSheehy 2011-08-23T10:00:51Z ABRN AutoPro Workshop By: Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Co.   The website has become the quintessential mark of contemporary business. Paying some attention to details here could really pay dividends for any (size) business. I am frequently asked over and over "how can I make our website better". Here's my advice.[image]Think Of Your Business Website - Like Writing A BookYou will need a story, an attractive cover, contents navigation, well written copy to fill the book, appropriate illustrations & graphics, an index, catchy book title and chapter titles, and a good idea of who will read your story so it will "speak" to them.You'll need to assemble the right team to put it all together, market it, manage it's distribution, and report on it's meeting your performance goals/expectations. Business websites need the same resource (time & money) and strategy considerations - but all too frequently do not get it.For many businesses, the days of DIY web design and marketing are a thing of the past, the internet marketing machine is much too complex and interconnected to invest into it part-time. Most people wouldn't dare fix their boiler or electrical fuse-panel; so too should small business recognize when it's time to outsource website, SEO, and internet marketing services. Well-designed websites get noticed, draw inbound leads, and convert browsers into buyers - starting with the end in mind by design.   about: Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company - a Rhode Island based seo & internet marketing firm connecting small businesses with buyers via website, social media, and search engine optimization & marketing. abrn, business, business marketing, inbound marketing, internet marketing, marketing, search engine, search engine marketing, search engine optimisation, search engine optimization, seo, web site, web-site, website, website design nonadult false Write Your Website Like A Book text blog abrn,business,business marketing,inbound marketing,internet marketing,marketing,search engine,search engine marketing,search engine optimisation,search engine optimization,seo,web site,web-site,website,website design 3200 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 3 ABRN 1 5055623 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Marketing-ROI-podcast/blog/4433192/31710.html   Are you getting a return for your internet marketing efforts?     Listen to this podcast for some ideas. . .      By: Sidewalk Branding Company (in affillation with Autobody Consulting Group) - aRhode Island inbound marketing company – helping small business market BIG online with SEO, website optimization, internet marketing, local search, competitive SEO, and social media.  Visit them online for more information at: WEBSITE  FACEBOOK  TWITTER  LINKEDIN   Are you getting a return for your internet marketing efforts?     Listen to this podcast for some ideas. . .      By: Sidewalk Branding Company (in affillation with Autobody Consulting Group) - aRhode Island inbound marketing company – helping small business market BIG online with SEO, website optimization, internet marketing, local search, competitive SEO, and social media.  Visit them online for more information at: WEBSITE  FACEBOOK  TWITTER  LINKEDIN Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:40:32 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Marketing-ROI-podcast/blog/4433192/31710.html CSheehy 2011-06-24T13:31:39Z ABRN Blogs AutoPro Workshop   Are you getting a return for your internet marketing efforts?     Listen to this podcast for some ideas. . .      By: Sidewalk Branding Company (in affillation with Autobody Consulting Group) - aRhode Island inbound marketing company – helping small business market BIG online with SEO, website optimization, internet marketing, local search, competitive SEO, and social media.  Visit them online for more information at: WEBSITE  FACEBOOK  TWITTER  LINKEDIN abrn, advertising, blogs, business, business advertising, business marketing, internet marketing, landing page, marketing, online marketing, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, seo, sheehy, social media, social media marketing, social media optimization, website, website optimization nonadult false Marketing ROI (podcast) text blog abrn,advertising,blogs,business,business advertising,business marketing,internet marketing,landing page,marketing,online marketing,search engine marketing,search engine optimization,seo,sheehy,social media,social media marketing,social media optimization,website,website optimization 1563 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 ABRN / Blogs 1 4433192 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Audatex-buys-NewEra-Software/blog/3293116/31710.html Audatex North America Acquires NewEra Software & AutoFocus Posted on February 2, 2011 by NewEra Software Audatex North America, Inc. Acquires NewEra Software LLC and its Proven AutoFocus™ Body Shop Management System. 02 Feb 2011 With AutoFocus, Audatex now provides the strongest suite of estimating and management system software in the industry. San Diego, (Feb. 2, 2011) – Audatex North America, Inc., the leading provider of software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry, today announced that it has purchased NewEra Software LLC, a U.S.-based provider of body shop management systems (“BMS”). NewEra’s expertise coupled with Audatex’s distribution capabilities will provide our 12,000+ collision repair customers in North America with an integrated management solution that controls the vital operational elements of the collision repair process. By further expanding its product offering, Audatex continues to provide collision repair facilities with better tools to gain a competitive edge. The combination of Audatex’s customer base and platform with NewEra’s scalable and modular BMS will allow us to deliver more high-value services to our collision repair customers, enabling them to more effectively manage their operations and administrative activities with vendors, insurers and customers. We are very excited about their proven volume-based scheduling and workflow management tools which will include the ability for collision repair facilities to display and intelligently manage vehicle repair status that can be tracked real-time by customers, rental car agencies and insurance professionals via an electronic device of their choice. “The NewEra body shop management system, AutoFocus, will be a key offering in our body shop suite of products, and underscores our commitment to bringing essential and value added products and services to our customers”.Elias Olmeta, CFOO of Audatex North America. About Audatex North America, Inc.Audatex is the leading global claims solutions provider serving the automotive industry. Active today across six continents, Audatex provides world-class claims solutions that help customers automate their processes; managing millions of claims each year efficiently and effectively, and resolving billions in claims settlements. Beyond a leading presence in automotive claims, our growing footprint also extends into the automotive related financial services and medical claims solutions markets. As part of the Solera group of companies, Audatex, Sidexa, Informex, ABZ, Hollander and IMS draw on unique global experience to develop and deliver the latest technologies, market intelligence and best practices on a local level. For more information, please refer to the Company’s website at www.audatex.us.     Audatex North America Acquires NewEra Software & AutoFocus Posted on February 2, 2011 by NewEra Software Audatex North America, Inc. Acquires NewEra Software LLC and its Proven AutoFocus™ Body Shop Management System. 02 Feb 2011 With AutoFocus, Audatex now provides the strongest suite of estimating and management system software in the industry. San Diego, (Feb. 2, 2011) – Audatex North America, Inc., the leading provider of software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry, today announced that it has purchased NewEra Software LLC, a U.S.-based provider of body shop management systems (“BMS”). NewEra’s expertise coupled with Audatex’s distribution capabilities will provide our 12,000+ collision repair customers in North America with an integrated management solution that controls the vital operational elements of the collision repair process. By further expanding its product offering, Audatex continues to provide collision repair facilities with better tools to gain a competitive edge. The combination of Audatex’s customer base and platform with NewEra’s scalable and modular BMS will allow us to deliver more high-value services to our collision repair customers, enabling them to more effectively manage their operations and administrative activities with vendors, insurers and customers. We are very excited about their proven volume-based scheduling and workflow management tools which will include the ability for collision repair facilities to display and intelligently manage vehicle repair status that can be tracked real-time by customers, rental car agencies and insurance professionals via an electronic device of their choice. “The NewEra body shop management system, AutoFocus, will be a key offering in our body shop suite of products, and underscores our commitment to bringing essential and value added products and services to our customers”.Elias Olmeta, CFOO of Audatex North America. About Audatex North America, Inc.Audatex is the leading global claims solutions provider serving the automotive industry. Active today across six continents, Audatex provides world-class claims solutions that help customers automate their processes; managing millions of claims each year efficiently and effectively, and resolving billions in claims settlements. Beyond a leading presence in automotive claims, our growing footprint also extends into the automotive related financial services and medical claims solutions markets. As part of the Solera group of companies, Audatex, Sidexa, Informex, ABZ, Hollander and IMS draw on unique global experience to develop and deliver the latest technologies, market intelligence and best practices on a local level. For more information, please refer to the Company’s website at www.audatex.us.     Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:08:55 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Audatex-buys-NewEra-Software/blog/3293116/31710.html CSheehy 2011-02-02T19:08:55Z AutoPro Workshop Audatex North America Acquires NewEra Software & AutoFocus Posted on February 2, 2011 by NewEra Software Audatex North America, Inc. Acquires NewEra Software LLC and its Proven AutoFocus™ Body Shop Management System. 02 Feb 2011 With AutoFocus, Audatex now provides the strongest suite of estimating and management system software in the industry. San Diego, (Feb. 2, 2011) – Audatex North America, Inc., the leading provider of software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry, today announced that it has purchased NewEra Software LLC, a U.S.-based provider of body shop management systems (“BMS”). NewEra’s expertise coupled with Audatex’s distribution capabilities will provide our 12,000+ collision repair customers in North America with an integrated management solution that controls the vital operational elements of the collision repair process. By further expanding its product offering, Audatex continues to provide collision repair facilities with better tools to gain a competitive edge. The combination of Audatex’s customer base and platform with NewEra’s scalable and modular BMS will allow us to deliver more high-value services to our collision repair customers, enabling them to more effectively manage their operations and administrative activities with vendors, insurers and customers. We are very excited about their proven volume-based scheduling and workflow management tools which will include the ability for collision repair facilities to display and intelligently manage vehicle repair status that can be tracked real-time by customers, rental car agencies and insurance professionals via an electronic device of their choice. “The NewEra body shop management system, AutoFocus, will be a key offering in our body shop suite of products, and underscores our commitment to bringing essential and value added products and services to our customers”.Elias Olmeta, CFOO of Audatex North America. About Audatex North America, Inc.Audatex is the leading global claims solutions provider serving the automotive industry. Active today across six continents, Audatex provides world-class claims solutions that help customers automate their processes; managing millions of claims each year efficiently and effectively, and resolving billions in claims settlements. Beyond a leading presence in automotive claims, our growing footprint also extends into the automotive related financial services and medical claims solutions markets. As part of the Solera group of companies, Audatex, Sidexa, Informex, ABZ, Hollander and IMS draw on unique global experience to develop and deliver the latest technologies, market intelligence and best practices on a local level. For more information, please refer to the Company’s website at www.audatex.us.     audatex, era, management, new, newera software, program, software nonadult false Audatex buys NewEra Software text blog audatex,era,management,new,newera software,program,software 714 0 0.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 0 3293116 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Rank-It-Up/blog/3070178/31710.html Building A Strong Social Media Presence While Increasing Search Engine Ranking So – you have a website – GREAT – now how to you get people to find it? Unless someone types in your website address (URL), they are most likely to find your business online by using a search engine.  Getting your website recognized on these search engines and thus be found by your prospects and customers is not rocket science – but neither is replacing a quarter panel.  Both however require unique tools, some forethought (strategy), ingenuity (innovation), and a person with the right skills to get the job done. Replacing a quarter panel isn’t a job for the inexperienced; similarly marketing your business online isn’t kids play. These steps are sure to get you headed in the right direction – this isn’t article fluff, this is the same tactic I use for my clients. Start with your website!  A website that scores high in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Compliance – yes, there is a tool for that – is the foundation for social media because all your online and social media profiles should point here. Content and Compliance are king when it comes to ranking on search engines.  What you say; and how you say it – makes all the difference between ranking #1 or #101 on the search engines.  The art of crafting word-content that increases your search engine ranking (and thus more people see your site) is referred to as Search Engine Optimization – SEO for short. Constantly source and link-to online networks like LinkedIn, profile pages such as Yahoo!, maps including Google, and directories – MerchantCircle and YP to name a couple.  