News

Update posted on 7/31/2010 – The 8th Digital Dealer Conference was a blast and it was the packed with eager to learn automotive professionals. The next Digital Dealer Conference will be held in Las Vegas from October 12-14th and PCG Digital Marketing will be there once again as a speaker and a vendor.   If your dealership has been holding pack on digital marketing education or conferences, I would fight hard to get budgeting to attend this year’s conference in Las Vegas.

I hope to see you in Las Vegas in the fall!

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The 8^TH Digital Dealer conference is set for April 20 – 22 at the Rosen Shingle Creek.  If you need specifics on the conference, you can visit the official Digital Dealer Conference website at: www.digitaldealerconference.com.

I am expecting this year’s conference to be the largest to date, as more dealers are seeking education and collaboration on their digital marketing strategies.

I will be submitting a new set of seminar topics for consideration this year.  If you have appreciated my seminars in the past, please send a note to the DD8 team and tell them to invite me back this year.

8th Digital Dealer Conference

According to the announcement I received about the conference:

The 8th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition will be held at the Rosen Shingle Creek, April 20-22, 2010. The last conference in Nashville in November drew more than 540 dealership attendees, and featured 46 exhibitors in more than 60 booths spaces.

Combined, the last two Digital Dealer Conferences drew just under 1,000 registered dealers, GMs, Internet Sale Managers, e-Commerce Directors and BDC/CRM Managers – every one of them there to learn more about Internet and technology-related issues from both speakers and exhibitors.

We expect 50 to 60 exhibitors and more than1,000 attendees in Orlando this spring, with more than 500 attendees coming from dealerships. We’ve done seven of these now, and continue to balance both attendees’ and exhibitors/sponsors’ goals. For value and marketing impact, there simply is no better event marketing opportunity for your tight budget.

Automotive Digital Marketing

Since the Conference will be scheduled for April, if dealers need assistance planning their 2010 Internet Marketing budgets and strategies, please give us a call.  We have been getting more calls than ever to have Brian sit down with dealership executive teams to plot out the best way to grow their business on the Internet.

If you need some references to the benefits that Brian can give to your digital marketing strategies in 2010, give us a call and we’ll give you a list of your peers that have sat through a planning session with Brian.

As dealers move more of the Advertising and Marketing budgets to the Internet, dealers need to have a comprehensive strategy for spending and measuring their investment.  Give us a call at 732-450-8200 to ensure that your direction and budgets for 2010 are on the mark!

Automotive Marketing Boot Camp

Don’t forget to join Brian Pasch and other experts at the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp in Orlando in February, the day before the official start of the NADA convention.  Details can be found at:  http://www.automotivemarketingbootcamp.com and you can register online.

I can remember my first computers which included the Apple IIe, Radio Shack TRS-80 and even my Kaypro CPM based portable (luggable) PC. I’m not sure where to place the Commodore 64.

My first real business computer was an IBM PC/XT and I’ve owned PC computers with every CPU upgrade since that first 8086 Intel processor.

Many readers may not understand the mixture of smiles and cursing that was associated with AST Rampage memory boards, ATI Video cards, Seagate Hard Drives, Phoenix BIOS chips, serial port cards, SCSI hard disk drives, ESDI hard drives, Novel networking software or the turn in the marketing when Compaq came out with the first 386 desktop.

I feel old just recalling all those names that once were very important to me as a computer consultant.

Tomorrow Is A Day of Change

Tomorrow, on Black Friday, Apple is planning a special one day sale and some have reported that the Apple sale will include discounts on hardware and software. After all the years as a PC advocate, I am going out to purchase six iMac desktops (List: $1,199) and two Mac laptops for my newly hired staff.

I’m sharing this story because the world of PC hardware and software has dramatically changed in the past few years. Most of the work done on computers today are either web based applications or productivity software like Microsoft Office.

In fact, my office recently switched most of the productivity software to “Open Office” which is a free software platform with features comparable to Microsoft Office. Adding a thousand dollars in software costs for every new employee was getting old fast. All my WordPress microsite developers need is a text editor, FTP software and a web browser to work all day long and all of these tools are free.

As more open source, free software becomes available and more application move to the web, the hardware platform will become less import and the OS will rule the day. The Apple iPhone and new Blackberry Phones can surf the web in a pinch very nicely and they are a PHONE. This is one reason why Google has decided to go into the OS business, but more on that in a minute.

