For the past several months, 5 I believe, we have dedicated this blog to be a working demonstration of our RSS Marketing product. The purpose of RSS Marketing is for SEO promotion and it is highly effective for that, but RSS Marketing does not engage your audience. So, the time has come to re-connect with our audience. Here we are, on a Sunday evening, June 01, 2008, sitting down to initiate a new era for the AC Blog.

I miss the networking aspect of blogging, and the empirical mentality that good blogging perpetuates. We call this Relational Marketing in our product and it is a next step in the evolution of AutoConversion products. That’s right. Now that we have proven the effectiveness of RSS Marketing and have built it in as a core component to our SEO promotion, we are evolving into the next realm of Blog Marketing for Car Dealers - Relational Marketing.

Two years ago when I first got in to blogging, it wasn’t even a buzz word in automotive. There were a few people doing it, such as Jake Jacobson from Higher Turnover, Jeff Kershner from DealerRefresh, Umer Farooq from AutoJini, and Brian Hoecht from Ai-Dealer. We got to know one another a bit from our blogging and still do today. In fact, as many have witnessed, Kersh’s blog has elevated his own career and even inspired many another to take a crack at it.

But there are numerous applications of blogging which pose a choice for Car Dealers today. You have guys like Alex Snyder effectively blogging for Dealership awareness and promotion. You also have guys like Paul Rushing of ISM in Training who blog for what we call Personal Branding, which is essentially using the blogosphere to literally sell cars. I see this as the future of a Car Dealer Salesman quite frankly.

So, as I reflect on the magnificence of where blogging today leaves us, I truly look forward to getting back in to the swing of things at the “relational” level here. For those that still frequent the AC Blog, I commend you for your diligence considering the impersonal nature of our content these past months with the RSS Marketing. But if you are out there and reading this, then may the force continue to be with you.

Here’s to blogging and relationships!

Cheers, -RG

Today I went to Ridley Creek State Park near my home here in PA with my wife, her Father visiting from out of the country, and our near-3-year son. Despite the fantastic weather, pretty much autumn-like, I expected the park to be rather empty considering that today is Christmas. But it wasn’t. In fact, there were hardly any available parking spaces so I parked in a puddle of mud.

We had a nice walk alongside the creek. There were people jogging, biking, and walking intimately with a spouse or sibling, some dogs too, not much different from any other day at that park. There was no pressure to say “Merry Christmas” to everyone, which I thought was nice. Just warm friendly smiles and occasional hello. Very natural, very peaceful. A needed sensation for this time of year.

Os Hillman provided a nice note today too in his TGIF devotional if you are interested in reading it you can visit my RM blog. It’s about the day that Christ Jesus quietly came in to this world and was born into a manger because the Inn was full. He calls it a “missed opportunity” for the Inn keeper. I felt it was a nice compliment to my stroll today in the park because it reflects the quiet subtle meekness that can sometimes be hidden in the chaos of Christmas today in America.

If you did not receive the web2ologies Holiday Card please let me know so I can make sure you are on our list.

Merry Christmas to you and your families and thank you for being a part of the AC Experience.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…. - John 3:16

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness of his faith. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy-white to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church and the firmness of God’s promises.

The candy maker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also be thought to represent the staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received, and by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

The candy became known as the candy cane-a decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there.

During Christmas, do you reflect on the real meaning of the season? It is one season we can use like no other to bring the focus on Christ. Ask God to give you opportunities to share Christ with someone this Christmas.

Courtesy of TGIF by MarketplaceLeaders.org.