This is referred to as link-building.  The more online connections you have, the greater visibility your business will have to search engines.  There is a direct and well-published correlation between social media activity, and link-building that will improve your ranking on the big three search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo! (listed in order of influence) and thus elevate your website exposure to more prospects and customers. Engage with people who engage with you – simply stated; if someone comments, likes, or shares your post; at the very least send them a thank you. Inter-link all of your online activity.  FaceBook allows you to link to Twitter and several other communication sites – take advantage of this, it will make it easier for your viewers to connect with you and hear your message.  Many social media channels have this inter-connectivity – look for it.  Also, don’t forget to add your social media badges to your website home page (also called a landing page). Be consistent – schedule time to commit to social media and stick to it!  If you post two posts each week, stay resilient. Reaching Business-2-Business (B2B) through your vendor partners is a great way of extending your social media audience.  Combine this with your Customer-2-Business (B2C) activities to increase your chance of your social media affecting your search engine ranking. Lastly – share other people’s stories if it is in-line with your strategy and make sure to give them ample credit, as you would expect to receive.  (you can start with this story :) Sometimes having all the answers still isn’t enough – applying the theory is often more difficult and complicated than it seems on paper.  If this sounds like your situation, or if the article above might as well have been written in Navajo, consider hiring a pro – it’s an investment that could be a game-changer for your business. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Building A Strong Social Media Presence While Increasing Search Engine Ranking So – you have a website – GREAT – now how to you get people to find it? Unless someone types in your website address (URL), they are most likely to find your business online by using a search engine.  Getting your website recognized on these search engines and thus be found by your prospects and customers is not rocket science – but neither is replacing a quarter panel.  Both however require unique tools, some forethought (strategy), ingenuity (innovation), and a person with the right skills to get the job done. Replacing a quarter panel isn’t a job for the inexperienced; similarly marketing your business online isn’t kids play. These steps are sure to get you headed in the right direction – this isn’t article fluff, this is the same tactic I use for my clients. Start with your website!  A website that scores high in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Compliance – yes, there is a tool for that – is the foundation for social media because all your online and social media profiles should point here. Content and Compliance are king when it comes to ranking on search engines.  What you say; and how you say it – makes all the difference between ranking #1 or #101 on the search engines.  The art of crafting word-content that increases your search engine ranking (and thus more people see your site) is referred to as Search Engine Optimization – SEO for short. Constantly source and link-to online networks like LinkedIn, profile pages such as Yahoo!, maps including Google, and directories – MerchantCircle and YP to name a couple.  This is referred to as link-building.  The more online connections you have, the greater visibility your business will have to search engines.  There is a direct and well-published correlation between social media activity, and link-building that will improve your ranking on the big three search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo! (listed in order of influence) and thus elevate your website exposure to more prospects and customers. Engage with people who engage with you – simply stated; if someone comments, likes, or shares your post; at the very least send them a thank you. Inter-link all of your online activity.  FaceBook allows you to link to Twitter and several other communication sites – take advantage of this, it will make it easier for your viewers to connect with you and hear your message.  Many social media channels have this inter-connectivity – look for it.  Also, don’t forget to add your social media badges to your website home page (also called a landing page). Be consistent – schedule time to commit to social media and stick to it!  If you post two posts each week, stay resilient. Reaching Business-2-Business (B2B) through your vendor partners is a great way of extending your social media audience.  Combine this with your Customer-2-Business (B2C) activities to increase your chance of your social media affecting your search engine ranking. Lastly – share other people’s stories if it is in-line with your strategy and make sure to give them ample credit, as you would expect to receive.  (you can start with this story :) Sometimes having all the answers still isn’t enough – applying the theory is often more difficult and complicated than it seems on paper.  If this sounds like your situation, or if the article above might as well have been written in Navajo, consider hiring a pro – it’s an investment that could be a game-changer for your business. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:35:09 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Rank-It-Up/blog/3070178/31710.html CSheehy 2010-12-07T18:35:09Z AutoPro Workshop Building A Strong Social Media Presence While Increasing Search Engine Ranking So – you have a website – GREAT – now how to you get people to find it? Unless someone types in your website address (URL), they are most likely to find your business online by using a search engine.  Getting your website recognized on these search engines and thus be found by your prospects and customers is not rocket science – but neither is replacing a quarter panel.  Both however require unique tools, some forethought (strategy), ingenuity (innovation), and a person with the right skills to get the job done. Replacing a quarter panel isn’t a job for the inexperienced; similarly marketing your business online isn’t kids play. These steps are sure to get you headed in the right direction – this isn’t article fluff, this is the same tactic I use for my clients. Start with your website!  A website that scores high in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Compliance – yes, there is a tool for that – is the foundation for social media because all your online and social media profiles should point here. Content and Compliance are king when it comes to ranking on search engines.  What you say; and how you say it – makes all the difference between ranking #1 or #101 on the search engines.  The art of crafting word-content that increases your search engine ranking (and thus more people see your site) is referred to as Search Engine Optimization – SEO for short. Constantly source and link-to online networks like LinkedIn, profile pages such as Yahoo!, maps including Google, and directories – MerchantCircle and YP to name a couple.  This is referred to as link-building.  The more online connections you have, the greater visibility your business will have to search engines.  There is a direct and well-published correlation between social media activity, and link-building that will improve your ranking on the big three search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo! (listed in order of influence) and thus elevate your website exposure to more prospects and customers. Engage with people who engage with you – simply stated; if someone comments, likes, or shares your post; at the very least send them a thank you. Inter-link all of your online activity.  FaceBook allows you to link to Twitter and several other communication sites – take advantage of this, it will make it easier for your viewers to connect with you and hear your message.  Many social media channels have this inter-connectivity – look for it.  Also, don’t forget to add your social media badges to your website home page (also called a landing page). Be consistent – schedule time to commit to social media and stick to it!  If you post two posts each week, stay resilient. Reaching Business-2-Business (B2B) through your vendor partners is a great way of extending your social media audience.  Combine this with your Customer-2-Business (B2C) activities to increase your chance of your social media affecting your search engine ranking. Lastly – share other people’s stories if it is in-line with your strategy and make sure to give them ample credit, as you would expect to receive.  (you can start with this story :) Sometimes having all the answers still isn’t enough – applying the theory is often more difficult and complicated than it seems on paper.  If this sounds like your situation, or if the article above might as well have been written in Navajo, consider hiring a pro – it’s an investment that could be a game-changer for your business. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog auto body, autobody, bodyshop, coach, coaching, consultant, consulting, link building, linking, marketing, online, optimization, optimizing, search engine, seo, smm, social media, teach, teaching, website nonadult false Rank It Up! text blog auto body,autobody,bodyshop,coach,coaching,consultant,consulting,link building,linking,marketing,online,optimization,optimizing,search engine,seo,smm,social media,teach,teaching,website 1265 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 1 3070178 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Phraseology/blog/2714799/31710.html PhraSEOlogy Is social media only about being social – or is there more to it than that? While it is true that social media can convert Twitter or FaceBook followers and friends into customers; and it is also true that these social media channels offer a great way of staying in-touch with these customers as well as cultivate new ones through lead-generation - but there is something else social media can do – and it’s a game changer. Social media activity can increase your ranking on Google and nearly every other search engine and drive more traffic to your website and ultimately to your door – and that’s exactly why we have a web site; isn’t it? I’m sure to get some comments on this statement, but it’s OK to post on social media sites with the sole intention of effecting higher search engine rankings and without intending on being social. The job of crafting words on a web page (or online profile or social media post) with the purpose of increasing search engine ranking is referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  The art of word-crafting is referred to as “phraseology”, and it’s interesting to note that SEO is an integral part of phraseology - literally. Understanding the specific set of standards and using phraseology when posting messages on social media channels – like Twitter and FaceBook, are a great way to boost your search engine ranking AND give you more exposure on the search engine results page – referred to in the marketing industry as SERP. Google recently made some significant changes in the way it ranks websites and in a surprising statement cited – among other things – that being active in social media will positively reward a website’s ranking.  I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the gist. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! are the three biggies when it comes to search engines – nearly everything else is somehow connected to them.  Each search engine has a different set of rules and standards when it comes to website listings, and these standards change often.   The days of establishing a website and leaving it there to do its job are gone.  Today’s websites need up-keeping to stay current with the latest code and listing standards in order to maintain good search engine ranking.  For instance – a website title needs to be crafted within a specific character length and of sufficient keyword density (having enough relevant key words – aka: search words) to be considered by Google for better ranking, too short or long in character length and you’ll suffer a low ranking.  Bing will ding you for having too many characters in a page description, and Yahoo! will drop rank for stuffing too many key words into a web page – a tactic referred to as “keyword stuffing” which was a widely published SEO strategy until recently banned by Google with their new Caffeine algorithm (that's the tool that spiders websites to rank them for inclusion on the search results page). The kicker here is that there are no playbooks for this SEO stuff as each search engine considers the details of how they rank businesses to be proprietary and confidential business intelligence.  Hiring an experienced SEO marketer for your online activity who keeps up with these standards and best-practices can really pay dividends… So, the next time you’re crafting words for your website, your social media profile, or the next time you post a message on Twitter or FaceBook consider phraseology and remember - you don’t always have to be social in social media.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog PhraSEOlogy Is social media only about being social – or is there more to it than that? While it is true that social media can convert Twitter or FaceBook followers and friends into customers; and it is also true that these social media channels offer a great way of staying in-touch with these customers as well as cultivate new ones through lead-generation - but there is something else social media can do – and it’s a game changer. Social media activity can increase your ranking on Google and nearly every other search engine and drive more traffic to your website and ultimately to your door – and that’s exactly why we have a web site; isn’t it? I’m sure to get some comments on this statement, but it’s OK to post on social media sites with the sole intention of effecting higher search engine rankings and without intending on being social. The job of crafting words on a web page (or online profile or social media post) with the purpose of increasing search engine ranking is referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  The art of word-crafting is referred to as “phraseology”, and it’s interesting to note that SEO is an integral part of phraseology - literally. Understanding the specific set of standards and using phraseology when posting messages on social media channels – like Twitter and FaceBook, are a great way to boost your search engine ranking AND give you more exposure on the search engine results page – referred to in the marketing industry as SERP. Google recently made some significant changes in the way it ranks websites and in a surprising statement cited – among other things – that being active in social media will positively reward a website’s ranking.  