MyRVAdvantage

Should we integrate to eBay?

Steven Webster — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:39:56 GMT

We're trying to determine if we should add a "one click" eBay integration between our inventory showroom and eBay. Please vote below and feel free to post up what you think.

How to Attach a File to a Post

Steven Webster — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:39:43 GMT

Adding a file such as an image or document is easy. Just use the attachments feature below

Norris Marine Launches Site on MyRVAdvantage

Steven Webster — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:49:53 GMT

Our newest client to go live with chat and MarketBridge is Norris Marine in Norman, Oklahoma. http://www.norrismarine.com

Norris Marine has served the Oklahoma City area for 39 years and they are located about 20 miles south of the heart of downtown Oklahoma City. They have seven acres of boats and a new, modern marine facility. They also have a very large showroom capable of handling over 30 boats. Their parts, service and sales staff have all been recognized within the industry and are award winning.

They primarily carry five lines and they are: Bayliner, Nitro, Crownline, Sun Tracker and Tracker Boats. They do have a small inventory selection at this time and that is due to the end of the season.

The Virtual Dealership?

Steven Webster — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:08:26 GMT

Have an opinion about dealerships moving towards a "virtual model"? Let us know what you think.

Are We Turning Around?

Steven Webster — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:59:43 GMT

I've been seeing a lot of articles in the trade press lately about companies re-hiring laid off workers. Most of them seem to be upstream in the supply chain, engines, chassis, even some OEMs. Is this a sign of recovery in the RV Industry or just a corrections to a previous over-reaction?

Let us know what you think.

Is anyone using Facebook effectively?

Steven Webster — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:09:28 GMT

I've been noticing some ads and pages on Facebook for RV Dealers lately. We have some clients using it too. Is anyone getting results from Facebook that they would be willing to share?

Positioning RVs are lifestyle enabling solutions for non traditional buyers

Steven Webster — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:14:42 GMT

Ironman Louisville is this weekend. Some 2900 hard core, dedicated endurance athletes began arriving in town this past week. They are everywhere and hotels are sold out. I saw ten of them in the local market yesterday buying groceries and their special food, etc. I asked one of them how they cooked it all and they told me the got a hotel outside of town that had a little kitchen. They said it was expensive but worth it.

My wheels began turning. As someone who uses a motorhome to support my bike racing habit (addiction) don't these people know you can rent or buy an RV and it will enable you to travel and compete for less. And you can bring all of your own gear and food and family and dogs and whatever with you?

Of course not. Because we're not telling them about it.

These IM Athletes can spend over $10K on a bicycle, 15 - 20 hours training, monthly fees on coaching and nutrition and books. So, how can we as an industry do a better job of making the connection between athletes (and any other special interest group) and our products?

HOW TO: Change Your Forum Avatar

Steven Webster — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:03:21 GMT

Changing your avatar (the little picture that shows up next to your posts on our forum) is pretty easy. Avatars are a great way to personalize your posts and allow other people to quickly and easily identify you on the forum. They can be a picture your dealership logo, etc.

To add or update your avatar follow these simple steps:

1. Click on the My Profile link at the top of the forum (you'll need to be registered and logged into our site to see this link)

2. This will bring up your profile page. Click on the Edit Profile icon

3. In the Avatar section, use the Browse button and select an image you want to use as an avatar. (Ideally these images are 100 x 100 pixels under 50K and a gif, jpg or png format.)

4. Click Save

That's it! You should now see your avatar next to all of your posts.

Adding a Favicon to Your Website

Steven Webster — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:23:19 GMT

A favicon is a little icon that replaces the internet explorer ‘e’ icon in the address bar and on tabs when browsing sites. It also shows in browser history. Typically these are little micro logos or a simplified version of a branding element for a dealer (a clipart RV for example).

You can easily create and upload favicons for your Web 3.0 now. And it’s surprisingly simple to do. Just create or use a basic square image that represents the brand for that dealership. It should be as simple as possible since it will ultimately be very small and hard to read. A general rule of thumb is the less detail the better.

For my example I’m using part of Stinnett RV logo:

You can then upload your simple image to a free site and convert it to an icon file of the correct size. I used this one:

http://www.htmlkit.com/services/favicon/

This site will convert the images to an ico file, reduce their size and allow you to download a zip file containing the favicon.ico file. This site will create a zip file which you can download. The file will contain the favicon and an animated favicon (for super cool flashy dealer sites)

Once you’ve created the favicon.ico file, you can upload it to the root of your Web 3.0 site by logging in and accessing the Admin | File Manager | Uploads functionality. Once you do, the icon will show in the address bar like this:

One note: your file must be named favicon.ico and have the ico extension in order to work. Also, simply renaming a jpg or gif will not work it must be a tru icon file in order for Web 3.0 to see it and display it in the correct places.

This is a little thing and might seem like a minor detail, but it’s one more item that can separate a professional dealership site from the pack.

New Best Practices Forum

Steven Webster — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:51:53 GMT

Most of the time forums are used for support and pre-sales questions. While that is certainly a big part of what we're doing here...we also know that a lot of our customers could benefit from talking to other customers.

After all, our customers have some pretty good ideas, many of which make it into what we do for a living....so why not use our site to connect customers directly?

This seemed like a pretty good idea so we created a new forum for customers to connect directly with other customers. You can view the forum here.