In recent months business owners have had to adapt to a global pandemic, economic shutdowns, employee layoffs, peaceful protests and riots, and operational efficiency changes to help deal with all the above.

So, you may think it’s understandable if you’ve been ignoring your content marketing strategy. However, turbulent times provide an ideal opportunity to differentiate your business from the competition. Millions of people are glued to social media for hours a day. What are you doing to reach out to these consumers and ensure that your voice is heard?

The best way to capture and engage the attention of current and potential customers is with fresh, relevant content. Here are three content strategies your business can implement in the next few months for maximum impact.

Social Media

Both dealerships and vendors alike have made drastic changes in the past few months. Virtually every company has implemented new public safety protocols. Manufacturers are offering killer financing deals, and vendors are offering free trials or greatly discounted rates for their products and services.

This information is typically posted on company websites, but unless your customers happen across your website, they don’t see this it. Are you using social media to push your messages out to where people can see them, on a regular basis?

Unfortunately, I still see many dealerships and vendors who primarily use social media to promote their own products and services. Or, they use social media mills and post generic content that could apply to anyone. This is not what social media was designed for.

Your social media posts should be timely and address local and current trends. Many dealers are doing a terrific job of posting public safety procedures, such as how they’re sanitizing vehicles and requiring employees to wear face masks.

If your business has recently implemented a remote sales or service process, social media is the ideal way to inform customers. Ideally, create a landing page that details your new processes and include a link in the posts.

Blogs

Blogs should be designed to answer customer FAQs and help guide potential customers through the purchasing process.

If you’re a vendor trying to sell to a dealership, have your salespeople write down common questions and concerns raised during the sales process. If you’re a dealership, create blogs that help customers with questions such as “Should you lease or buy?” “Should you buy new or used?” or “How to pair Apple Car Play with Your Device.”

There’s no need to get cute or clever with the blogs, just be genuine and offer good advice. Blogs don’t have to be long or require a Ph.D. to write them either. An educational 200-word blog is better than no blog at all.

Another great idea for blogs is to highlight your customers and what they’re doing. Is one of your customers using their new vehicle to gather and drop off supplies for those in need at this time? Is a customer of yours doing something unique or innovative in the business world, that makes an interesting story? People love to read about other people, so gather and share as many human-interest stories as you can muster. Just be sure to have your customers sign a media release form that allows you to use their story for marketing purposes.

Also, if you’re creating content, make sure your website is designed to showcase it. Have a separate tab just for your blog, and promote it with a button on your home page, as well as with links on social media.

Remember, the entire reason behind content marketing is to capture leads. Every company should have at least one free ebook or guide that can be downloaded in exchange for a first name and email address. Don’t require any more than that, although you can include optional fields if you like.

Videos

Do I really need to convince anyone that video is the best content of all? People love watching videos, and it’s the best way for customers to establish an emotional connection with your brand.

Lately I’ve seen many short, conversational videos posted on platforms like Facebook or Linked In that have been getting a lot of views and comments. If I had a sales staff of any kind, I would mandate that everyone be trained on how to record and post videos, and strongly encourage staff to post them on all their social media networks—especially on Facebook, Linked In and Instagram.

Video communication is not only the future; it’s the here and now. Even if you don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera, start practicing. If your record enough videos, eventually you’ll make one that you like and can post.

As far as video topics go, steer clear of politics and personal stories. Using personal examples in videos is fine, but keep topics relevant to what’s trending in your industry. These days, that might include personal safety measures, inventory challenges, the customer experience, value propositions, digital retailing, community participation and outreach, financing, educational tips and FAQs. Once you put your brainstorming cap on, the possibilities are endless!

Your company’s content marketing strategy should evolve with the times, and 2020 so far has seen an enormous shift in consumer behaviors and attitudes. Has your content marketing strategy changed with it, or are you stuck in the same marketing rut as last year? Companies and their representatives who participate in, and comment on, current trends will be in the best position to capture consumer attention and stand out from their competition.