I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the gist. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! are the three biggies when it comes to search engines – nearly everything else is somehow connected to them.  Each search engine has a different set of rules and standards when it comes to website listings, and these standards change often.   The days of establishing a website and leaving it there to do its job are gone.  Today’s websites need up-keeping to stay current with the latest code and listing standards in order to maintain good search engine ranking.  For instance – a website title needs to be crafted within a specific character length and of sufficient keyword density (having enough relevant key words – aka: search words) to be considered by Google for better ranking, too short or long in character length and you’ll suffer a low ranking.  Bing will ding you for having too many characters in a page description, and Yahoo! will drop rank for stuffing too many key words into a web page – a tactic referred to as “keyword stuffing” which was a widely published SEO strategy until recently banned by Google with their new Caffeine algorithm (that's the tool that spiders websites to rank them for inclusion on the search results page). The kicker here is that there are no playbooks for this SEO stuff as each search engine considers the details of how they rank businesses to be proprietary and confidential business intelligence.  Hiring an experienced SEO marketer for your online activity who keeps up with these standards and best-practices can really pay dividends… So, the next time you’re crafting words for your website, your social media profile, or the next time you post a message on Twitter or FaceBook consider phraseology and remember - you don’t always have to be social in social media.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Sat, 09 Oct 2010 21:33:47 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Phraseology/blog/2714799/31710.html CSheehy 2010-10-09T21:33:47Z AutoPro Workshop PhraSEOlogy Is social media only about being social – or is there more to it than that? While it is true that social media can convert Twitter or FaceBook followers and friends into customers; and it is also true that these social media channels offer a great way of staying in-touch with these customers as well as cultivate new ones through lead-generation - but there is something else social media can do – and it’s a game changer. Social media activity can increase your ranking on Google and nearly every other search engine and drive more traffic to your website and ultimately to your door – and that’s exactly why we have a web site; isn’t it? I’m sure to get some comments on this statement, but it’s OK to post on social media sites with the sole intention of effecting higher search engine rankings and without intending on being social. The job of crafting words on a web page (or online profile or social media post) with the purpose of increasing search engine ranking is referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  The art of word-crafting is referred to as “phraseology”, and it’s interesting to note that SEO is an integral part of phraseology - literally. Understanding the specific set of standards and using phraseology when posting messages on social media channels – like Twitter and FaceBook, are a great way to boost your search engine ranking AND give you more exposure on the search engine results page – referred to in the marketing industry as SERP. Google recently made some significant changes in the way it ranks websites and in a surprising statement cited – among other things – that being active in social media will positively reward a website’s ranking.  I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the gist. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! are the three biggies when it comes to search engines – nearly everything else is somehow connected to them.  Each search engine has a different set of rules and standards when it comes to website listings, and these standards change often.   The days of establishing a website and leaving it there to do its job are gone.  Today’s websites need up-keeping to stay current with the latest code and listing standards in order to maintain good search engine ranking.  For instance – a website title needs to be crafted within a specific character length and of sufficient keyword density (having enough relevant key words – aka: search words) to be considered by Google for better ranking, too short or long in character length and you’ll suffer a low ranking.  Bing will ding you for having too many characters in a page description, and Yahoo! will drop rank for stuffing too many key words into a web page – a tactic referred to as “keyword stuffing” which was a widely published SEO strategy until recently banned by Google with their new Caffeine algorithm (that's the tool that spiders websites to rank them for inclusion on the search results page). The kicker here is that there are no playbooks for this SEO stuff as each search engine considers the details of how they rank businesses to be proprietary and confidential business intelligence.  Hiring an experienced SEO marketer for your online activity who keeps up with these standards and best-practices can really pay dividends… So, the next time you’re crafting words for your website, your social media profile, or the next time you post a message on Twitter or FaceBook consider phraseology and remember - you don’t always have to be social in social media.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, auto, auto body, autobody, automotive, body shop, bodyshop, marketing, online, optimization, phraseology, search engine, seo, sheehy, social media, web site, web-site, website nonadult false Phraseology text blog acg,auto,auto body,autobody,automotive,body shop,bodyshop,marketing,online,optimization,phraseology,search engine,seo,sheehy,social media,web site,web-site,website 1486 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 1 2 2714799 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Do-you-do-it-online/blog/2415830/31710.html [image]   Social Media is sweeping the world with its slick interface, smart-phone apps, and with the promises of instant connectivity.  In the context of business; that means connecting you with your customers and prospects. But is social media really all it’s hyped up to be.  Well – Yes, and No. Marketing is all about planning and execution; and social media marketing (SMM) is just one part of a through marketing plan.  Twitter nor FaceBook are the end-all of social media marketing, and they shouldn’t be the only methods you use. In the online world, website presence is still king, but the way we use our websites have changed.  Being listed #1 on Google is no longer the quest; it’s OK to just be listed on the first search-results page now.  Why?  Because social media has changed the online game – it’s not evolutionary, SMM is revolutionary; and it’s changing the way we conduct business, connect with customers and market for new ones! From a marketing perspective, add to your website and social media channels (Twitter & FaceBook are channels) a strong community presence, paper media (fliers and handouts), listings on the right online directories, and you’ll be on the start of having a solid marketing campaign. I imagine that you have heard that search engines now index social media sites, but what does this mean for you?    Well, it means your Google business listing just got company.  Activity on certain social media channels (ACG uses about eleven of them for our clients) could – if formatted correctly – show up on that Google search-results page in addition to your regular business website listing (you have a website right?).  Your online search presence has just been multiplied! Social Media Marketing is revolutionary; and it’s changing the way we conduct business, connect with customers and market for new ones Think of the impact that could have on your prospects and customers.  All the good things you’re doing in your community and in business would be there for them to see – without making a single click on your website link – it’s right in front of them.  Consider it the online version of word-of-mouth advertising. Take a look at this presentation (just click on the picture) to see how to create a social marketing plan in just six-simple-steps.  Want to go further – contact me to discuss how to create a winning strategy specific to your business, your goals, and your community. [image] If you’re not connecting with your customers and prospects – your competition eventually will. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog [image]   Social Media is sweeping the world with its slick interface, smart-phone apps, and with the promises of instant connectivity.  In the context of business; that means connecting you with your customers and prospects. But is social media really all it’s hyped up to be.  Well – Yes, and No. Marketing is all about planning and execution; and social media marketing (SMM) is just one part of a through marketing plan.  Twitter nor FaceBook are the end-all of social media marketing, and they shouldn’t be the only methods you use. In the online world, website presence is still king, but the way we use our websites have changed.  Being listed #1 on Google is no longer the quest; it’s OK to just be listed on the first search-results page now.  Why?  Because social media has changed the online game – it’s not evolutionary, SMM is revolutionary; and it’s changing the way we conduct business, connect with customers and market for new ones! From a marketing perspective, add to your website and social media channels (Twitter & FaceBook are channels) a strong community presence, paper media (fliers and handouts), listings on the right online directories, and you’ll be on the start of having a solid marketing campaign. I imagine that you have heard that search engines now index social media sites, but what does this mean for you?    Well, it means your Google business listing just got company.  Activity on certain social media channels (ACG uses about eleven of them for our clients) could – if formatted correctly – show up on that Google search-results page in addition to your regular business website listing (you have a website right?).  Your online search presence has just been multiplied! Social Media Marketing is revolutionary; and it’s changing the way we conduct business, connect with customers and market for new ones Think of the impact that could have on your prospects and customers.  All the good things you’re doing in your community and in business would be there for them to see – without making a single click on your website link – it’s right in front of them.  Consider it the online version of word-of-mouth advertising. Take a look at this presentation (just click on the picture) to see how to create a social marketing plan in just six-simple-steps.  Want to go further – contact me to discuss how to create a winning strategy specific to your business, your goals, and your community. [image] If you’re not connecting with your customers and prospects – your competition eventually will. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:24:44 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Do-you-do-it-online/blog/2415830/31710.html CSheehy 2010-06-29T00:24:44Z AutoPro Workshop [image]   Social Media is sweeping the world with its slick interface, smart-phone apps, and with the promises of instant connectivity.  In the context of business; that means connecting you with your customers and prospects. But is social media really all it’s hyped up to be.  Well – Yes, and No. Marketing is all about planning and execution; and social media marketing (SMM) is just one part of a through marketing plan.  Twitter nor FaceBook are the end-all of social media marketing, and they shouldn’t be the only methods you use. In the online world, website presence is still king, but the way we use our websites have changed.  Being listed #1 on Google is no longer the quest; it’s OK to just be listed on the first search-results page now.  Why?  Because social media has changed the online game – it’s not evolutionary, SMM is revolutionary; and it’s changing the way we conduct business, connect with customers and market for new ones! From a marketing perspective, add to your website and social media channels (Twitter & FaceBook are channels) a strong community presence, paper media (fliers and handouts), listings on the right online directories, and you’ll be on the start of having a solid marketing campaign. I imagine that you have heard that search engines now index social media sites, but what does this mean for you?    Well, it means your Google business listing just got company.  Activity on certain social media channels (ACG uses about eleven of them for our clients) could – if formatted correctly – show up on that Google search-results page in addition to your regular business website listing (you have a website right?).  Your online search presence has just been multiplied! Social Media Marketing is revolutionary; and it’s changing the way we conduct business, connect with customers and market for new ones Think of the impact that could have on your prospects and customers.  All the good things you’re doing in your community and in business would be there for them to see – without making a single click on your website link – it’s right in front of them.  Consider it the online version of word-of-mouth advertising. Take a look at this presentation (just click on the picture) to see how to create a social marketing plan in just six-simple-steps.  Want to go further – contact me to discuss how to create a winning strategy specific to your business, your goals, and your community. [image] If you’re not connecting with your customers and prospects – your competition eventually will. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, facebook, linkedin, sheehy, smm, social media, twitter nonadult false Do you do it online? text blog acg,facebook,linkedin,sheehy,smm,social media,twitter 1266 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 2 2415830 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Social-Media-Nirvana/blog/2382800/31710.html By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:56:25 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Social-Media-Nirvana/blog/2382800/31710.html CSheehy 2010-06-08T01:56:25Z AutoPro Workshop By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, facebook, sheehy, smm, social media, twitter nonadult false Social Media Nirvana text blog acg,facebook,sheehy,smm,social media,twitter 1065 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 1 2 2382800 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Insurer-repair-standards-WHAT/blog/2302260/31710.html An interesting (indeed provocative) reply was posted on FaceBook from John Parese to my friend Bob Skrip after the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) event this week… “CIC was enlightening. I’m going to suggest the trial lawyers association also consider “partnering” with the insurance industry. From an outsider’s perspective, I just don’t understand why the insurance industry (which is responsible for assessing risk and indemnifying insureds) would be involved in establishing repair standards. I just don’t get it.” John – I can’t agree with you more! I agree with what CIC has accomplished in the past, good stuff - but I don't support this.  