Posts Tagged ‘ Better Business ’

Better Business: Promoting Your Business on Facebook

By Devlin Smith , June 24, 2010 in Business Resources, Rod Shops

Ken Hinton first started promoting Diamondback Restoration & Collision, his La Vernia, Texas-based restoration shop, on his personal Facebook profile page to improve his shop’s search engine rankings.

“I was submitting my website to a bunch of search engines and they said the more links that you get, the quicker you can be found on search engines,” he said. “I thought I would make another link [to my website] on Facebook. I started checking my web stats after that and [found] a lot of website hits came from Facebook, so it worked.”

More Than Half of Industry Retailers Report Higher April Sales Than in 2009

By Ashley Smissen , June 10, 2010 in Business Resources, News & Events

It’s a small sign, but encouraging nonetheless: a SEMA-sponsored survey of nearly 500 specialty-equipment retailers finds that just over 53 percent reported higher year-to-date sales through April 2010 compared to last year.

Less than a third (30.9 percent), meanwhile, reported flat sales.

The latest SEMA Financial Benchmarking Report also finds retailers in a fairly upbeat mood, with nearly 50 percent predicting sales increases for the summer months. That’s almost a 20-percent jump compared to last year’s outlook.

Better Business: Bartering With Customers & Suppliers

By Devlin Smith , June 9, 2010 in Business Resources

Jewelry store owner Roger Boroway credits barter with helping him build his classic car collection, which includes this 1965 Corvette.

Roger Boroway is a passionate collector of classic cars. Among the dozen or so vehicles he owns are three Corvettes, three Mustangs and a Camaro, all of which have been restored and repaired through barter.

“I’ve gotten a few parts here and there on barter, gotten a few motors,” he said. “I [even] have a bunch of cars that I’ve bought on barter.”

Boroway is the owner of Midas Touch Jewelers in Fairfield, Connecticut, and a franchisee with ITEX, a membership trading company where members trade their goods and services using the company’s proprietary currency.

“ITEX lets me afford to follow my [car] hobby,” Boroway said. “Without ITEX, I don’t think I would be able to have as much as I do.”

Bartering through networks like ITEX or one-on-one with customers and suppliers can offer retailers a number of benefits, including building better customer relationships and increasing cash flow.

10 Tips for Mastering Your To-Do List

By Ashley Smissen , June 8, 2010 in Business Resources, Editor's Corner, How-To-Articles

By Travis Weeks, HRR Publisher

Have you ever had something really important on your to-do list but had a hard time getting to it because you were too busy doing other important things? If you don’t end up completing it all, something can slip through the cracks and become a bigger problem down the road.

What we’re really talking about here is multi-tasking. Whether you’re running a small business or a large company, in today’s world multi-tasking isn’t something that just happens at crunch time; it’s an everyday reality.

Better Business: How to Improve Your Website’s Traffic

By Ashley Smissen , April 30, 2010 in Business Resources, How-To-Articles

Currently, 74 percent of Internet users never make it past page one on a search engine when looking for something, according to a new story published by SEMA.

“Your material has to be found,” said Brian Offenberger, CEO of Phoenix-based Right On–No Bull Marketing, who led the “Jumpstart Your Internet Marketing” seminar at the 2009 SEMA Show. “You can have the best website in the world, but if people can’t find it, you’re done. Think about your own behavior. The only time you go past page one on a search engine is if you can’t find what you’re looking for or you’re researching a topic.”

Better Business: How to Launch a New Product

By Ashley Smissen , April 16, 2010 in Business Resources, How-To-Articles, Products

Think you know what it takes to successfully introduce a new product in today’s tough market? Well, according to Tom Marx, president and CEO of The Marx Group, who moderated the 2009 SEMA Show webinar entitled “Product Launches: What You Must and Must Not Do,” every product launch should start with “The Six Ps”: Plan, Product, Pricing, Placement, Promotion and Participation.

Better Business: Offering Credit to Your Customers

By Devlin Smith , April 1, 2010 in Business Resources, Rod Shops

If one of your customers is getting a large job done at your shop, should you provide the financing? With the proper cash flow, credit checks, employee training and promotion, this could prove to be a smart move for your business.

Financials: What They Are and How to Use Them

By Ashley Smissen , October 23, 2009 in Business Resources, Rod Shops

Financials

Gaining financial control of a business involves several steps. But the first and most vital step in the sequence is tracking and recording all income and expenses.

Better Business: Ten Ways to Find Quality Employees

By Ashley Smissen , September 17, 2009 in Business Resources, Rod Shops

store

The old saying “It’s hard to find good help these days” has never been as true as it is today. Part of the problem lies in the fact that the industry as a whole has been, and will continue to be, a niche industry.

Business Phone Etiquette 101

By Ashley Smissen , August 13, 2009 in Business Resources, Rod Shops

Poor phone skills can cost your shop big bucks. Making sure you— and your employees— are trained to handle customers over the phone can make a difference when customers are deciding which shop to trust with their dream car.