According to an interesting study by Forrester Research, many businesses fail to communicate in a way that enhances and solidifies the business-customer relationship. The same can be said for some dealerships.

The study found that the most critical way to earn repeat business and create brand loyalty is to humanize communications. While the survey reports many different responses and drivers affecting consumer decisions about who to conduct business with, the following were found to be the most important:

1. 1. Speaks like a regular person – The automotive industry is full or lingo and jargon that a typical customer does not understand in both the sales and service process. This can very quickly lead to lost sales and/or service business, just because the customer doesn’t know what you are saying. If the customer cannot understand you, it is hard to build rapport and a relationship that leads to future business.
    
2. 2. Values my time and business – Too often customers are treated as a transaction rather than a valued asset. Sometimes it’s because of the hustle and bustle happening in the dealership, or processes designed to make transactions faster. But the sad fact is that the customer can easily get lost in that shuffle. Many dealerships focus on transaction time, which consumers report as a pain point - get them in and out as quickly as possible. But then it can be easy to forget the simple human interactions that make the customer feel valued. Small signs of appreciation that do not take long such as, “Thank you for coming in, Mr. Smith. We appreciate your business,” can go a long way towards connecting with a customer on both a personal and brand level.
    
3. 3. Communicates in the tone I prefer – I’m sure you’ve all had those conversations where the tone is perceived as rude; when that was not the intention. The same can happen in communications between salespeople or advisors and customers. And sometimes there is no chance to clarify the discussion, especially when it comes to email and text. As a result, the customer just ceases to communicate, and the dealership loses their business.

The key to future success and profitability can easily depend on how well you communicate to and interact with customers. And, it's not merely how you communicate, but that you do so in a personal, human way; one that the customer best responds to.

When it comes to working conferences, there are many different thought processes. The first, of course, is that a lot of money is spent between the cost of renting the booth space, sponsorship, the actual booth itself, staffing, swag, prizes and travel expenses. Conferences are indeed a considerable investment, and everyone wants to see a return on their investment. I get it, and everyone in any participating company would be wise to understand this too.

The level of success at conferences differs from company to company. Understanding what works and what does not can help you be more successful and get a better ROI – and this can be achieved without spending any additional dollars.

Have you ever noticed dealership attendees walking around the exhibit hall with their badges facing backward? I'm sure you have. Why do you think they do that? For the most part, it is because they fear being attacked by an overly-eager exhibitor, or they have no current interest in an exhibitor’s solution. The problem is, perhaps they would be interested if they were further educated on it. With that catch-22, how are supposed to get them to listen and be excited? Well, read on.

There are three types of exhibitors at conferences. Two of them tend to see less than stellar results, while, in my experience, the third is more successful.

1. The Aggressive Exhibitor –Some vendors feel they need to be overly aggressive to get their prospects’ attention. While this may “feel” like the right strategy when competing against hundreds of other companies, for the most part, aggressive tactics just turn dealers off. 

2. The Oblivious Exhibitor – The exact opposite of #1 is those exhibitors who just don't pay attention. If you walk an exhibit hall, you will undoubtedly see booth workers talking amongst themselves, on their cell phones, working on their laptops, and even eating in their booths -- utterly oblivious to all the prospects walking by. 

And then there are those booths left empty for long periods. It continually amazes me to see this when I walk an exhibit floor, knowing how much time and expense has gone into that exhibitor being at the show.

Included with this type of exhibitor are those that fail to do any pre-conference promotion. No content marketing, social media, email campaigns, phone calls or ads to inform and encourage prospects to schedule a booth appointment or drop by at the show. They are then disappointed at the lack of interest.

3. The Attentive Exhibitor– In my opinion, this is the best strategy. Paying attention to the flow of traffic, talking to prospects like you would usually talk to anyone and merely asking if they are looking for your particular service (if it's apparent) or using an elevator pitch to gain their attention if you're offering a new product or service, can work wonders.