What are your thoughts: who should dictate repair standards for vehicles, insurance companies or repairers? (full permission from Bob and John was granted for this blog post) By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog An interesting (indeed provocative) reply was posted on FaceBook from John Parese to my friend Bob Skrip after the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) event this week… “CIC was enlightening. I’m going to suggest the trial lawyers association also consider “partnering” with the insurance industry. From an outsider’s perspective, I just don’t understand why the insurance industry (which is responsible for assessing risk and indemnifying insureds) would be involved in establishing repair standards. I just don’t get it.” John – I can’t agree with you more! I agree with what CIC has accomplished in the past, good stuff - but I don't support this.  What are your thoughts: who should dictate repair standards for vehicles, insurance companies or repairers? (full permission from Bob and John was granted for this blog post) By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:23:29 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Insurer-repair-standards-WHAT/blog/2302260/31710.html CSheehy 2010-04-17T01:23:29Z AutoPro Workshop An interesting (indeed provocative) reply was posted on FaceBook from John Parese to my friend Bob Skrip after the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) event this week… “CIC was enlightening. I’m going to suggest the trial lawyers association also consider “partnering” with the insurance industry. From an outsider’s perspective, I just don’t understand why the insurance industry (which is responsible for assessing risk and indemnifying insureds) would be involved in establishing repair standards. I just don’t get it.” John – I can’t agree with you more! I agree with what CIC has accomplished in the past, good stuff - but I don't support this.  What are your thoughts: who should dictate repair standards for vehicles, insurance companies or repairers? (full permission from Bob and John was granted for this blog post) By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog cic, parese, repair standards, sheehy, skrip, sop nonadult false Insurer repair standards WHAT? text blog cic,parese,repair standards,sheehy,skrip,sop 1555 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 11 2 2302260 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Autobody411-twitter/blog/2194616/31710.html Are you affiliated with the auto body collision repair industry and use Twitter?  If so, you're probably always on the look out for Twitters to connect with - enter @Autobody411 @Autobody411 is a confederacy of Tweeters who one way or another; are connected to the auto body collision repair industry - all conveniently located in one place. @Autobody411 - your directory to the industry.   [image] (The movement has to start somewhser.  Please Follow & RT)   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Are you affiliated with the auto body collision repair industry and use Twitter?  If so, you're probably always on the look out for Twitters to connect with - enter @Autobody411 @Autobody411 is a confederacy of Tweeters who one way or another; are connected to the auto body collision repair industry - all conveniently located in one place. @Autobody411 - your directory to the industry.   [image] (The movement has to start somewhser.  Please Follow & RT)   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:41:06 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Autobody411-twitter/blog/2194616/31710.html CSheehy 2010-03-20T22:41:06Z AutoPro Workshop Are you affiliated with the auto body collision repair industry and use Twitter?  If so, you're probably always on the look out for Twitters to connect with - enter @Autobody411 @Autobody411 is a confederacy of Tweeters who one way or another; are connected to the auto body collision repair industry - all conveniently located in one place. @Autobody411 - your directory to the industry.   [image] (The movement has to start somewhser.  Please Follow & RT)   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   411, @autobody411, sheehy, twitter nonadult false @Autobody411 (twitter) text blog 411,@autobody411,sheehy,twitter 897 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 2 2194616 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Be-Happy-Like-Don-/blog/1825738/31710.html   This is Don, he's a real Autobody Consulting Group client, he isn't an actor or a paid spokesperson. [image]   In the window are Don's happy technicians.   Don and his crew work smarter, not harder.   If you want to be happy and have a happy crew, like Don, give me a ring. . .   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog     This is Don, he's a real Autobody Consulting Group client, he isn't an actor or a paid spokesperson. [image]   In the window are Don's happy technicians.   Don and his crew work smarter, not harder.   If you want to be happy and have a happy crew, like Don, give me a ring. . .   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:08:45 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Be-Happy-Like-Don-/blog/1825738/31710.html CSheehy 2010-02-10T01:08:45Z AutoPro Workshop   This is Don, he's a real Autobody Consulting Group client, he isn't an actor or a paid spokesperson. [image]   In the window are Don's happy technicians.   Don and his crew work smarter, not harder.   If you want to be happy and have a happy crew, like Don, give me a ring. . .   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   acg, auto body, autobody, body shop, bodyshop, happy, sheehy, vermette nonadult false Be Happy, Like Don :-) text blog acg,auto body,autobody,body shop,bodyshop,happy,sheehy,vermette 1199 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 1 1825738 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Smarter-Not-Harder-ppt/blog/1809897/31710.html What can an autobody consultant do for you - watch this PowerPoint presentation (via SlideShare). Autobody Consulting Group - "Work Smarter - Not Harder" View more presentations from Chris Sheehy. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog What can an autobody consultant do for you - watch this PowerPoint presentation (via SlideShare). Autobody Consulting Group - "Work Smarter - Not Harder" View more presentations from Chris Sheehy. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Smarter-Not-Harder-ppt/blog/1809897/31710.html CSheehy 2010-02-06T01:02:54Z AutoPro Workshop What can an autobody consultant do for you - watch this PowerPoint presentation (via SlideShare). Autobody Consulting Group - "Work Smarter - Not Harder" View more presentations from Chris Sheehy. By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, auto, auto body, autobody consulting group, body, body shop, bodyshop, coach, coaching, consultant, consultent, kaizen, kpi, lean, management, sheehy, shop nonadult false Smarter - Not Harder (.ppt) text blog acg,auto,auto body,autobody consulting group,body,body shop,bodyshop,coach,coaching,consultant,consultent,kaizen,kpi,lean,management,sheehy,shop 1899 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 1 1 1809897 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Measure-Twice-Cut-Once/blog/1770616/31710.html Measure Twice – Cut Once  [image]   Every once in a while I get a rather firm pushback from a client about making a specific change, or in implementing a specific process for their business.  Being respectful of their decisions but being one to always want to know "why" I ask the perilous questions that must be asked and in response often hear answers like "I've tried that, it didn’t work", or "that won’t work for me".  Nothing bothers me more than to see someone shut-down to a suggestion without giving it due-diligence.  Somehow the need to know "why" overwhelms me, so I push further because I know that I have been here before too and contrary to their experience for the vast majority of times it does work and it could work for them too.  In my experience most process changes fail largely because of one of these two reasons. 1.  They saw the change as an element and not a process - a spoke without a rim & hub.  2. They did not consider the human element.  You see, all too often change decisions are based on what somebody else has done – something someone might have told you about at an industry gathering, or something you might have read in a magazine; and all too often the time it takes to plan and implement this change doesn’t come close to the effort needed to succeed.  While these things may certainly be working for someone else; that person doesn’t have your facility, your clientele, your staff headcount, your staff skill sets, your finances, or your knowledge of the change process.  It worked for them because they made it work inclusive (knowingly or not) of all these things, and the time it took to get it all working might have take months or years to get right. So here’s what I suggest.  When faced with the opportunity to implement change in your business, (and change is an opportunity!) look at the whole picture, think of how it could succeed and fail (that’s important, always have a back-door plan), consider how you will need to get the buy-in from your staff, ask your staff for their input (sometimes they have the best ideas on how you can make their jobs easier!), measure where you are today and know what the metric of success looks like, and plan to do a dry-run whenever possible. Write things down, make sketches of process flow and talk to people you trust outside your business about these changes.  Often we set our own limitations baised on our past experience and knowledge – getting someone from the outside could bring a whole different perspective to your strategy.  Consider hiring a consultant with experience in the change you seek, they may add a whole different perspective on the big picture. Careful change-planning specific to the unique demands (both positive and negative) of your business will go a long way to ensure successful change implementation for your business.  As they say, measure twice – cut once.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Measure Twice – Cut Once  [image]   Every once in a while I get a rather firm pushback from a client about making a specific change, or in implementing a specific process for their business.  Being respectful of their decisions but being one to always want to know "why" I ask the perilous questions that must be asked and in response often hear answers like "I've tried that, it didn’t work", or "that won’t work for me".  Nothing bothers me more than to see someone shut-down to a suggestion without giving it due-diligence.  Somehow the need to know "why" overwhelms me, so I push further because I know that I have been here before too and contrary to their experience for the vast majority of times it does work and it could work for them too.  In my experience most process changes fail largely because of one of these two reasons. 1.  They saw the change as an element and not a process - a spoke without a rim & hub.  2. They did not consider the human element.  You see, all too often change decisions are based on what somebody else has done – something someone might have told you about at an industry gathering, or something you might have read in a magazine; and all too often the time it takes to plan and implement this change doesn’t come close to the effort needed to succeed.  While these things may certainly be working for someone else; that person doesn’t have your facility, your clientele, your staff headcount, your staff skill sets, your finances, or your knowledge of the change process.  It worked for them because they made it work inclusive (knowingly or not) of all these things, and the time it took to get it all working might have take months or years to get right. So here’s what I suggest.  When faced with the opportunity to implement change in your business, (and change is an opportunity!) look at the whole picture, think of how it could succeed and fail (that’s important, always have a back-door plan), consider how you will need to get the buy-in from your staff, ask your staff for their input (sometimes they have the best ideas on how you can make their jobs easier!), measure where you are today and know what the metric of success looks like, and plan to do a dry-run whenever possible. Write things down, make sketches of process flow and talk to people you trust outside your business about these changes.  Often we set our own limitations baised on our past experience and knowledge – getting someone from the outside could bring a whole different perspective to your strategy.  Consider hiring a consultant with experience in the change you seek, they may add a whole different perspective on the big picture. Careful change-planning specific to the unique demands (both positive and negative) of your business will go a long way to ensure successful change implementation for your business.  As they say, measure twice – cut once.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:07:34 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Measure-Twice-Cut-Once/blog/1770616/31710.html CSheehy 2010-01-26T02:07:34Z AutoPro Workshop Measure Twice – Cut Once  [image]   Every once in a while I get a rather firm pushback from a client about making a specific change, or in implementing a specific process for their business.  Being respectful of their decisions but being one to always want to know "why" I ask the perilous questions that must be asked and in response often hear answers like "I've tried that, it didn’t work", or "that won’t work for me".  Nothing bothers me more than to see someone shut-down to a suggestion without giving it due-diligence.  Somehow the need to know "why" overwhelms me, so I push further because I know that I have been here before too and contrary to their experience for the vast majority of times it does work and it could work for them too.  In my experience most process changes fail largely because of one of these two reasons. 1.  They saw the change as an element and not a process - a spoke without a rim & hub.  2. They did not consider the human element.  You see, all too often change decisions are based on what somebody else has done – something someone might have told you about at an industry gathering, or something you might have read in a magazine; and all too often the time it takes to plan and implement this change doesn’t come close to the effort needed to succeed.  While these things may certainly be working for someone else; that person doesn’t have your facility, your clientele, your staff headcount, your staff skill sets, your finances, or your knowledge of the change process.  