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I have been thinking of doing some advertising online? Anyone else have any thoughts of this? I have found some places, but they all seem like stationary websites. They don't actually advertise for you. (Example: www.bimmershops.com). Sorry, I accidentally posted this in the wrong section previously.

 

 

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I have been thinking of doing some advertising online? Anyone else have any thoughts of this? I have found some places, but they all seem like stationary websites. They don't actually advertise for you. (Example: www.bimmershops.com). Sorry, I accidentally posted this in the wrong section previously.

 

 

www.bimmershops.com and all of i85media.com/directories seo the unreal the best online money can buy positive ROI.

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www.bimmershops.com and all of i85media.com/directories seo the unreal the best online money can buy positive ROI.

 

We are already pay to be on those websites, and only get a few customers a year from them, so we still pay thousands of dollars a year in different advertising.

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KMS, do you do any forum marketing in markets you target? I only ask because I'm a forum owner (for an old Mitsubishi platform) and I know performance shops tend to do pretty well when they target forums.

 

If you have any questions on the best ways to market in forums, feel free to ask. I have a pretty unique perspective on that obviously, having watched shops do it right and do it wrong over the past 15 years of managing forums. Social media marketing has cast a shadow over forums recently but there is still plenty of opportunity for using forums to generate business, grow your audience, and improve branding.

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KMS, do you do any forum marketing in markets you target? I only ask because I'm a forum owner (for an old Mitsubishi platform) and I know performance shops tend to do pretty well when they target forums.

 

If you have any questions on the best ways to market in forums, feel free to ask. I have a pretty unique perspective on that obviously, having watched shops do it right and do it wrong over the past 15 years of managing forums. Social media marketing has cast a shadow over forums recently but there is still plenty of opportunity for using forums to generate business, grow your audience, and improve branding.

 

 

Garage40,

 

My experience with forums is that you can get a lot of exposure especially if you get several fan boys to endorse your business. I have found however that most of the fanfare you get from forums can go south pretty quickly. Forum goers are VERY opinionated and even more so that people who just post reviews. They have no problem breaking you down in a heartbeat if they feel slighted. That alone is not the main problem IMO but rather because forum members generally are DIYers and are very very quick to call out shops on being "rip offs" aka charging too much money. There will always be a guy in his garage, a dealer tech that works on the weekends, or a start up shop that undercuts everyone to be competitive. Basically I find that it attracts the wrong type of customer. Do you attract lurkers that are normal people looking to make an informed decision on a shop? Absolutely. I just don't know if its worth the headache of dealing with the rest of the bunch.

 

I have personally avoided forums for a long long time, any tips otherwise?

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kms, werent you promoting that website in another post and the moderators told you to stop. Do you have a vested interest in that website? If memory serves me right, your shop is located in the same town, a few streets away, from the websites owner, coincidence?

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kms, werent you promoting that website in another post and the moderators told you to stop. Do you have a vested interest in that website? If memory serves me right, your shop is located in the same town, a few streets away, from the websites owner, coincidence?

I don't have any vested interest in it, but yes, I do know who owns it. We have had many discussions about advertising costs and review websites, and he decided to build that website to help all of us save some money. I think the only way it is going to work as designed is it needs more members. We have received some good reviews and got a couple new customers from it. It is worth a try, especially because it is free to join now.

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it should be promoted that way then. People would follow what you submit more so than the person that owns the site because you are a shop owner on a site with other shop owners and managers. If you know the guy im sure your friends and you should state that instead of coming in with a "hey i found this site, and i am using it" as it misleads people that read it, almost like you didnt want them to know that you knew the owner of the site.

 

cheers.

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it should be promoted that way then. People would follow what you submit more so than the person that owns the site because you are a shop owner on a site with other shop owners and managers. If you know the guy im sure your friends and you should state that instead of coming in with a "hey i found this site, and i am using it" as it misleads people that read it, almost like you didnt want them to know that you knew the owner of the site.

 

cheers.

 

It wasn't meant to mislead. i just didn't want anyone to think I had any interest in the site. I was trying to separate myself from it. Sorry, it was perceived that way. Thanks for your comment. Do you have any thoughts on it?

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Garage40,

 

My experience with forums is that you can get a lot of exposure especially if you get several fan boys to endorse your business. I have found however that most of the fanfare you get from forums can go south pretty quickly. Forum goers are VERY opinionated and even more so that people who just post reviews. They have no problem breaking you down in a heartbeat if they feel slighted. That alone is not the main problem IMO but rather because forum members generally are DIYers and are very very quick to call out shops on being "rip offs" aka charging too much money. There will always be a guy in his garage, a dealer tech that works on the weekends, or a start up shop that undercuts everyone to be competitive. Basically I find that it attracts the wrong type of customer. Do you attract lurkers that are normal people looking to make an informed decision on a shop? Absolutely. I just don't know if its worth the headache of dealing with the rest of the bunch.

sh

I have personally avoided forums for a long long time, any tips otherwise?

I've found that forums are very much like Yelp - you can avoid them if you want to but the people you mention who will tear your name down will do so even if you're not there to defend yourself. That is the nature of any online community, whether it be a forum or a FB group, or any review directory, it doesn't matter. If you try to steer clear of the places where negative situations will come up, you wouldn't be posting online at all. And all you end up doing is ignoring the problem and letting it fester. It's better to address it and use it as an opportunity to win other customers over.

 

In my experience the potential upside easily outweighs the potential negatives. The trick is to not engage publicly those who are trying to tear you down:

http://www.garage40.com/dealing-with-forum-complaints/

 

Spend more time and energy engaging the people in the forums who are working on builds and are in the part of the buying process where it makes sense for you to interact with them (they've already done their research and know what they need). It's good to post some "how-to" articles every now and then too to help those who need help in the research phase but don't spend too much time trying to answer tech questions - you can do that all day every day and it won't always result in business.The people who are working on builds tend to be more in the buying phase.

 

If your business is centered around local service, then look for the forums that have geographic sub-forums - FB groups are becoming popular for this too. The bigger opportunity in forums is going to be for non-local businesses.

 

Should you advertise in the forums? Maybe. It depends on the market and the rules of the forums that are popular in your target market. I have some forums where you cannot say anything that will let people know you're a business. Others don't mind so long as you're not pushing products.

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We haven't paid for online advertising. I have people call all the time asking to do our social media starting around 250-300 per month. I usually keep a notepad hand while talking to them because I usually learn a little something :-) The last girl that contacted me reguarding this said our stuff looked good, but we just needed to keep it fresh. I'm reading a book right now that I would recommend called, "likeable social media" by Dave Derpen. So far I've got some pretty good ideas from it.

 

Also want to say we had a hard time with Yelp as well. It took me forever go get our info straightened out through them. And it almost seems that they try and tear your business down if you don't pay them.

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      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.
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