I promise that the breath mints, lighty-blinky things and most trinkets offered as swag don’t interest dealers. In fact, many of them won’t be interested in a $50 gift card for a demo unless they are, in fact, already in the market for the solution you offer.

While swag and giveaways can be useful tools, a professional greeting which includes a short description of your solution will go much further in engaging a dealer.

And, when it comes to attracting dealers with swag, the Attentive Exhibitors usually do their homework and offer giveaways that are highly desirable and create a demand. AND they have lined up appointments beforehand with a well-planned marketing strategy.

Of course, at any show, many dealers are looking for solutions. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be there. But you won’t attract their interest by scaring them off or just ignoring them.

I look forward to seeing you at the 2019 NADA Show -- to your success!

It’s a well-known fact that people buy from people (or companies) they like. There are certainly many different ways to get customers to like your dealership, from providing a great customer experience to being active in your local community.

However, consumers are increasingly finicky when choosing where to buy or service their vehicle. In addition, in today’s highly competitive market, they have more choices than ever before. So, what can you do to increase the chances that consumers choose you over your competition?

An excellent article in Time magazine shares advice from 10 CEOs about what individuals and businesses can do to improve the chances consumers will choose them. It contains some valuable advice; some of which you’ve undoubtedly heard before but is nonetheless worth repeating; and some that may not be as obvious but is just as valuable.

The first point is perhaps the most obvious: treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself. This is a huge thing to me. I think far too often simply “being nice” is a forgotten commodity in business. In my opinion, there can be too much rudeness and lack of genuine human kindness in today’s fast-paced world.

Okay, so getting back to how this could apply in your dealership. Think about how you treat the customer in terms of car sales. If you were buying a vehicle, would you want to go through the same process you put your customers through? If the answer is yes, you are on the right track. If the answer is no, then perhaps it is time to take a look at your processes.

The next point the article shares is a good follow on and that is to be interested, not interesting. Body language and actions can easily win a customer’s favor or turn them off. Showing interest in your customers means more than simply relaying the message that you’re interested in selling a car to them. They already know that. A key point the article shares is to be interested rather than interesting. Make sure you are not doing all the talking. Take time to listen to what they have to say. This helps build that all important trust and rapport.

Next is a big one, and one that, rightly or wrongly, our industry tends to be called out for, and that is being honest. The second a car buyer thinks you are being dishonest you have probably lost any chance of a car sale. You also need honesty in order to win at the next point, which is making an emotional connection with them. Rapport begins with trust.

Most car shoppers these days conduct a ton of research before they show up on your lot or submit a lead form. While your answers may not precisely correspond to their information, due to technological issues or differences in providers, if you can explain why and show them how to replicate your answer on their own (such as Kelly Blue Book vs. Black Book trade-in value) it goes a long way towards preserving that trust.

In the end, how you communicate is an extremely important part of the customer experience. Whether via e-mail, phone, text, or in-person, all aspects of that communication contribute to how your customer perceives you and whatever your intentions may be. From body language, to tone of voice, to answering the customers questions and providing the requested information, get it right and your competition doesn’t stand a chance!

There you are, working on your to-do list, trying to create content for your dealership. You sit there and contemplate what you can write that will be relevant and interesting to your customers. But no ideas come to you. The more you think about it, the more frustrated you get, until you simply give up trying and move on.

Content marketing can be frustrating. In the words of J.K. Rowling, author of the much-loved Harry Potter series, “The wonderful thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting. The terrifying thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting.”

Yet, there is a solution… being “lazy.”

According to an enlightening article in Time magazine, rather than beating your head against a wall, trying to come up with a creative idea in your content marketing, sometimes being “lazy” will actually make you more productive.

The article states, “Laziness is a lost art. I don’t mean laziness in the sense of filling each moment with mindless distraction. I mean proper idleness, when we choose to do nothing. In a world of constant distraction, we rarely put our mental feet up. Instead, we spend our spare time bouncing between novel distractions — going from checking our email, to reading the news, to surfing Facebook, and so on — activities that often make us even more tired.”