It worked for them because they made it work inclusive (knowingly or not) of all these things, and the time it took to get it all working might have take months or years to get right. So here’s what I suggest.  When faced with the opportunity to implement change in your business, (and change is an opportunity!) look at the whole picture, think of how it could succeed and fail (that’s important, always have a back-door plan), consider how you will need to get the buy-in from your staff, ask your staff for their input (sometimes they have the best ideas on how you can make their jobs easier!), measure where you are today and know what the metric of success looks like, and plan to do a dry-run whenever possible. Write things down, make sketches of process flow and talk to people you trust outside your business about these changes.  Often we set our own limitations baised on our past experience and knowledge – getting someone from the outside could bring a whole different perspective to your strategy.  Consider hiring a consultant with experience in the change you seek, they may add a whole different perspective on the big picture. Careful change-planning specific to the unique demands (both positive and negative) of your business will go a long way to ensure successful change implementation for your business.  As they say, measure twice – cut once.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   acg, change, change management, culture, employee, management, plan, planing, planning, sheehy, stratagy, strategy nonadult false Measure Twice - Cut Once text blog acg,change,change management,culture,employee,management,plan,planing,planning,sheehy,stratagy,strategy 1087 3 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 2 1770616 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_LEAN-SUCKS/blog/1494312/31710.html Lean Sucks  [image] Read any industry magazine or online trade website and you can’t get away from Lean – our industry obsesses with it, and for good reason – it’s a solid and proven manufacturing ideology that adapts well to the auto body repair industry. There are many stories of its positive merits, even in the face of often difficult implementation cycles.  Lean is clearly today's flypaper-of-choice for process management.  While this Lean-thing is seemingly ubiquitous, what I’m not hearing or reading about – is what exactly happens to your business when you do become this Lean-mean-production-machine?   Does your business mystically become THE place in town people bring their cars to for repairs?  Will all your problems be solved and work will just arrive at your door because of Lean? Hardly so . . . indeed, it is more likely that just the opposite will happen - Lean will suck the work out of your shop very likely leaving your workforce sweeping up the floors in its aftermath. The story that I’m not hearing or reading about; is just how important a strong marketing strategy is to counter the vacuum that Lean can create.  The connection between Lean and the need for marketing is rarely touched upon. Marketing planning and implementation actions should be a part of every Lean strategy. So - as you consider all the good that Lean and advanced production management has to offer; so too consider your marketing strategy to fill this inherent vacuum, because if done properly – Lean can really suck.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Lean Sucks  [image] Read any industry magazine or online trade website and you can’t get away from Lean – our industry obsesses with it, and for good reason – it’s a solid and proven manufacturing ideology that adapts well to the auto body repair industry. There are many stories of its positive merits, even in the face of often difficult implementation cycles.  Lean is clearly today's flypaper-of-choice for process management.  While this Lean-thing is seemingly ubiquitous, what I’m not hearing or reading about – is what exactly happens to your business when you do become this Lean-mean-production-machine?   Does your business mystically become THE place in town people bring their cars to for repairs?  Will all your problems be solved and work will just arrive at your door because of Lean? Hardly so . . . indeed, it is more likely that just the opposite will happen - Lean will suck the work out of your shop very likely leaving your workforce sweeping up the floors in its aftermath. The story that I’m not hearing or reading about; is just how important a strong marketing strategy is to counter the vacuum that Lean can create.  The connection between Lean and the need for marketing is rarely touched upon. Marketing planning and implementation actions should be a part of every Lean strategy. So - as you consider all the good that Lean and advanced production management has to offer; so too consider your marketing strategy to fill this inherent vacuum, because if done properly – Lean can really suck.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:46:24 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_LEAN-SUCKS/blog/1494312/31710.html CSheehy 2009-11-13T19:46:24Z AutoPro Workshop Lean Sucks  [image] Read any industry magazine or online trade website and you can’t get away from Lean – our industry obsesses with it, and for good reason – it’s a solid and proven manufacturing ideology that adapts well to the auto body repair industry. There are many stories of its positive merits, even in the face of often difficult implementation cycles.  Lean is clearly today's flypaper-of-choice for process management.  While this Lean-thing is seemingly ubiquitous, what I’m not hearing or reading about – is what exactly happens to your business when you do become this Lean-mean-production-machine?   Does your business mystically become THE place in town people bring their cars to for repairs?  Will all your problems be solved and work will just arrive at your door because of Lean? Hardly so . . . indeed, it is more likely that just the opposite will happen - Lean will suck the work out of your shop very likely leaving your workforce sweeping up the floors in its aftermath. The story that I’m not hearing or reading about; is just how important a strong marketing strategy is to counter the vacuum that Lean can create.  The connection between Lean and the need for marketing is rarely touched upon. Marketing planning and implementation actions should be a part of every Lean strategy. So - as you consider all the good that Lean and advanced production management has to offer; so too consider your marketing strategy to fill this inherent vacuum, because if done properly – Lean can really suck.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   6-sigma, acg, advertising, efficiency, kaizen, lean, management, marketing, process, sheehy, sigma nonadult false LEAN SUCKS! text blog 6-sigma,acg,advertising,efficiency,kaizen,lean,management,marketing,process,sheehy,sigma 2015 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 2 1 1494312 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Auto-body-solutions-that-work/blog/1458298/31710.html Autobody Consulting Group - ACG is a business management, administration, production & productivity, estimating, local marketing, and online marketing (website landing page creation - search engine optimization - link building - social media) consultancy providing services to auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the body shop industry.We build successful local marketing action plans, boost productivity & employee efficiency, engage B2C & B2B with online social media, get auto body client online profiles (such as LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook Business Pages) and websites noticed by using the latest in search engine optimization and link building techniques. Additionally, we put systems in place for better tracking and control of daily activities, monies & financial reporting, as well as implement processes and systems to calculate & manage the most relevant auto body key performance indicator (KPI) measures (i.e. gross profit, technician efficiency, job costing, scheduling...).For our vendor-company clients, we create and manage online and social-media marketing action plans that immerse them into the social sphere of the autobody industry. Solutions offered are Turn-Key or Managed-Solutions – giving clients the flexibility of receiving a get-it-and-run or a hands-off fully managed online marketing campaign. A couple of our vendor clients have included the Auto Body Association of CT and the acclaimed body shop management software provider NewEra Software.Our marketing strategies are unique, and our approach to auto body management and production has been used successfully for businesses of all. Bodyshop management principles are based on proprietary as well as industry standard operating procedures (SOPs) and best practices; and have been fine-honed with twenty+ years of real-world experience in the field. ACG has been internationally published – particularly in the field of marketing and social-media.With clients ranging from two to twenty-two (i.e. $500K to $11M); we hold true to our conviction of being an affordable business advisor for every size business – contact us today to schedule your no-pressure consultation.The goal at ACG- Autobody Consulting Group is simply to help businesses work smarter – not harder; connect with their customers & prospects, and make more money.Call or E-mail me to find out what I could do for youph. 401.481.4939 or @ CSheehy.ACG@gmail.com Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Autobody Consulting Group - ACG is a business management, administration, production & productivity, estimating, local marketing, and online marketing (website landing page creation - search engine optimization - link building - social media) consultancy providing services to auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the body shop industry.We build successful local marketing action plans, boost productivity & employee efficiency, engage B2C & B2B with online social media, get auto body client online profiles (such as LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook Business Pages) and websites noticed by using the latest in search engine optimization and link building techniques. Additionally, we put systems in place for better tracking and control of daily activities, monies & financial reporting, as well as implement processes and systems to calculate & manage the most relevant auto body key performance indicator (KPI) measures (i.e. gross profit, technician efficiency, job costing, scheduling...).For our vendor-company clients, we create and manage online and social-media marketing action plans that immerse them into the social sphere of the autobody industry. Solutions offered are Turn-Key or Managed-Solutions – giving clients the flexibility of receiving a get-it-and-run or a hands-off fully managed online marketing campaign. A couple of our vendor clients have included the Auto Body Association of CT and the acclaimed body shop management software provider NewEra Software.Our marketing strategies are unique, and our approach to auto body management and production has been used successfully for businesses of all. Bodyshop management principles are based on proprietary as well as industry standard operating procedures (SOPs) and best practices; and have been fine-honed with twenty+ years of real-world experience in the field. ACG has been internationally published – particularly in the field of marketing and social-media.With clients ranging from two to twenty-two (i.e. $500K to $11M); we hold true to our conviction of being an affordable business advisor for every size business – contact us today to schedule your no-pressure consultation.The goal at ACG- Autobody Consulting Group is simply to help businesses work smarter – not harder; connect with their customers & prospects, and make more money.Call or E-mail me to find out what I could do for youph. 401.481.4939 or @ CSheehy.ACG@gmail.com Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:57:25 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Auto-body-solutions-that-work/blog/1458298/31710.html CSheehy 2009-11-04T02:57:25Z AutoPro Workshop Autobody Consulting Group - ACG is a business management, administration, production & productivity, estimating, local marketing, and online marketing (website landing page creation - search engine optimization - link building - social media) consultancy providing services to auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the body shop industry.We build successful local marketing action plans, boost productivity & employee efficiency, engage B2C & B2B with online social media, get auto body client online profiles (such as LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook Business Pages) and websites noticed by using the latest in search engine optimization and link building techniques. Additionally, we put systems in place for better tracking and control of daily activities, monies & financial reporting, as well as implement processes and systems to calculate & manage the most relevant auto body key performance indicator (KPI) measures (i.e. gross profit, technician efficiency, job costing, scheduling...).For our vendor-company clients, we create and manage online and social-media marketing action plans that immerse them into the social sphere of the autobody industry. Solutions offered are Turn-Key or Managed-Solutions – giving clients the flexibility of receiving a get-it-and-run or a hands-off fully managed online marketing campaign. A couple of our vendor clients have included the Auto Body Association of CT and the acclaimed body shop management software provider NewEra Software.Our marketing strategies are unique, and our approach to auto body management and production has been used successfully for businesses of all. Bodyshop management principles are based on proprietary as well as industry standard operating procedures (SOPs) and best practices; and have been fine-honed with twenty+ years of real-world experience in the field. ACG has been internationally published – particularly in the field of marketing and social-media.With clients ranging from two to twenty-two (i.e. $500K to $11M); we hold true to our conviction of being an affordable business advisor for every size business – contact us today to schedule your no-pressure consultation.The goal at ACG- Autobody Consulting Group is simply to help businesses work smarter – not harder; connect with their customers & prospects, and make more money.Call or E-mail me to find out what I could do for youph. 