CarFolks.com – Social Networking for Car Buying?

This was bound to happen…

Today, Cleveland based CarFolks.com was announced. The company has billed themselves as being a “revolutionary new social networking site for ‘everything automotive’”.

The website currently is nothing more than a flash intro claiming that they will change the way we all shop for cars. You can view it here.

It will be interesting to see how this company gets off the ground. From the looks of it, it looks like it will be a new and improved version of AutoBytel’s MyRide.com product. I know that their is a HUGE segment of the population that would be interested in a one-stop shop for everything automotive, but don’t we already have that with the Autotraders, Cars.coms, and search engines of the world. This could be a big opportunity to dealerships to get involved if they are offering a mini-blog type service where their customer base can comment and review everything related to their dealership. They will also have a dealer rating feature to show potential customers the good, bad, and ugly of what car buying options are available in their market.

I’ll post updates as this project gets off the ground.

HotSwap.com for Car Dealerships

HotSwap.com is an interesting concept that recently had their website redesigned.

Instead of the standard still picture layouts most auto portal websites are using, HotSwap is based around video. They have everything from Geo Metros to Lamborghini Gallardos with video For Sale signs. The user-generated videos for the vehicles are VERY well done and should be used as an example for what can be done with an inexpensive video camera!!

I can only find a couple of dealerships that are using HotSwap.com to connect with their customers. Check them out here and here.

I think that we will see more and more websites and portals migrate to video based content like this to sell cars and homes in the future. It just makes since to see things for yourself versus guessing if the seller is a great photographer or has a great vehicle.

Blogs for Car Dealerships

You’ve heard about blogging and the benefits it might have for your dealership…but now what?

Managing and maintaining a blog with current content is something that you are going to have to work with your staff to accomplish. Blogs can be used for a variety of purposes. You can let customers in your market know about events at your dealership. You can inform the world about the community service and charity work you or your employees participate in. From a customer service standpoint, blogs are an excellent way for your customers to let you know how they feel in a moderated online environment.

Below are a few popular blog services:

Blogger is a free blogging service that was recently purchased by Google. WARNING – If you are serious about starting a blog for your dealership, DO NOT START WITH BLOGGER!! Blogger is extremely limited in terms of what you can do with it. If you start blogging with Blogger, you might discover that it will not handle what you would like and you’ll end up having to start over. You’ve been warned…

DealerInternet101.com is powered with WordPress. It has a fairly robust user interface and…is free! You have alot of flexibility with a WordPress blog when it comes to customization and your user interface. Signup for an account for your dealership…what can it hurt??

I haven’t used TypePad, but I’ve heard that it is a good service. I do know that one of the best dealership blogs I’ve seen, Checkered Flag’s Blog, uses Typepad…

If you build a blog for your dealership, or if you are just starting, comment below to let us know what is working and what isn’t!!!

Flickr For Car Dealerships

Flickr is a photo sharing site that allows you to post pictures of anything at your dealership. You can post your inventory, post pictures of your dealership, or post pictures of your events in second! Flick (owned by Yahoo!) is a free service.

To register for a Flickr account, goto this website: www.flickr.com

The nice thing about Flickr is that you can ‘tag’ each one of your photos to explain what they represent. If done properly, this is a great way to brand your dealership online with multiple images posted across the Internet with keywords and terms related to your store.

If you know of any dealerships using Flickr, or if you just signed up for an account and got started, comment below and let us know!!

Facebook For Car Dealerships

Facebook is one of the fastest growing social networking sites on the Internet. It is very similar to MySpace, but with an easy-to-use interface. They have recently allowed businesses to create profiles on their website, which is a free service.

Facebook’s claim to fame are the millions of applications the company has allowed developers from around the globe build on their open-source platform. These applications range from music players to photo slideshows to crossword puzzles. I don’t of any dealerships that are using actively using Facebook, but with hundreds of applications being developed daily, it’s only a matter of time before your inventory and specials could be integrated into a Facebook Application.

To register for a Facebook page, visit this website: https://register.facebook.com/

If you know of any dealership’s with Facebook pages, or if you just made one yourself, comment below and let us know about it!!

MySpace For Car Dealerships

MySpace was one of the first, and is currently the biggest, social networking sites. The premise of the website is pretty simple, you build a space and then invite your ‘friends’ into it. MySpace is a free service that your dealership can utilize to build a ‘friend’ network among your customers and their friends.

Your dealership can create a MySpace page by going to this website: http://signup.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=join

You can build a MySpace page in a matter of minutes. Get an account, build a profile page for your dealership, let your employees know about it, and get some ‘friends’!!! Once you create your page, comment on this page to let us know about it!!

YouTube For Car Dealerships

YouTube has provided dealerships an excellent opportunity to share commercials, videos, and product information with customers in your market. YouTube (owned by Google) is a free service and ANYONE can register a ‘YouTube Channel’. I recommend that if you do nothing else, register your dealership’s YouTube Channel ASAP!!

Click here for YouTube’s Account Registration page: http://youtube.com/signup

Once you get a channel for your dealership, you can fill it up with all types of video goodness. Got a TV commercial? Post it. Have you videotaped your salespeople doing walkarounds? Post them. Make sure that your video posts are indexable by the search engines by submitting detailed descriptions about what the video is all about. Remember, video is really cool, but search engines don’t have a way to ’see’ what is on each video. We have to wait for Web 3.0 for that!