When your mind just won’t cooperate, and you’re doing your best to come up with ideas for content, sometimes the solution is to take a break and forget about writing. Take a MENTAL break. The article shares, “research shows that unfocusing is just as powerful, albeit in different ways. While focusing makes us more productive, unfocusing makes us more creative.”

When I need to “unfocus,” I do activities that I really enjoy and that give me more of an exterior perspective, such as sailing, cycling, paddleboarding – or eating chocolate – oh wait, perhaps forget that last one!

Your “unfocus” could be anything from taking a walk around the block, to riding your bike. Yes, in the retail automotive industry, that’s a difficult thing to do. However, by so doing, it can make you more creative AND more productive.

The next time you find yourself sitting at your desk and no bright ideas for content are coming to mind, consider taking a break, going for a walk or simply doing nothing.

You might find that by being “lazy,” you actually end up refreshing your mind and body and return in a more productive state.

So, go be “lazy” when you need to be… and you may find yourself more inspired, motivated and creative.   

To your future creativity!

I actually wanted to flip the title of this blog to “why use one word when a hundred will do?” People tend to use FAR too many words these days in PR and marketing material – they simply don’t know how to keep it short and relevant. And, in my experience, most audiences find long cluttered sentences a frustrating read. A great slogan to go by really is KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.

Over the years, marketing has changed. In the past, dealerships took out full page ads in newspapers with lots of space for copy. Roll forward to today and digital marketing has surpassed traditional marketing. This platform demands shorter, sharper, more focused messages. Heck social platforms such as Twitter at one time reduced marketing to 140 characters. Yet many marketers still cram as much information as possible into those messages.

The same thing tends to happen with website content including blogs, press releases, write-ups on new models, fixed ops content – you name it. The text tends to be too long and filled with all kinds of superlatives to ensure the audience knows how wonderful you are.  

The problem is that there is such a thing as going too far and overwhelming your audience.

Let me put this in perspective with an example that should help make things a little clearer. 

Check out the following paragraph from a press release that is supposed to get you excited about a new product. Some consider it the worst press release ever, and for good reason!

"This amazing, prestigious and sophisticated product is a quantum leap forward and performance is a greater order of magnitude and will decimate the competition. The enormity of this tremendous advance indicates our commitment to servicing our customers in a forensically sound manner.”

Yes, that is 42 words of total nothingness. I challenge anyone to read it and gain an idea of what the heck they are talking about.  And keep in mind this was only one paragraph out of the press release.

If you check out other press releases and marketing materials online, I am sure you will find many other examples.

Using long, complicated sentences about how great you are without really saying anything, pretty much drives your audience away.

Great content revolves around two things: information and accuracy. Nobody wants to hear how great your business is in 200 words wrapped in a single sentence.

When it comes to marketing content, far too often people throw in every possible descriptive word to make something seem the most innovative, state-of-the-art, incredibly wonderful, awesome, first ever -- whatever. Readers simply yawn and get lost in the BS… and leave your website for the competition.

Keep your content short and to the point. Avoid using too many adjectives and other unnecessary words. Say what you want in a way readers can understand; that keeps their attention but still delivers your message. Your customers will thank you for it with their business.

If you’d like some great tips on effective content writing, what to do and what to avoid, check out this excellent article by Neil Patel.

Happy writing!

In a recent blog, I wrote about how content marketing is more of a long-term play.

In addition, to attract an audience, it is vital to offer more than purely sales content and “buy now!” messages. Consumers are constantly bombarded with these salesy messages. Therefore, any business relying solely on that type of marketing strategy is destined to become part of the noise, rather than stand out from the crowd.

Content marketing offers so many benefits over and above attracting eyeballs. But many marketers fail to consider creative, well-planned content as part of their inbound marketing strategy. It is certainly easy to get distracted by the many things that need to be done in any business or dealership. This can lower the priority of content creation. But, this can in fact hurt your business more than you may think.