401.481.4939 or @ CSheehy.ACG@gmail.com Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, auto body, autobody, autobody consulting group, body shop, bodyshop, coach, coaching, consultant, consulting, group, improvement, lean, management, process, sheehy nonadult false Auto body solutions -that work! text blog acg,auto body,autobody,autobody consulting group,body shop,bodyshop,coach,coaching,consultant,consulting,group,improvement,lean,management,process,sheehy 1243 1 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 1 1 1458298 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Do-you-make-a-clean-impression/blog/1338471/31710.html This is a quick blog – I need to tell you about something that has been bothering me, something I see all to often. . . Have you heard of the expression “you only have one time to make a good first impression”? It is true – at least for me – that first impressions burn an indelible image or emotion of how we feel about someone, someplace, or something. Which brings me to the point of this weblog post. [image] Other than answering the phone – your building/facility image is often the first impression your business makes to most people. Think of that. Not everyone in your town calls you – but at some point they will all probably drive past your door. So. . . what is your image saying to your future customers about your business – about you? I have asked this to people before and got answers like “I have the best image of any body shop around”, and “I don’t own the sidewalk”. Really. Here is my advice – designate someone to ensure that each day your business is swept clean, the entrance is spotless (no peeling paint, dirt, sand, butts etc…), weeds are killed, bushes trimmed, and your door glass uncluttered and clean. Be the steward in your neighborhood for advocating a professional image and of showing pride in your community. In time, these efforts will be repaid by more visits to your sparkling door. . . . By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog This is a quick blog – I need to tell you about something that has been bothering me, something I see all to often. . . Have you heard of the expression “you only have one time to make a good first impression”? It is true – at least for me – that first impressions burn an indelible image or emotion of how we feel about someone, someplace, or something. Which brings me to the point of this weblog post. [image] Other than answering the phone – your building/facility image is often the first impression your business makes to most people. Think of that. Not everyone in your town calls you – but at some point they will all probably drive past your door. So. . . what is your image saying to your future customers about your business – about you? I have asked this to people before and got answers like “I have the best image of any body shop around”, and “I don’t own the sidewalk”. Really. Here is my advice – designate someone to ensure that each day your business is swept clean, the entrance is spotless (no peeling paint, dirt, sand, butts etc…), weeds are killed, bushes trimmed, and your door glass uncluttered and clean. Be the steward in your neighborhood for advocating a professional image and of showing pride in your community. In time, these efforts will be repaid by more visits to your sparkling door. . . . By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:21:32 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Do-you-make-a-clean-impression/blog/1338471/31710.html CSheehy 2009-10-21T23:21:32Z AutoPro Workshop This is a quick blog – I need to tell you about something that has been bothering me, something I see all to often. . . Have you heard of the expression “you only have one time to make a good first impression”? It is true – at least for me – that first impressions burn an indelible image or emotion of how we feel about someone, someplace, or something. Which brings me to the point of this weblog post. [image] Other than answering the phone – your building/facility image is often the first impression your business makes to most people. Think of that. Not everyone in your town calls you – but at some point they will all probably drive past your door. So. . . what is your image saying to your future customers about your business – about you? I have asked this to people before and got answers like “I have the best image of any body shop around”, and “I don’t own the sidewalk”. Really. Here is my advice – designate someone to ensure that each day your business is swept clean, the entrance is spotless (no peeling paint, dirt, sand, butts etc…), weeds are killed, bushes trimmed, and your door glass uncluttered and clean. Be the steward in your neighborhood for advocating a professional image and of showing pride in your community. In time, these efforts will be repaid by more visits to your sparkling door. . . . By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, auto body, autobody, body shop, bodyshop, facility, image, marketing, sheehy, ufoc nonadult false Do you make a clean impression? text blog acg,auto body,autobody,body shop,bodyshop,facility,image,marketing,sheehy,ufoc 1996 3 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 3 2 1338471 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_KPI-Cycle-Time/blog/876139/31710.html KPI: Cycle-Time[image]  Cycle Time, the golden-standard by which collision repairers are measured from both the customers as well as insurer’s point of view. Currently the standard CT is 10-days; in other words, it takes ten-days from keys-in-hand to seeing tail-lamps to repair a vehicle (bumper scraps to train-wrecks, all repair times get averaged). This is undeniably one of the most vital key-performance-indicators (KPIs) to measure; getting this right will increase production throughput and earnings. To define Cycle Time (CT) I must first state that Cycle Time is often perceived in two measures, production biased and customer biased. DEFINITION: Production Biased Cycle Time: The average number of calendar days elapsed from the date the vehicle was received at your business, to the date the repairs were completed. Formula: Date Received / Repairs Completed Customer Biased Cycle Time: The average number of calendar days elapsed from the date the vehicle was received at your business, to the date the customer took delivery. This is also commonly referred to as keys-to-keys. Formula: Date Received / Date Delivered Production CT is the traditional (read: “old school”) method of calculating the average calendar days for auto repairs. Since a shop cannot control when a customer will take delivery of their vehicle, this method calculates the part of the repair cycle a repair shop has most control over. Or so it seems – read on. This is a key measure for KPI management. Customer CT is a more contemporary measure, and one that, when managed well, is more focused on the vehicle owner receiving a positive customer experience. Managing this measure has a direct impact on CSI. From an insurance perspective, this measure also has a direct impact on loss-of-use (LOU) severity (insurance lingo for rental expense) as well as having a proportional, although indirect impact on bodily injury severity. In a nutshell – this is the Cycle Time measure both the customer and insurer “feel” and is most important to control. So which measurement should you use? I say measure both! Analyzing the variance in Cycle Time between Production and Customer biased formulas could target process waste in your business that you can eliminate and be working more “lean.” More specifically (in LEAN terms), it could identify SMED waste – the time wasted in between jobs; like ending one job and getting onto another – or processes, like the transition from a quarter panel repair to door-skin replacement. When analyzing the differences you should ask yourself, “Could we have done anything differently to get the customer back into their vehicle sooner?” Often the answer is yes. Here are some ideas you could use to cut Cycle Time: blueprinting repairs, change from the in-Monday/out-Friday schedule madness, proper technician allocation, transparent SOPs, deliver the car to the customer’s home or work (drive or tow), pick up the customer at home or work, open early or stay open late on advertised day(s) of the week, or change how you schedule the intake of vehicles. These KPIs are easiest to measure when working with a management system. Ed Rachwal from Designer Systems confirmed Cycle Time could be easily measured on Mitchell ABS and ABSe. For businesses operating without a management system, these measures have been difficult to calculate. Autobody Consulting Group has copyrighted tools enabling their clients to measure and manage these most important KPIs. Managing Cycle Time effectively is a great way to increase CSI, and being proactive in marketing your Cycle Time ratio to prospective or existing business partners just might bring more cars to your door, too! You are not alone in setting repair Cycle Time expectations. Here is an interesting story about CT from a different perspective. Not too long ago while in a meeting with a major Massachusetts insurer, Cycle Time was the very topic of concern with several of my clients. At some point it became apparent to me that the insurer never looked inward at their systems to see if they had any control of cycle time. “And why would they,” you ask? (Funny – they asked the same thing). Knowing what I know of the process, I had a hunch the insurance company had some (albeit, to a small degree) influence on setting the initial CT expectation with the vehicle owner and rental company. Here is what I noted – when an insurance adjuster receives a damage analysis report from a staff appraiser or repairer (network or otherwise), they do the same math to calculate rental days as most body shops do to rough-calculate the anticipated repair days [total hours ÷ some number = expected rental days]. Armed with this information the adjuster simply informs the vehicle owner of the number of days the rental vehicle is covered for, often adding a day for good measure. In doing so the seed is planted with the vehicle owner of the perceived repair cycle time! After hearing this scenario, the insurer admitted they never looked at the process from this perspective and assured us they will evaluate it in the near future. What I haven’t told you yet was that the time of these extraordinary cycle time lapses coincided with some of the worst weather this area had experienced. In this case the cycle-time “perception,” being set by the claim adjuster didn’t account for the extraordinary increase in claim volume my clients were dealing with – indeed, an honest oversight. Let’s be realistic. Insurance companies are huge and nothing happens fast, so nobody’s holding their breath for this change to occur. However, having a broader understanding of the process will make all parties work a little smarter in the future.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog KPI: Cycle-Time[image]  Cycle Time, the golden-standard by which collision repairers are measured from both the customers as well as insurer’s point of view. Currently the standard CT is 10-days; in other words, it takes ten-days from keys-in-hand to seeing tail-lamps to repair a vehicle (bumper scraps to train-wrecks, all repair times get averaged). This is undeniably one of the most vital key-performance-indicators (KPIs) to measure; getting this right will increase production throughput and earnings. To define Cycle Time (CT) I must first state that Cycle Time is often perceived in two measures, production biased and customer biased. DEFINITION: Production Biased Cycle Time: The average number of calendar days elapsed from the date the vehicle was received at your business, to the date the repairs were completed. Formula: Date Received / Repairs Completed Customer Biased Cycle Time: The average number of calendar days elapsed from the date the vehicle was received at your business, to the date the customer took delivery. This is also commonly referred to as keys-to-keys. Formula: Date Received / Date Delivered Production CT is the traditional (read: “old school”) method of calculating the average calendar days for auto repairs. Since a shop cannot control when a customer will take delivery of their vehicle, this method calculates the part of the repair cycle a repair shop has most control over. Or so it seems – read on. This is a key measure for KPI management. Customer CT is a more contemporary measure, and one that, when managed well, is more focused on the vehicle owner receiving a positive customer experience. Managing this measure has a direct impact on CSI. From an insurance perspective, this measure also has a direct impact on loss-of-use (LOU) severity (insurance lingo for rental expense) as well as having a proportional, although indirect impact on bodily injury severity. In a nutshell – this is the Cycle Time measure both the customer and insurer “feel” and is most important to control. So which measurement should you use? I say measure both! Analyzing the variance in Cycle Time between Production and Customer biased formulas could target process waste in your business that you can eliminate and be working more “lean.” More specifically (in LEAN terms), it could identify SMED waste – the time wasted in between jobs; like ending one job and getting onto another – or processes, like the transition from a quarter panel repair to door-skin replacement. When analyzing the differences you should ask yourself, “Could we have done anything differently to get the customer back into their vehicle sooner?” Often the answer is yes. Here are some ideas you could use to cut Cycle Time: blueprinting repairs, change from the in-Monday/out-Friday schedule madness, proper technician allocation, transparent SOPs, deliver the car to the customer’s home or work (drive or tow), pick up the customer at home or work, open early or stay open late on advertised day(s) of the week, or change how you schedule the intake of vehicles. These KPIs are easiest to measure when working with a management system. Ed Rachwal from Designer Systems confirmed Cycle Time could be easily measured on Mitchell ABS and ABSe. For businesses operating without a management system, these measures have been difficult to calculate. Autobody Consulting Group has copyrighted tools enabling their clients to measure and manage these most important KPIs. Managing Cycle Time effectively is a great way to increase CSI, and being proactive in marketing your Cycle Time ratio to prospective or existing business partners just might bring more cars to your door, too! You are not alone in setting repair Cycle Time expectations. Here is an interesting story about CT from a different perspective. Not too long ago while in a meeting with a major Massachusetts insurer, Cycle Time was the very topic of concern with several of my clients. At some point it became apparent to me that the insurer never looked inward at their systems to see if they had any control of cycle time. “And why would they,” you ask? (Funny – they asked the same thing). Knowing what I know of the process, I had a hunch the insurance company had some (albeit, to a small degree) influence on setting the initial CT expectation with the vehicle owner and rental company. Here is what I noted – when an insurance adjuster receives a damage analysis report from a staff appraiser or repairer (network or otherwise), they do the same math to calculate rental days as most body shops do to rough-calculate the anticipated repair days [total hours ÷ some number = expected rental days]. Armed with this information the adjuster simply informs the vehicle owner of the number of days the rental vehicle is covered for, often adding a day for good measure. In doing so the seed is planted with the vehicle owner of the perceived repair cycle time! After hearing this scenario, the insurer admitted they never looked at the process from this perspective and assured us they will evaluate it in the near future. What I haven’t told you yet was that the time of these extraordinary cycle time lapses coincided with some of the worst weather this area had experienced. In this case the cycle-time “perception,” being set by the claim adjuster didn’t account for the extraordinary increase in claim volume my clients were dealing with – indeed, an honest oversight. Let’s be realistic. Insurance companies are huge and nothing happens fast, so nobody’s holding their breath for this change to occur. However, having a broader understanding of the process will make all parties work a little smarter in the future.