Car rental > What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing

What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing

by: Mike Street

Stand next to any road, and every so often a young person will go by with the latest rap CD blaring. If it happens to be a cold day, he (it is always a he) may have the windows up. Then, all you will hear is the thud of the overworked bass speaker in the back. After he turns 30, the young driver probably won?t even be able to hear that, if he continues this unwarranted assault on his ears.

That big bass bin can?t handle the vocal sounds, and the front speakers would melt if they had all those thumps going through them. So the car audio separates out the various frequencies using filters, sending only the bass to the big bins in the back, and only the higher and more delicate sounds to the little speakers at the front. Both, and especially the bass, are then amplified so they are audible in the next county.

Marketers have borrowed the same terminology as a way of looking at how their business treats its customers. Marketing graduates will often talk about ?Filters? and ?Amplifiers? almost as if they actually understood them.

Filters

A filter in marketing speak is anything which prevents your customer from doing business with you. Some filters are ?natural? ? if you provide personal training services for example all of your clients will need to be within easy reach. This natural, geographic filter means that you are unlikely to sell to someone in another country.

Others are contructed. Mercedes Benz dealers the world over have large, bright, glassy establishments. They tend to intimidate anyone who can?t afford the prices, acting as a natural, probably intentional, filter.

Filters can also be fairly subtle. If you send out a mailing by post, research shows many are discarded without even being opened. If you have a leaflet delivered, the ?open an envelope? filter is removed, so people can?t help reading it, even while they are trying to throw it away.

Amplifiers

An amplifier is anything which increases the ease of doing business with you. Any business which decides to take payment via credit cards, for example, will find the number of people who can do business with them is amplified compared to when only cash was acceptable.

Marketers probably won?t admit it, but filters and amplifiers are opposites of the same thing. Removing a filter has an amplifying effect, and vice versa.

I insured my car the other day over the Internet. The first few sites I tried only supported Internet Explorer. That, at least to me, is a filter and I went somewhere a little more Firefox friendly!

Many corporate web sites insist you provide a lot of information before they will send you that ?free? White Paper you are interested in. No doubt that information is required by someone in the business, but it filters out a lot of otherwise interested people who simply won?t take the time to fill out the form and inevitably receive all the sales calls afterwards. After all, they can?t be sure they?re even a prospect before they read the White Paper!

Apple has potentially filtered out a large portion of their target market for iTunes by only accepting credit cards. Most under 18s won?t have a credit card, and they are the major buyers of chart music. The ?Music Store Card? is an attempt to turn this filter into an amplifier.

What Filters and Amplifiers Mean to Your Marketing

Importantly, this way of thinking allows you to look at all of your marketing, online and offline, in a critical way to improve your response rates and your sales. Every time you look at any aspect of your business, ask yourself if this filters out customers you want to serve, or if you can amplify the target market by improving the process.

Perhaps you could send postcards or use leaflets instead of putting brochures in envelopes. Don?t insist on a customer?s life history before you will allow them to buy from you. Make your web site informative and easy to use, rather than slick, ?cutting edge? and hard to understand. If you are providing services, make it clear on your site where you are and the distance you will travel. Use local town and county names as keywords to filter out people who will never be able to buy from you, but to amplify the chance of attracting locals.

If you do this consistently, over time you will get your filters and amplifiers to attract profitable customers to you, not send them away to your competitors, never to return.

About The Author

After more than 30 years in the IT industry, Mike Street is a director of FastComm (http://www.fastcomm.net) which specialises in information and tools to help increase sales, including Airlook Mobile Email software, the Eye Catcher Video Phone and the online Contact Management system, FastCRM. He is also webmaster of his wife's Health and Beauty site Zenergie (http://www.zenergie.co.uk).

mike.street@fastcomm.co.uk

What To Do With Your Automobile VIN Number History

What To Do With Your Automobile VIN Number History

by: Rishi Chawla

Did you know that the VIN number to your automobile is more than just a series of numbers used for identification? In fact, the VIN number of your car can actually reveal to you the history of your vehicle. How can this be so? With a VIN number, you can find out who owned you are car in the past, whether or not the vehicle has been in any accidents and more. In fact, the VIN number is often used from car dealers that travel from home to automobile auctions to determine whether or not a vehicle is worth bidding on before they travel to the auction and place their bids.

Much like a strand of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the VIN number of your vehicle is an identification number like no other?the VIN number of your vehicle relates solely to the vehicle you have purchased or you plan on purchasing and no other vehicle in the world has the same VIN number as the one your car possesses....

What To Do With Your Automobile VIN Number History

Car rental > What To Do With Your Automobile VIN Number History

Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance

Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance

by: David Maillie

Today?s cars can typically be expected to pass the 200,000 mile mark with consistent automobile maintenance. With the price of automobiles, you will want to protect that investment by performing regular maintenance. If you can do much of the work yourself, you will save a lot of money in labor. Invest in a good set of tools and choose quality parts when performing your own automobile maintenance.

