Melih Oztalay

New website targets online auctions that require Inspections or Appraisals from professionals in the local area of the seller. CheckItOutUpfront.com welcomes the Inspection and Appraisals industries. January 23, 2012 (Internet Industry): Industrial auction sites have become a booming sector on the Internet during the past decade, but many buyers still are skeptical. “If you are interested in a piece of equipment, how do you know if the darn thing still works, and if it has all the cables, connectors, parts, pieces, manuals, discs, etc. that you will need?,” says one reluctant purchaser. Now, a new website, checkitoutupfront.com, will serve as a bridge between online buyers who are physically separated from goods they are considering purchasing and agents who can “check it out” for them. It’s easy enough when one wants to buy a sweater from reputable online retailers... (more)

Lead Generators For Local Automotive Stores Are Losing Their Effectiveness

We certainly agree with the comments made in LinkedIn groups wondering why car dealerships are not getting the volume of leads they used to or the quality of leads they used to from national lead generators. Our own experience with Penske car dealerships have seen very similar results from national lead generators. Leads from the OEM websites, the dealerships own website, Google Adwords far exceed that coming from national lead generators. We need to augment and expand on the discussions in LinkedIn automotive groups and break them up into three major groups. There is no one silve... (more)

Geographic Marketing and Local Listing Wars

Geographic Marketing is an important tool not only for local businesses looking to attract consumers through local business listings, but also for the large online companies who host such listings. Have you noticed the number of commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local business listing industry? These companies are all trying to capitalize on the local business marketing industry, and are consistently fighting for top recognition and use. For example, you may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, Super Media, Yellow Book. I... (more)

Geographic Marketing Local Business Listings Previewed In Google Search Results

Google has been allowing for web pages to be previewed before clicking on a search result for quite some time since 2010. Equally we have seen a number of changes taking place during 2011 in Local Business Listings from Google’s Places and Maps. These changes have include the removal of third party reviews, layout changes to what information is viewable and a strong focus on securing ratings and reviews. Google Places results which provide local results before national results now received the instant preview feature too and are displayed on the first page of the search results.... (more)

How Social Media Changed Branding

Each week, Dear Gracie answers questions from ProfNet Connect readers with advice from our network of more than 44,000 ProfNet experts. Has there been a question burning in your mind lately, something you’ve been wondering that none of your friends can answer? Please send it to grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com Dear Gracie, I’m interested in tips for branders/advertisers/marketers on how social media is different from traditional media. Are there any tactics we should use specifically for social media vs. traditional media? How do brands become memorable through social media? What ... (more)