Price and drive your car online!

I am always looking for smart, effective, nicely designed sites and the products and services they offer. Also pay close attention at their marketing strategy, what is their intended target audience, etc. While surfing the Web, as I normally do about 10 hours/day (yes, I know... I have no life! :-o), I came across this one--http://www.priceandrive.com/. Wow, this sharp site seems to get it!

The Price and Drive concept got to me because I have surely been there, done that many times! When I think about buying a car, the thing I dread the most is the ridiculous fight over a price that I know--without a shadow of a doubt--has been blown out of proportion for the dealer/salesman's benefit. I am sure it does strike a cord with you too. Car shopping, car buying, however you call it when you walk in the dealerships is sometimes a complete waste of precious time.

Price and Drive has created what seems to be a proprietary software to mutually benefit both the consumers and the dealerships. Their model brings the Internet, the customer, and the dealerships together to simplify the automobile buying process. I think this will revolutionize the car buying experience for the consumers as well as help leverage the dealerships’ time and resources. The site guides their intended audience through three simple steps-- the consumers input exactly what car they are looking for and how much they are willing to spend, their requests(s) are then sent to the dealerships that are enrolled in the system.

What happens next? You might ask…well, the dealerships then utilize the PAD Agent portal to view and manage bids, competing with other dealerships for your business. This bidding process will in turn get the consumers the best possible price. While the bidding goes back and forth among the dealerships (yeah, let them do the work!), the consumers will remain totally anonymous as they review offers in real-time. The consumers’ contact information is kept confidential until they either accept a bid or release it to the dealership.

By the way, did you hear Clark Howard's latest spill about the car industry and car research/shopping? He suggests the following steps, among others, for the car buying process:

• "Buy your new car from a no-haggle dealership. In most cases, you'll save money and the process of buying will be faster and easier.


• Look at cars when a dealership is closed, so there's no salesperson to pressure you.


• The best way to test-drive a car is to rent it for a day or two. It's the ultimate test drive and it's not expensive.


• Use the Internet to find out the dealer cost of the vehicle and the options you want.


• Start your research with at least two different vehicles in mind. Then check out the price, reliability, and cost to insure each of the cars you're considering.
• When you've narrowed the search to one or two vehicles and have the actual dealer cost for each, shop online for instant price quotes."

So, if you are thinking of buying a new or used car, take a look at this one first http://www.priceanddrive.com/!

Marketing

Careers in Marketing: Flux, Flexibility, and the Future

From: aquentweb, 1 week ago

Careers in Marketing: Flux, Flexibility, and the Future

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: temporary staffing)

Aquent/American Marketing Association (AMA) Webcast presented by Matthew T. Grant of Aquent on September 25, 2008.


SlideShare Link

Going Green!

So you are thinking of starting an eco-friendly kind of business and a website. Or maybe you already have a business and are thinking of how to tie it with a green strategy of some sort and update you site accordingly.

While going green is a huge trend, sometimes tying your business with a green initiative can be difficult because the products and services you provide don’t quite relate to this theme.

Let’s start with the easiest-- starting a green business. Here are some ideas that may spark interest and can be easily researched to learn more:

• Natural Food
• Natural Personal Care
• Natural Clothing
• Natural Pest Control
• Natural Bedding
• Natural Furnishings
• Natural Pet Care

If you already have a business and a website, then it is a great idea to think going green. Why? Because you can capitalize on the growing interest on the subject, not only from the point of view of sales but also search engine optimization.

Also pay per click organic and eco-friendly terms or keywords tend to be reasonably priced (at least last time I checked!). Maybe it won’t be easy or cost effective to add natural or eco-friendly products to your established business. You can still get in the game by offering news, tips and/or advise to consumers eager to learn more about how they can do to save the planet!

Visit WebEvents Group for green Web design and copywriting solutions.

Go Natural - Go SEO

ECommerce -- Where to start?!

eCommerce Solutions will enable your users to perform online transactions. Electronic transactions involve the transfer of ownership or rights to use a good or service.



Do I need it? Can I customize it and do I need a shopping cart?! Where do I start? First things first-- do research on the Internet, familiarize with the concept and then... call an expert! You will need a pro company that can tailor the software to your business needs.