With the emergence of cloud computing, large server closets or data centers in corporate America will soon be a thing of the past. Being a PC hardware specialist has less demand in the current marketplace. Hardware is becoming disposable just like when a phone breaks, you don’t decide you open up the device and fix it. The world is becoming a network of web browsers connected to cloud computing data centers.

Operating System Alternatives

As previously mentioned, Google has even moved into the Operating System (OS) business with new devices based on their web centric OS. It is not as robust as Windows 7 but it does not have to be to gain momentum in the market. Many consumers use their computers for only email, web surfing, social networking, photos, music and video. All of these common tasks can be done seamlessly on a Mac and in the future, maybe Google OS.

Google Chrome and Firefox have made Internet Explorer obsolete. WordPress Guru calls IE “Internet Exploder“. The web experience on a Mac is richer and the tools that come with a Mac are more user friendly and innovative.

Hardware Costs Can Be Deceiving

PC hardware is less expensive than Mac hardware so if you just look at price, you would never buy a Mac. That’s why I think there has been less of a conversion to the Mac Operating System. You can purchase a decent PC laptop for $700 and the new Mac laptops start at $999.

Those $300 in hardware savings can quickly evaporate with PC support costs. My top of the line Dell PC and Windows Vista locks up every week and is annoying. Vista has been a train wreck and my last batch of Dell laptops with Vista have been a nightmare. Of the five that I purchased, two of them have intermittent software problems that cause hours of nonproductive time each month. Dell can’t fix the problem.

I’m planning on purchasing the Apple Care support package and have all purchased hardware covered for three years. This locks my costs in upfront and based on my experience, the added costs will be paid back for me in the first two months.

Goodbye Microsoft Operating System

It’s been a love hate relationship since the early 80′s but I have to admit that I have been courted by a slick operating system and sexy hardware that is more reliable and easier to master in a web based world.

I need to focus on my business and productivity and I believe the time has come to face the reality that in a web based world we can lose the tether of the Microsoft Operating System.

P.S. I’ll be at the Apple Store in Freehold at 5:00 am.

Brian Pasch
http://twitter.com/automotiveseo
http://facebook.com/paschconsulting

Brian Pasch is a national speaker on Automotive SEO and Internet Marketing strategies.  Brian is an active leader in online automotive marketing communities. 

His advice and leadership has helped to create a better awareness of the importance of Automotive SEO , Internet Reputation Management and Social Media tools. 

Brian was recently featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas and will be presenting at the 7th Digital Dealer Conference in Nashville on November 1, 2009.

Brian’s Automotive Blogs

You can follow Brian’s automotive blogs and marketing articles on these websites:  

• DrivingSales.com – http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/paschconsulting  
• AutomotiveDigitalmarketing.com –  http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profile/NJSEOExpert  
• Dealer-SEO.com  – http://www.dealer-seo.com  
• InternetSalesManager.org – http://www.internetsalesmanager.org/profile/brianpasch  

You can also catch Brian Pasch on a weekly webcast on www.drivingsales.com/blogs/webinars with fellow Automotive Marketing experts Paul Rushing and JD Rucker.  The webcasts air every Wednesday at 12:00 noon EST.

Practicing What We Preach

The PCG Digital Marketing implements their effective search marketing strategies for their own business.  We practice what we preach and the National and State wide search results for our marketing websites is clear proof what we can offer competitive car dealers for their PMA.

To validate, just go into Google and type any of the phrases below to see, that our articles and microsites appear on Google Page One Nationally:

• Automotive SEO – #1 in USA
• Automotive SEO Speaker – #1 in USA
• Car Dealer SEO – #2 in USA
• Car Dealer SEO Marketing – #1 in USA
• Automotive Webinar – #2 and #3 in USA
• Automotive SEO Marketing – #2, #3, #4 in USA
• Automotive SEO Microsites – #1, #2 and #3 in USA
• Automotive SEO Specialist – #1 in USA
• Automotive Internet Marketing – #2 in USA
• Automotive Internet Reputation Management #1 thru #5 in USA
• Automotive WordPress Microsites – #1 in USA

For a Complimentary Review of Your Internet Marketing Visibility – Call 732-450-8200