- Apr 7, 2009
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- Joe
Bobby,
I’ve got a lot of experience in this area. I am going to get real specific, I hope this post can help you and your team.
So far your job description is purely technical "...create, update, and maintain our dealer websites and psuedo sites.." At this point, you already update and maintain the Dealer.com web site. To create a small site is ok, but to replace Dealer.com site is the last challange, not your 1st.
Let's talk Geek.
Having a in-house geek can solve some problems, but it opens a whole new can of worms.
EXAMPLE: I am an Internet Marketing consultant for a successful Florida real estate/rental company. The VP wanted more control and hired a personal webmaster. 24 months later the ROI from the webmaster is way below his goals and to toss salt in the wounds, the VP has 100 weeks of training he's invested into him and now his geek has marketable experiences to deliver to his competitors. So, the VP won’t let go of him (a real concern).
IMO, Drop your current job title request and take a good look at what you need.
I think you’ll find that they fall into either Technical or Marketing. Don’t let the technical stuff get in the way. Remember you build a site/tool once, but marketing players will use it all the time. What do you NEED done to sell more cars?
TECHNICAL NEEDS:
I would seriously consider hiring yourself a technical guru via 1099 on an as needed basis. There are many Self-employed Internet technical vendors are all over. A perfect match would be one that works our industry.
MARKETING NEEDS:
Because Marketing and Selling cars are closely related, I'd look for a player with marketing skills that is in the biz (or loves cars). Ideally this player has killer communication skills and can work with everyone, from Management, Sales to the data entry people. Ideally the player can see a need for a technical tool, draft a plan and can work with technical vendors to create the tool.
For example, I use 4 different technical sub-contractors for UsedCarKing.com. I recently began using Umer.autojini for my PPC campaign. This guy knows friggin’ everything technical and specializes in our industry. He comes highly recommended.
Lastly, “you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone”.
Which ever way you go, DON’T RUSH. Keep your main vendor have them build you custom pages plus you can build small sites around it. You’re going to make mistakes, make your mistakes on little stuff. Do not change from Dealer.com to a self hosted solution until you’ve got the right player for the job. We’re 18 months into UsedCarKing.com and as Alex will attest to, there are a zillion moving parts all going in different directions. Changing sites is a P.I.A..
My SUMMARY:
Pay your new person on performance metrics. Generate leads and sell cars. Ideas are:
I’ve got a lot of experience in this area. I am going to get real specific, I hope this post can help you and your team.
So far your job description is purely technical "...create, update, and maintain our dealer websites and psuedo sites.." At this point, you already update and maintain the Dealer.com web site. To create a small site is ok, but to replace Dealer.com site is the last challange, not your 1st.
Let's talk Geek.
Having a in-house geek can solve some problems, but it opens a whole new can of worms.
- Will this geek be expected to know what is needed to sell cars? (Becareful of assumptions, geeks know absolutely nothing about selling cars.)
- You have 6 rooftops. Will your geek get orders from one person, or, report to each GM?
- Having a geek on staff can have a loooong learning curve.
- Beware the Geek Ego monster. They're everywhere. No-one under your roof can 2nd guess his methods, look out for lil’ Hitler. (you've been warned!)
- Remember, there is NO ONE WAY TO BUILD A SITE. so...
- How will you measure his success?
- Who on staff has the technical knowledge to manage this webmaster?
EXAMPLE: I am an Internet Marketing consultant for a successful Florida real estate/rental company. The VP wanted more control and hired a personal webmaster. 24 months later the ROI from the webmaster is way below his goals and to toss salt in the wounds, the VP has 100 weeks of training he's invested into him and now his geek has marketable experiences to deliver to his competitors. So, the VP won’t let go of him (a real concern).
IMO, Drop your current job title request and take a good look at what you need.
- Your new player has one mission... Sell more cars.
- Your new player has an audience (you only close 1% of your web visitors)
- Your new player has tools (using existing vendors and creating new tools).
I think you’ll find that they fall into either Technical or Marketing. Don’t let the technical stuff get in the way. Remember you build a site/tool once, but marketing players will use it all the time. What do you NEED done to sell more cars?
TECHNICAL NEEDS:
I would seriously consider hiring yourself a technical guru via 1099 on an as needed basis. There are many Self-employed Internet technical vendors are all over. A perfect match would be one that works our industry.
MARKETING NEEDS:
Because Marketing and Selling cars are closely related, I'd look for a player with marketing skills that is in the biz (or loves cars). Ideally this player has killer communication skills and can work with everyone, from Management, Sales to the data entry people. Ideally the player can see a need for a technical tool, draft a plan and can work with technical vendors to create the tool.
For example, I use 4 different technical sub-contractors for UsedCarKing.com. I recently began using Umer.autojini for my PPC campaign. This guy knows friggin’ everything technical and specializes in our industry. He comes highly recommended.
Lastly, “you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone”.
Which ever way you go, DON’T RUSH. Keep your main vendor have them build you custom pages plus you can build small sites around it. You’re going to make mistakes, make your mistakes on little stuff. Do not change from Dealer.com to a self hosted solution until you’ve got the right player for the job. We’re 18 months into UsedCarKing.com and as Alex will attest to, there are a zillion moving parts all going in different directions. Changing sites is a P.I.A..
My SUMMARY:
Pay your new person on performance metrics. Generate leads and sell cars. Ideas are:
- Make them a team player (pay for each unit sold)
- Reward them for conquering new territory (craigs list, free & paid 3rd party sites, etc)
- Reward them for owning top10 positions for search engines for your dealer names (i.e. preston auto - Google Search)
- Bonus them on conversions (visitor submits email or calls)
- Bonus for sales per visitor ratio (now you close roughly 1% of your visitors, do the math, upside here is amazing)
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