Bailey Consulting Group offers affordable solutions that will enable you to get your ecommerce Web site up and running with the minimum amount of problems, enabling your business to start selling online immediately. Online Shops are becoming one of the premier uses of the internet, with existing businesses or companies expanding into the internet sector. It is a great vehicle for making extra money for your company and has the advantage of being open 24 hours, 7 days a week and reaching a worldwide audience. Listed below are some of the main features for their eCommerce Solutions:

• Secure Administration Area
• Add, edit, delete products and categories
• Update your products at will
• Upload product images from your pc
• Seemless integration with your website design
• Powerful search facility
• Email confirmation of orders
• Payment gateway integration
• Unlimited number of products and categories
• Quick loading and stable solution
• Flexible look and feel

Moreover, Bailey Consulting offers great value for your money with different packages to suit your needs.

Blog to you soon... :-)

Web 2.0

Does it mean anything to you or do you quickly go to the Wiki page that describes it?

Web 2.0 is a combination of style and tech; better put, it is a push to develop better and user friendly interfaces. Basically, it makes use of large buttons and text, more use of vector images instead of photography, and heavy usage of CSS, JavaScript and Ajax.

Tim O'Reilly, one of the originators of this concept, describes it like this-- "You can visualize Web 2.0 as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core."

Examples of the Web 2.0 approach include Andale.com, and HousingMaps.com, a site powered by Craigslist.org and Google Maps, but not officially affiliated with either. HousingMaps combines Craigslist’s classified real estate ads with Google Maps ability to quickly view satellite map. These web applications have created new services that build on existing information, data and services.

So, if the entrepreneur in you or the company you work for is able and ready to embrace the 2.0 revolution, rely on a company that will take your project to new heights. Bailey Consulting Group or WebEvents Consulting Group for starters!

Social Media

Have you joined the Social media revolution?! You may not be familiar with the term, however, it applies to Web tools that exist today and you probably use on a day-to-day basis.

Social media refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the creation of words and pictures among other things. The interaction, and the manner information is presented, depends on the many perspectives and "building" of shared meaning. It uses the “wisdom of crowds” to link in a collective manner and it is displayed in many different forms such as message boards, forums, weblogs, pictures and video.

Unlike traditional media (newspapers, books, television, etc.), social media is not limited to a set number of pages or hours. Examples of social media applications are MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn among many others.

The following video relates to the social media press release. What will be next on a platform with unlimited possibilities? Until next article...

Britney Spears - Official Site

This is an excellent example of a bad site. The message "New Official Site Coming Soon" has been up for months, maybe even longer. I have to think that this is related to all the turmoil in the young artist's life.

The only thing you can do on the site is join the mailing list, join fan club (for a price) or enter the store (again buy, buy, buy). No real value added unless you are willing to spend money.

Search engines normally reject sites with “Under Construction” content. This will downgrade or eliminate your website all together. Your goal is to rank high, meaning on the first page whether organic or PPC.

Provided your website is developed and linked as it should be, then you will be a winner! Visit WebEvents Consulting Group for more information on our services and how we can help your business.

Sustainable Web Design

What is sustainable Web design and how can we be part of it? As with the green sites, this is a relatively new concept enabling online strategies for sustainable businesses.

The Web can be a thriving, sustainable place, if we do our job to make it this way. But how can we achieve this and where do we go for Web design companies providing these services?


Following is what I call the CTT insight on the subject:

Content
The first guideline for sustainability in Web development is an obvious one: Quality, up-to-date content.

Timing
For the most part, companies experience a rushed urge to get something up on the Web. Sometimes this result in half-built sites or warnings that the site is under construction. A sustainable site is, of course, always a work in progress with improvements, revisions, expansion, and redesign).

Technologies
Most of us think about Web technologies in terms of software packages. However, authors of a sustainable Website will not have allegiances to any particular software, but to the organizations like the W3C that help oversee the languages and standards that everyone can use to create Web pages. We need to be careful about the shortcuts we can take to create content as sometimes this can lead to a site or page which is not easily editable and/or expandable.

Finally, a simple way to organize your thoughts and the strategy of your site is asking yourself these questions: Does your web designer know strategies that can save you thousands of dollars? Can you edit the site yourself, without any special programs? Is the navigation easy and user friendly? Does it have a good look and feel and ranks high in search engines? Visit http://www.webeventsgroup.com/ for more information on Web design & development, branding and marketing strategies, SEO and many other comprehensive services.

Whether your business is sustainable or going sustainable, our customized web strategies will help you reach your goals.