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:00:37 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_KPI-Cycle-Time/blog/876139/31710.html CSheehy 2009-10-02T01:00:37Z AutoPro Workshop KPI: Cycle-Time[image]  Cycle Time, the golden-standard by which collision repairers are measured from both the customers as well as insurer’s point of view. Currently the standard CT is 10-days; in other words, it takes ten-days from keys-in-hand to seeing tail-lamps to repair a vehicle (bumper scraps to train-wrecks, all repair times get averaged). This is undeniably one of the most vital key-performance-indicators (KPIs) to measure; getting this right will increase production throughput and earnings. To define Cycle Time (CT) I must first state that Cycle Time is often perceived in two measures, production biased and customer biased. DEFINITION: Production Biased Cycle Time: The average number of calendar days elapsed from the date the vehicle was received at your business, to the date the repairs were completed. Formula: Date Received / Repairs Completed Customer Biased Cycle Time: The average number of calendar days elapsed from the date the vehicle was received at your business, to the date the customer took delivery. This is also commonly referred to as keys-to-keys. Formula: Date Received / Date Delivered Production CT is the traditional (read: “old school”) method of calculating the average calendar days for auto repairs. Since a shop cannot control when a customer will take delivery of their vehicle, this method calculates the part of the repair cycle a repair shop has most control over. Or so it seems – read on. This is a key measure for KPI management. Customer CT is a more contemporary measure, and one that, when managed well, is more focused on the vehicle owner receiving a positive customer experience. Managing this measure has a direct impact on CSI. From an insurance perspective, this measure also has a direct impact on loss-of-use (LOU) severity (insurance lingo for rental expense) as well as having a proportional, although indirect impact on bodily injury severity. In a nutshell – this is the Cycle Time measure both the customer and insurer “feel” and is most important to control. So which measurement should you use? I say measure both! Analyzing the variance in Cycle Time between Production and Customer biased formulas could target process waste in your business that you can eliminate and be working more “lean.” More specifically (in LEAN terms), it could identify SMED waste – the time wasted in between jobs; like ending one job and getting onto another – or processes, like the transition from a quarter panel repair to door-skin replacement. When analyzing the differences you should ask yourself, “Could we have done anything differently to get the customer back into their vehicle sooner?” Often the answer is yes. Here are some ideas you could use to cut Cycle Time: blueprinting repairs, change from the in-Monday/out-Friday schedule madness, proper technician allocation, transparent SOPs, deliver the car to the customer’s home or work (drive or tow), pick up the customer at home or work, open early or stay open late on advertised day(s) of the week, or change how you schedule the intake of vehicles. These KPIs are easiest to measure when working with a management system. Ed Rachwal from Designer Systems confirmed Cycle Time could be easily measured on Mitchell ABS and ABSe. For businesses operating without a management system, these measures have been difficult to calculate. Autobody Consulting Group has copyrighted tools enabling their clients to measure and manage these most important KPIs. Managing Cycle Time effectively is a great way to increase CSI, and being proactive in marketing your Cycle Time ratio to prospective or existing business partners just might bring more cars to your door, too! You are not alone in setting repair Cycle Time expectations. Here is an interesting story about CT from a different perspective. Not too long ago while in a meeting with a major Massachusetts insurer, Cycle Time was the very topic of concern with several of my clients. At some point it became apparent to me that the insurer never looked inward at their systems to see if they had any control of cycle time. “And why would they,” you ask? (Funny – they asked the same thing). Knowing what I know of the process, I had a hunch the insurance company had some (albeit, to a small degree) influence on setting the initial CT expectation with the vehicle owner and rental company. Here is what I noted – when an insurance adjuster receives a damage analysis report from a staff appraiser or repairer (network or otherwise), they do the same math to calculate rental days as most body shops do to rough-calculate the anticipated repair days [total hours ÷ some number = expected rental days]. Armed with this information the adjuster simply informs the vehicle owner of the number of days the rental vehicle is covered for, often adding a day for good measure. In doing so the seed is planted with the vehicle owner of the perceived repair cycle time! After hearing this scenario, the insurer admitted they never looked at the process from this perspective and assured us they will evaluate it in the near future. What I haven’t told you yet was that the time of these extraordinary cycle time lapses coincided with some of the worst weather this area had experienced. In this case the cycle-time “perception,” being set by the claim adjuster didn’t account for the extraordinary increase in claim volume my clients were dealing with – indeed, an honest oversight. Let’s be realistic. Insurance companies are huge and nothing happens fast, so nobody’s holding their breath for this change to occur. However, having a broader understanding of the process will make all parties work a little smarter in the future.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog cycle, cycle time, cycle-time, efficiency, kpi, kpis, management, productivity, sop, sops, throughput, turn, turn around nonadult false KPI: Cycle-Time text blog cycle,cycle time,cycle-time,efficiency,kpi,kpis,management,productivity,sop,sops,throughput,turn,turn around 2269 3 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 6 1 876139 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Considering-Franchising-DON39T-until-you-read-this/blog/719619/31710.html Considering autobody franchising? [image] Consider this before you ink. . . By: Chris Sheehy - Autobody Consulting Group As seen in ABRN and Collision Hub Franchising isn’t for everyone, forewarned is forearmed, so follow these points, and be prepared to ask the tough questions before you commit.   • Know exactly what the start-up and reoccurring monthly fees are. Ask for them in writing. • Are there additional fees for belonging to a regional business group or 20-group? Is participation mandatory? • Are royalty payments assessed? What’s the percentage? • Are there additional fees for participating in corporate (the franchisor) sponsored marketing programs, or are all marketing programs/initiatives included within your monthly fees? • If the franchisor has an insurance and/or marketing department – are there any reoccurring fees to support the initiatives of these departments? • If corporate insurance programs are available – are you guaranteed placement on any insurance programs? • What if you elect not to participate in available corporate insurance programs, are you still a good fit for the franchise? • If facility image branding (re-modeling) is mandated, make sure you know the time frame for compliance and the average cost of re-branding for a similar size facility. • Are there any mandated fee-based training requirements your business must adhere to? What is the compliance time frame; and approximate cost of compliance - based on your business headcount? • Are there any mandatory/proprietary software obligations? Additional fees? Potential hardware/software conflicts? • If part and/or vendor rebate programs exist, what percent of rebates go back to the company and what percentage goes to you? Are rebates paid monthly or quarterly? How are they processed? • Will your participation (or lack of) in a corporate vendor program (i.e., paint, part, etc…) effect the rebate percent of other franchisees or the franchisor? • Is there a “suggested” or minimum staffing headcount criteria to qualify as a candidate? • If any “highly suggested” tools or equipment (such as computer measuring, tool carts, or laser printer) are mentioned, what is the expected cost for this equipment? • Is participation in an annual corporate conference mandatory? Is any percentage of these fees built into the monthly fee structure? If fees are included, are you reimbursed if you elect not to attend conference, or do you forfeit the money? • Do you plan on being in the business every day? Some franchisors mandate owner/operators must be on premises every business day. • Are there minimum net worth requirements for candidate consideration? • Who promotes your new franchise? If the answer is you do, what are the anticipated costs? • Is there field support (regional/district service manager) for your business? What is the minimum visit requirement? Will the support staff you are assigned have the credentials and experience to consult on the unique challenges of your business? (i.e. If your business focus is on production, are you assigned a field support member whose strength is administration?) Ask to review the Bio. of your field support staff. • Lastly, ask how many businesses were added to the franchise system and how many businesses left the system in the past 48 months. Request a current list of all businesses that have left or have been removed within the past 48 months and do your due-diligence by calling on some. A list of non-current franchisees is typically provided within the highly-regulated franchise disclosure document package (FDD – sometimes called a UFOC) – make sure your list is current to the month. Like any business venture, know exactly what you’re getting into before leaping in.  Before meeting with the franchise delegate, do your due-diligence and be prepared by writing down the important questions you have.  Take the time to review each-one with the franchise representative, your attorney, and your financial adviser.  Good luck.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Considering autobody franchising? [image] Consider this before you ink. . . By: Chris Sheehy - Autobody Consulting Group As seen in ABRN and Collision Hub Franchising isn’t for everyone, forewarned is forearmed, so follow these points, and be prepared to ask the tough questions before you commit.   • Know exactly what the start-up and reoccurring monthly fees are. Ask for them in writing. • Are there additional fees for belonging to a regional business group or 20-group? Is participation mandatory? • Are royalty payments assessed? What’s the percentage? • Are there additional fees for participating in corporate (the franchisor) sponsored marketing programs, or are all marketing programs/initiatives included within your monthly fees? • If the franchisor has an insurance and/or marketing department – are there any reoccurring fees to support the initiatives of these departments? • If corporate insurance programs are available – are you guaranteed placement on any insurance programs? • What if you elect not to participate in available corporate insurance programs, are you still a good fit for the franchise? • If facility image branding (re-modeling) is mandated, make sure you know the time frame for compliance and the average cost of re-branding for a similar size facility. • Are there any mandated fee-based training requirements your business must adhere to? What is the compliance time frame; and approximate cost of compliance - based on your business headcount? • Are there any mandatory/proprietary software obligations? Additional fees? Potential hardware/software conflicts? • If part and/or vendor rebate programs exist, what percent of rebates go back to the company and what percentage goes to you? Are rebates paid monthly or quarterly? How are they processed? • Will your participation (or lack of) in a corporate vendor program (i.e., paint, part, etc…) effect the rebate percent of other franchisees or the franchisor? • Is there a “suggested” or minimum staffing headcount criteria to qualify as a candidate? • If any “highly suggested” tools or equipment (such as computer measuring, tool carts, or laser printer) are mentioned, what is the expected cost for this equipment? • Is participation in an annual corporate conference mandatory? Is any percentage of these fees built into the monthly fee structure? If fees are included, are you reimbursed if you elect not to attend conference, or do you forfeit the money? • Do you plan on being in the business every day? Some franchisors mandate owner/operators must be on premises every business day. • Are there minimum net worth requirements for candidate consideration? • Who promotes your new franchise? If the answer is you do, what are the anticipated costs? • Is there field support (regional/district service manager) for your business? What is the minimum visit requirement? Will the support staff you are assigned have the credentials and experience to consult on the unique challenges of your business? (i.e. If your business focus is on production, are you assigned a field support member whose strength is administration?) Ask to review the Bio. of your field support staff. • Lastly, ask how many businesses were added to the franchise system and how many businesses left the system in the past 48 months. Request a current list of all businesses that have left or have been removed within the past 48 months and do your due-diligence by calling on some. A list of non-current franchisees is typically provided within the highly-regulated franchise disclosure document package (FDD – sometimes called a UFOC) – make sure your list is current to the month. Like any business venture, know exactly what you’re getting into before leaping in.  