I have invested a great deal of my time, and a lot of my affiliated automotive advertising agencies and auto dealer/vendor client's money, to monetize social networking with great success.  My challenge has been to first learn and then apply the social etiquette that places relationships and relevent content for my friends in the online communities that I support over my confessed goal to make a living doing it. I contribute to my own auto industry facing social networking community as well as those of my friends like Ralph Paglia Jeffery Kershner, Jared Hamilton, Joe Webb, Gilbert Chavez, Jody Devere, Scottt Monty and even my clients while developing sites for them.   After all, as I am known to say - what are friends for! My recent decision to "invest" in DrivingSales.Com was the result of the respect that I have for Jared and his team in developing such a transparent site and the insights shared by its respected members - many of whom are already valued friends with many more that I look forward to meeting both online and in the "real world." Frankly, as much as I try to teach on these forums I am always amazed at how much I am able to learn.  DrivingSales.Com - in particular - has established filters in their post and strategies that I anticipate will allow me efficient access to resource information on specific subjects that I may need to research for my clients or that might be of personal interest.  I foresee that DrivingSales.Com will take my online education to a new level that deserves honorable mention and I would appreciate your help in accelerating my learning curve with the added value that it  might do the same for my friends that read this post. I couldn't possibly list all of the new ideas and best practices that I "borrowed" from friends on the social networking sites that I frequent but I can give credit where credit is due - and so should we all!  If you would be so kind as to reply or comment with some of the shared wisdoms that you have learned from DrivingSales.Com so that I can look them up using their proprietary search filter I would be most appreciative.   You can list the subjects, the authors or the posts - whatever you think deserves honorable mention and my review. As for the point of this post, I strongly advise my new online friends to join my "old" online friends and to participate in as many auto industry social networking and blog sites as possible.  Share the wealth by passing on your wisdom and experience and you will find that the bible was correct about casting that bread upon the waters! After all, what are friends for! Philip Zelinger, President, Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. Office #: 1-888-796-2228  email:  pzads@bellsouth.net http://AdAgencyOnline.Net

A career in the auto industry is still as rewarding and challenging as always.  As in any "profession," it requires an investment of time, money and a certain amount of inherited skills - not everyone is cut out to be a brain surgeon either.  If a young person is focused and they have sufficient people skills with the work ethic to put their customer's interests ahead of their own then my advice is to say - "What, are you crazy!  If you sell cars you are dead to me!"  If they persist past that initial qualifier, then support them since they have passed the first requirement of being a professional auto salesperson.   A salesperson in any field must be able to put up with rejection, be focused on the long term goal of success and have the strength of conviction to succeed in any chosen career - including the car business. Once they have passed the personality test it is your job to list the "courses" that they should take in the college of life which should mirror those that they may be missing if they bypass the State University to acquire their education.  They still need to take courses in Physchology,  Mathematics, Computer Science, Marketing, Public Relations, Sociology, Business, Accounting and other Art Sciences to round out their personality and social/people skills, however, they can start making a living while they are learning.  All of these subjects are being taught by forward thinking auto dealeships that have in-house training centers supported by factory certification programs and who support their staff by sending them to industry seminars and conferences like the 7th Digital Dealer Conference, J.D. Powers Conference, the N.A.D.A. Convention and dozens of other online webinars sponsored by/through Automotive News and industry organizations like S.A.S.; to name a few! One new set of courses that has been added to the curriculum since I started my career/education in the auto business - way back in 1975 selling Hondas  - is in the Computer, Internet and technology sector.  People are still part of the process and all of the basic sciences are applied in using computers, the Internet and the developing technologies that tie them together.  However, the consolidating auto industry that may have popped into your mind when your son/daughter asked if it was still a good career choice suggests that there are new efficiencies needed to be successful that didn't exist for previous generations. Reduced sales volumes and margins coupled with expanded access to information that allows customers to bypass auto dealerships and salespeople to gather the information that they need to select a dealership, salesperson and vehicle - in that order -  demand that tomorrow's salespeople will need more efficient tools to net a profit and make a living.  I started my sales career with a yellow pad, a calculator and an appointment calendar selling 25-35 cars per month to earn a six figure annual income.  Today I run a national network of 19 affiliated automotive advertising agencies and production partners representing 340+ auto dealerships and a growing number of technology vendors, an auto industry social networking site with a dedicated blog talk radio station, a "network of networkers" social networking site linking a number of similar online automotive communities, a Commercial Real Estate group specializing in auto dealership acquisition and disposition and I speak at Dealer 20 Groups, Industry Conferences and Northwood University; and I do it all from a Blackberry and a laptop!  Oh yeah, and as far as my annual income - let's just say that I make more money in a quarter than most brain surgeons do in a year, but I invested the 12 plus years that they spent in school learning how to serve my customers and sell cars.  The answer to your kid's question about embarking on a career in the auto industry should still be - "What, are you crazy - over my dead body!" - but that should be followed with your advice to treat it like any other profession.  Tell them to hone their people skills and focus on the technology that will fuel the auto industry into the next generation and then sign them up to DrivingSales.Com so they can listen and learn from the experts. After all, what are friends for!

