With the ever growing number of social media services and users, it’s more important than ever for you to be aware of and take steps to protect you and your family’s safety. Many people don’t know the information they put out into the digital universe. If they did, they might be shocked. With stories popping up all the time about how bad people use this information to take advantage of good people, its more important than ever to understand the risks inherent in social media use and how to avoid them. This series is certainly NOT comprehensive. There are way too many social media services out there but, in general, if you know these facts and follow my advice, you’ll be much safer when using social media….
I thought it’d be helpful to automotive industry professionals to compile a list of all the conferences and educational opportunities available. This list is designed to be unbiased and complete so if you know of any I have not included, please let me know and I’ll add them. I also plan to add conferences and events that are non-industry specific but that I believe you can gain valuable information and education which can be applied at your dealership.
In a Yahoo! exclusive article published today, it was reported that Ford has initiated a lawsuit against 13 individual eBay sellers who they accuse of selling fake or counterfeit Ford parts. I’m not arguing the merits of Ford’s lawsuit as it is certainly within their rights to protect their trademarks and copyrights as well as take steps to protect dealer’s profits in the part business but rather to question the bigger issue encompassed by this: an individual’s right to privacy.
Today, Facebook held its IPO to much media attention, speculation and became the largest IPO ever in the history of IPOs. There is a ton of advice saying that the opening cost is overpriced, to wait, etc. and that its a bad initial investment. I disagree but only from the perspective, and using the method, I describe below.
For many small businesses, social media is a daunting, unwieldy task with results that are typically discouraging. Many businesses either don’t see the point in doing it or they try it and quit after not seeing any interaction. How many Facebook pages have you seen abandoned after a short life-span? You go to their page and the last post was 6 months ago. In my career, I’ve seen many.
I answered a question posed on Quora about 6 months ago. The question was:
WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG AT A DEALERSHIP TO BUY A NEW CAR?
“Once the price is agreed on, the loan or lease is approved and they have your down payment, why do new car dealerships drag the car buying process out by making you talk to sales managers, account managers, loan managers, etc. etc. and have you sit and wait for their people to sign paperwork. Used car dealers don’t seem to do this. Why is buying or leasing a new car a multi-hour inconvenience for the customer?”
Facebook has always been experimenting with ways to generate revenue. It’s mostly been focused on businesses through Facebook ads and Sponsored Stories but now it’s contemplating a revenue stream generated through users.
For almost 3 years, I have been posting a comic every day on my Facebook account. I do this because I like to think I bring a smile to at least one person a day. I look through comics every morning in my attempt to share a “good” one. Yes, believe it or not, I do put effort into choosing which comic I post. I’ve started noticing a disturbing trend. Many comedians use reality-based comedy and it seems this also translates into comics. Syndicated comics, by their very nature, are designed to be funny and appeal to the masses. I see comics like these below on a regular basis and, personally, I do not find them funny. In fact, quite the opposite.
Social media is, by nature, a digital conversation. When you share something – whether it’s a status update, a quote, an article or a video – it’s meant for others to see and engage with.