Before meeting with the franchise delegate, do your due-diligence and be prepared by writing down the important questions you have.  Take the time to review each-one with the franchise representative, your attorney, and your financial adviser.  Good luck.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:59:55 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Considering-Franchising-DON39T-until-you-read-this/blog/719619/31710.html CSheehy 2009-09-18T05:43:43Z AutoPro Workshop Considering autobody franchising? [image] Consider this before you ink. . . By: Chris Sheehy - Autobody Consulting Group As seen in ABRN and Collision Hub Franchising isn’t for everyone, forewarned is forearmed, so follow these points, and be prepared to ask the tough questions before you commit.   • Know exactly what the start-up and reoccurring monthly fees are. Ask for them in writing. • Are there additional fees for belonging to a regional business group or 20-group? Is participation mandatory? • Are royalty payments assessed? What’s the percentage? • Are there additional fees for participating in corporate (the franchisor) sponsored marketing programs, or are all marketing programs/initiatives included within your monthly fees? • If the franchisor has an insurance and/or marketing department – are there any reoccurring fees to support the initiatives of these departments? • If corporate insurance programs are available – are you guaranteed placement on any insurance programs? • What if you elect not to participate in available corporate insurance programs, are you still a good fit for the franchise? • If facility image branding (re-modeling) is mandated, make sure you know the time frame for compliance and the average cost of re-branding for a similar size facility. • Are there any mandated fee-based training requirements your business must adhere to? What is the compliance time frame; and approximate cost of compliance - based on your business headcount? • Are there any mandatory/proprietary software obligations? Additional fees? Potential hardware/software conflicts? • If part and/or vendor rebate programs exist, what percent of rebates go back to the company and what percentage goes to you? Are rebates paid monthly or quarterly? How are they processed? • Will your participation (or lack of) in a corporate vendor program (i.e., paint, part, etc…) effect the rebate percent of other franchisees or the franchisor? • Is there a “suggested” or minimum staffing headcount criteria to qualify as a candidate? • If any “highly suggested” tools or equipment (such as computer measuring, tool carts, or laser printer) are mentioned, what is the expected cost for this equipment? • Is participation in an annual corporate conference mandatory? Is any percentage of these fees built into the monthly fee structure? If fees are included, are you reimbursed if you elect not to attend conference, or do you forfeit the money? • Do you plan on being in the business every day? Some franchisors mandate owner/operators must be on premises every business day. • Are there minimum net worth requirements for candidate consideration? • Who promotes your new franchise? If the answer is you do, what are the anticipated costs? • Is there field support (regional/district service manager) for your business? What is the minimum visit requirement? Will the support staff you are assigned have the credentials and experience to consult on the unique challenges of your business? (i.e. If your business focus is on production, are you assigned a field support member whose strength is administration?) Ask to review the Bio. of your field support staff. • Lastly, ask how many businesses were added to the franchise system and how many businesses left the system in the past 48 months. Request a current list of all businesses that have left or have been removed within the past 48 months and do your due-diligence by calling on some. A list of non-current franchisees is typically provided within the highly-regulated franchise disclosure document package (FDD – sometimes called a UFOC) – make sure your list is current to the month. Like any business venture, know exactly what you’re getting into before leaping in.  Before meeting with the franchise delegate, do your due-diligence and be prepared by writing down the important questions you have.  Take the time to review each-one with the franchise representative, your attorney, and your financial adviser.  Good luck.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog   acg, auto body, autobody, body shop, bodyshop, fdd, franchise, franchised, networked, newtork, sheehy, ufoc nonadult false Considering Franchising? DON'T! until you read this text blog acg,auto body,autobody,body shop,bodyshop,fdd,franchise,franchised,networked,newtork,sheehy,ufoc 1568 13 4.69231 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 2 1 719619 9806633 Member 0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Engineering-Change/blog/719821/31710.html Engineering Change Today’s vehicles are being engineered to avoid accidents. “Crash avoidance technology,” is not tomorrow’s technology, it’s here today, and it is changing everything we know about running a successful collision repair business.  Consumer publications are raving about vehicle safety.  Enthusiast magazines are touting the engineering behind the mechanicals. Even the government is number crunching so they can convince manufactures (and Congress) to add more safety features into new vehicle models. Technology designed to prevent vehicle accidents is now a major contributor to the lack of volume our industry is experiencing.  As if declining vehicle travel, reduced insurance claims, and economically stressed people who are less willing to spend their claim money on vehicle repairs aren’t difficult enough for body shops to overcome – we are also seeing less cars-to-the-door because of engineered mechanics.  The problem is a daunting one. Want a reality check?  Look at what’s in your shop.  Do you see any cars with ABS brakes, or back-up cameras?  How about bumper mounted proximity sensors, fender mounted repeater lamps, integrated hands-free phones, lane departure warning systems?  Maybe you have some LED tail lamps, radar based active cruise control, roll control, run-flat tires, self-leveling & direction-leading headlamps.  Any side mirror signal markers, stability control, third brake lamps, tire pressure monitor systems, or traction control?  There is a lot more of this stuff, but I think I’ve made my point.  Every car manufacturer has designed some of this technology into their products, and customers are buying it. So . . . how will we counteract this change? √  Know your numbers (start with doing your own P&L statement) √  Measure and manage KPIs (lots out there, know which ones matter) √  Build a positive can-do culture in your business (it starts with you – show by doing) √  Act lean (Think: 5s – waste – constraint – process – efficiency) √  Market strong and locally (old-school marketing is out – go local and online) If you have questions on any of these things, find someone who has the information you need; and ask them to teach you.  Hire a consultant.  As for my clients, many have said they wish they had reached out sooner, but admitted their ego got in their way.  I hear this all too often – but I will tell you; there’s nothing more bravado than a person taking full control of their business and leading it to a better tomorrow. Today’s business climate is different than it ever was.  Old school just won’t work anymore.   The expected shop count for our industry could be reduced from 40,000 to 25,000 businesses within five years.  The future of our collision repair industry will be formed by those businesses that survived this reduction by successfully manage the BUSINESS of collision repair.  That being said … it is still true, that now more than ever – whether running an affiliated or independent business model – how you manage that next car through your door, is more important than just getting another car to your door.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Engineering Change Today’s vehicles are being engineered to avoid accidents. “Crash avoidance technology,” is not tomorrow’s technology, it’s here today, and it is changing everything we know about running a successful collision repair business.  Consumer publications are raving about vehicle safety.  Enthusiast magazines are touting the engineering behind the mechanicals. Even the government is number crunching so they can convince manufactures (and Congress) to add more safety features into new vehicle models. Technology designed to prevent vehicle accidents is now a major contributor to the lack of volume our industry is experiencing.  As if declining vehicle travel, reduced insurance claims, and economically stressed people who are less willing to spend their claim money on vehicle repairs aren’t difficult enough for body shops to overcome – we are also seeing less cars-to-the-door because of engineered mechanics.  The problem is a daunting one. Want a reality check?  Look at what’s in your shop.  Do you see any cars with ABS brakes, or back-up cameras?  How about bumper mounted proximity sensors, fender mounted repeater lamps, integrated hands-free phones, lane departure warning systems?  Maybe you have some LED tail lamps, radar based active cruise control, roll control, run-flat tires, self-leveling & direction-leading headlamps.  Any side mirror signal markers, stability control, third brake lamps, tire pressure monitor systems, or traction control?  There is a lot more of this stuff, but I think I’ve made my point.  Every car manufacturer has designed some of this technology into their products, and customers are buying it. So . . . how will we counteract this change? √  Know your numbers (start with doing your own P&L statement) √  Measure and manage KPIs (lots out there, know which ones matter) √  Build a positive can-do culture in your business (it starts with you – show by doing) √  Act lean (Think: 5s – waste – constraint – process – efficiency) √  Market strong and locally (old-school marketing is out – go local and online) If you have questions on any of these things, find someone who has the information you need; and ask them to teach you.  Hire a consultant.  As for my clients, many have said they wish they had reached out sooner, but admitted their ego got in their way.  I hear this all too often – but I will tell you; there’s nothing more bravado than a person taking full control of their business and leading it to a better tomorrow. Today’s business climate is different than it ever was.  Old school just won’t work anymore.   The expected shop count for our industry could be reduced from 40,000 to 25,000 businesses within five years.  The future of our collision repair industry will be formed by those businesses that survived this reduction by successfully manage the BUSINESS of collision repair.  That being said … it is still true, that now more than ever – whether running an affiliated or independent business model – how you manage that next car through your door, is more important than just getting another car to your door.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:49:02 GMT http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_Engineering-Change/blog/719821/31710.html CSheehy 2009-09-18T01:49:02Z AutoPro Workshop Engineering Change Today’s vehicles are being engineered to avoid accidents. “Crash avoidance technology,” is not tomorrow’s technology, it’s here today, and it is changing everything we know about running a successful collision repair business.  Consumer publications are raving about vehicle safety.  Enthusiast magazines are touting the engineering behind the mechanicals. Even the government is number crunching so they can convince manufactures (and Congress) to add more safety features into new vehicle models. Technology designed to prevent vehicle accidents is now a major contributor to the lack of volume our industry is experiencing.  As if declining vehicle travel, reduced insurance claims, and economically stressed people who are less willing to spend their claim money on vehicle repairs aren’t difficult enough for body shops to overcome – we are also seeing less cars-to-the-door because of engineered mechanics.  The problem is a daunting one. Want a reality check?  Look at what’s in your shop.  Do you see any cars with ABS brakes, or back-up cameras?  How about bumper mounted proximity sensors, fender mounted repeater lamps, integrated hands-free phones, lane departure warning systems?  Maybe you have some LED tail lamps, radar based active cruise control, roll control, run-flat tires, self-leveling & direction-leading headlamps.  Any side mirror signal markers, stability control, third brake lamps, tire pressure monitor systems, or traction control?  There is a lot more of this stuff, but I think I’ve made my point.  Every car manufacturer has designed some of this technology into their products, and customers are buying it. So . . . how will we counteract this change? √  Know your numbers (start with doing your own P&L statement) √  Measure and manage KPIs (lots out there, know which ones matter) √  Build a positive can-do culture in your business (it starts with you – show by doing) √  Act lean (Think: 5s – waste – constraint – process – efficiency) √  Market strong and locally (old-school marketing is out – go local and online) If you have questions on any of these things, find someone who has the information you need; and ask them to teach you.  Hire a consultant.  As for my clients, many have said they wish they had reached out sooner, but admitted their ego got in their way.  I hear this all too often – but I will tell you; there’s nothing more bravado than a person taking full control of their business and leading it to a better tomorrow. Today’s business climate is different than it ever was.  Old school just won’t work anymore.   The expected shop count for our industry could be reduced from 40,000 to 25,000 businesses within five years.  The future of our collision repair industry will be formed by those businesses that survived this reduction by successfully manage the BUSINESS of collision repair.  That being said … it is still true, that now more than ever – whether running an affiliated or independent business model – how you manage that next car through your door, is more important than just getting another car to your door.   By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry. Twitter  |  FaceBook  |  LinkedIn  |  Blog acg, auto body, autobody, autobody consulting group, body shop, bodyshop, crash avoidance, future, sensors, sheehy, srs, technology nonadult false Engineering Change text blog acg,auto body,autobody,autobody consulting group,body shop,bodyshop,crash avoidance,future,sensors,sheehy,srs,technology 1218 2 5.0 http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=9806633&as=31710 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/31710/photos/PHOTO_16467775_31710_9806633_ap_160X120.jpg false United States RI Rumford 02916 0 2 719821 9806633 Member 0