If you have some skill, but want to learn more look for courses in general repairs and maintenance. These can often be found at your local community center, Community College or an automotive technical school in your area. Consider investing in a good repair manual for your car, such as a Chilton?s manual. The internet is a good place to look for articles and information. There are many sites devoted to auto repair and maintenance.

You will want to keep track of all maintenance performed...

Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance

Car rental > Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance

Refinancing Real Estate Investments

Refinancing Real Estate Investments

by: Steve Gillman

Why should you consider refinancing real estate investments instead of selling them? Maybe you've owned a rental property for years, you've paid down the mortgage, the value is up, and you want to cash in on that equity. You will do better to refinance. Here's why.

There are two problems with selling. First, selling means paying a large capital gains tax. You can avoid this if you reinvest through a 1031 exchange, but then the point is that you want your money, right? Second, you'll be giving up your inflation-indexed retirement plan. A good rental property generates more income as rents go up.

Refinancing Real Estate Investments Is Better

If you refinance, you can get much of your gain out of the property, without paying a penny in taxes. You see, borrowing money is not a taxable event. Take your loan proceeds and spend them however you want, and still keep your rentals. Doesn't...

Refinancing Real Estate Investments

Car rental > Refinancing Real Estate Investments

Kauai on 2 Wheels or More?

by: Steven Anderson

There is no better place to relax and unwind. Although I had mixed feelings about visiting this place myself, I would surely dare to say that it was an amazing visit that I would never forget. Kauai promises fun filled activities for the entire family. Although the entire island is so huge and there are so many activities and places worth visiting, a drive around the island is a must.

Roughly circular in shape, Kauai is 550 square miles in area and 32 miles in diameter. With little public transportation, rental cars are recommended, but getting around on Kauai is easy. Kauai's roads almost encircle the entire coastline only to stop at the formidable Na Pali Coast where building roads would be impossible. The breathtaking steep green cliffs of Na Pali provide a natural barrier, limiting access to one of the world's most awe-inspiring and primeval places to those walking, on helicopter or traveling...

Kauai on 2 Wheels or More?

Car rental > Kauai on 2 Wheels or More?

Finance Your Car With Poor Credit

Finance Your Car With Poor Credit

by: Carrie Reeder

Cars don't look at your credit before they decide to breakdown. Anyone, with poor credit or great credit, could find themselves in a situation where they need an auto loan. Fortunately, those with poor credit do have options available for financing their vehicles.

"Bad Credit Car Loans"

One of the most common methods of purchasing a car with poor credit is with a "bad credit car loan". You can acquire these loans through auto dealerships, online lenders, and high risk lenders. Typically these loans are available for anyone with a credit score below 600. People can find themselves in this situation after a divorce, after bankruptcy, if they have little credit, or if they have made poor financial decisions. The "bad credit car loans" are designed to protect the lender. They have higher interest rates than conventional auto loans. However, it is in your best interest to shop around for a...

Finance Your Car With Poor Credit

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Good Computer Maintenance - Part Two

by: Marv Ko

In our last part of discussion of good computer maintenance, we will discuss backing up, some free stuff, and cleaning tips. All great bits of advice for proper care of your computer.

Back It Up

One maintenance task that is still crucial is backing up your data, particularly if it is business or financial related. At the very least, manuallly copy such data to a recordable CD or DVD disc when it changes....

vacuum Good Computer Maintenance - Part Two What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing Car rental

Car rental > Good Computer Maintenance - Part Two

Online Law Degree ? Beware of Scholarship Scams

by: Dassana Jayalath

Beware of Scholarship Scams about Online Law Degrees

Don't get carried away by reading tall claims on a website about scholarship for an online law degree. Get enough information about the online law degree scholarship before taking the plunge. Students and parents are advised to review and reconsider the claims made on the websites.

Lets have a look at typical claims these sites...

What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing Car rental Online Law Degree ? Beware of Scholarship Scams

Car rental > Online Law Degree ? Beware of Scholarship Scams

photo printer What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing Car rental

25 Christmas Stocking Filler Ideas For Your Teenage Girl

by: Emily Goodwin

You may think that Christmas stocking fillers for teenage girls will be expensive but they don?t have to be.

Save the DVD?S and CD?S to go under the Christmas tree and use this list as a starting point for buying smaller treats and necessities for her stocking.

Remember that a lot of the items you would have to buy anyway (or get talked into buying!) so by adding them as small...

What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing

Car rental > 25 Christmas Stocking Filler Ideas For Your Teenage Girl

What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing

What Your Car Audio Can Teach You About Marketing Car rental