I am challenged to limit my own opinions of our present administration in crafting this post, however, I will do my best to pose my question in a non-partisan manner since my goal is to surface solutions for my auto dealer and vendor clients who have turned to me for advice on how they can best protect their investments in a "CHANGING" auto industry and the  country we operate in.  To that end, I will limit my question to a list of questions regarding existing actions that our administration has already taken which I believe will/have forever changed our beloved auto industry - and country -  with the hopes that some of my respected associates on DrivingSales.Com will come to a different conclusion than I have; since my conclusions are admittedly very concerning! Please reply with your answer to the following questions and I will do my best to not direct your answers in the ways that I present them - although that won't be easy! 1) Do you believe that the Constitution and the order of law was ignored when the administration and the Car Czar directed the distribution of the assets of General Motors and Chrysler to be transferred from the priority interests of the secured bond holders in favor of the Unions and the Government during their Bankruptcy reorginazation? 2) Do you believe that the arbitrary assignment of profitable GM and Chrysler Dealership Franchises to selected competitors in specific markets without any recourse for the closed dealerships or consideration of existing contract obligations or State regulations was legal and/or moral as it was applied? 3) Do you believe that it would be reasonable for legislation to be passed that would prioritize the establishment of Unions in retail operations - like auto dealerships - without the ability of employees to have a private vote, (As proposed in Card Check) or for employers to have reasonable notice and time to challenge even a private vote to Unionize, (As in Card Check's replacement - Fast Track) ? 4) Do you believe that it is acceptable in today's economy to Nationalize our debt - basically buy US Treasury Notes from ourselves by having one Government Agency sell it to another to artificially stabalize the Interest rates - given the proven historical impact of it creating a "hyper inflationary" state that will devaluate the American Dollar in the world economy? 5) Do you believe that "Cap And Trade,(Tax)" legislation will impact the world's TOTAL carbon emmissions sufficiently enough to justify forcing gas and utility costs to "skyrocket" - to quote our President - with the anticipated effect of raising the costs of goods and services across multiple industries forcing a large portion of our already limited industries to avoid the proposed taxes by taking their operations to other countries that have adamantly stated that they will not participate in Cap And Trade - like China, India or even Mexico? 6) Are you concerened that our new Green Czar is a self described Communist - his description of himself, not mine - with the stated position that the purpose of "Green Jobs" is to redistribute the wealth of this country to those minorities that "the white man" has taken them from?  Please note again that those are his words - NOT MINE - and I am neither a Republican, a Democrat or more specifically, a racist - just a "Car Guy!" 7) Do you believe that the Constitution is and should be the law of the land in all Domestic Issues, and if so, are you concerned by the fact that the administration has appointed Harld Koh as our International Attorney to represent the United States in all International matters even though he is a self described "Transnational" who believes that International Law should supercede our Constitution even in Domestic Issues? 8) Are you concerened that our new "Diversity Czar" has stated that he believes that Chavez lead a "democratic revolution" in Venezuela that we should learn from by taxing private radio and TV stations 100% of their operating costs to either force them out of business, remove their FCC Licenses or use their funds to develop "public" stations to promote the "collective's" interests? Simply put - do you believe that any of the issues being proposed by our administration are in any way Marxist, Facist or Communist in their nature - and if not, PLEASE explain to me how these actions fit within the Republican Democracy and entrepreneurial Capatalistic society that prompted me to be a "car guy" to benefit from the individual fruits of my labor vs. having government define or limit my options. More specifically to this post - what can/should we do about the recent "CHANGE" promised by our administration to protect our investments and our established way of life?  I would really appreciate your insights and contrary thoughts on these issues so I can better advise my clients as to how they should proceed to mature their businesses.  After all, what are friends for! Philip Zelinger AdAgencyOnline.net