A recent article posted on Business2Community shares the many benefits content marketing brings to a business, including:

1. * Increases brand visibility
2. Positions you as an industry expert
3. * Improves brand awareness, recognition, and value 
   * Generates website traffic and improves lead generation – especially if the content strategy defines topic clusters around important problems that cause ideal buyer to invest in your solution 
   *Generates engagement and dialog with your audience 
   *Helps build credibility and trust with current customers and prospects 
   *Helps prospects move through the sales funnel to a purchase decision more quickly 
   *Develops lasting relationships with your customers

I understand that at times content creation can seem like a nuisance. Sure, it takes time and creativity – BUT, that time is well spent and, if done well, results in excellent ROI.

Think about it from an audience perspective. Imagine picking up a magazine to find it full of ads – the pages literally all advertisements. I’m sure you’d stop reading it. In addition, you’d probably never give that magazine any attention in the future - Why would you?

The same applies to your dealership when attempting to capture and keep an audience. Don’t drive them away with a constant barrage of sales-based messages. Your audience probably includes existing or former customers, as well as potential future customers. Good, creative content marketing that provides your audience with items of interest to them, can continue to engage previous and current customers while attracting the attention of prospects.

Having trouble figuring out what type of content might work well? Check out examples from other dealers on my recent blog on this topic.

If your content marketing is well planned out, created in such a way that it displays your personality and/or culture – and those attributes align with your audience – it can give that extra push the customer needs to choose you over your competitor.

Backing off, deprioritizing it, or viewing content as a nuisance activity, opens the doors to your customers’ attention going elsewhere. What if where they choose to pay attention is your competition?

It today’s world, consumers are inundated with marketing messages on every channel they turn to. The key to remaining relevant, and to attracting their eyeballs, is to provide content they want to see.

Bring value to your audience. They will be more open to continue to pay attention; more receptive to standard marketing messages, amplifying your reach and the results of all your marketing efforts.

Don’t look at content marketing as inferior to normal product or service marketing. In fact, they have a symbiotic relationship. A great content marketing strategy feeds your traditional marketing strategy and empowers it. Dealers who stick to their guns and continue to produce rich, relevant content, in addition to regular sales messages, tend to get a better ROI for ALL marketing messages. Marketing performs better overall, reaches more relevant people and results in a greater return-on-investment.

If you hold a management position in the retail automotive industry, you’ve probably had a customer attempt to leverage something to get what they want. Whether it was an unreasonable request, or simply a last-ditch effort to get a perceived wrong made right, many of you will have run into this situation.

In the past, a customer’s leverage was typically the impact a poor survey would bring to the dealership. And, this is something customers still threaten if they feel there is no other avenue of recourse. Of course, today’s consumers are much wiser to the power of a poor CSI survey, especially when most dealerships continually reinforce the importance of “perfect” survey results.

Today, there are many other channels for consumers to vent their displeasure and leverage to get what they want. But, other than the odd customer that uses these tactics malevolently, what about those who simply seek customer service to fix a simple issue? Perhaps they had a bad experience, a promise was unfulfilled, or work was incomplete or poorly executed. Maybe they attempted to reach the dealership by calling, emailing or visited the dealership in person to get their problem solved directly, but were unsuccessful.

Well, according to an article in Forbes, businesses are inadvertently telling consumers that going directly to the business to solve customer service issues isn’t effective. Because, when they do, the business either fails to pay attention, or prioritizes their complaints lower than it should. However, when a customer threatens to trash a CSI survey, or to post bad reviews in every place possible, the company will suddenly pay attention and give the customer the attention they demand.

The perfect storm of technology which amplifies the consumer voice through social media and review sites has taught businesses to pay attention to those sites. At the same time, consumers have caught on that these venues are effective to get attention for their complaints.

What’s the solution? The best policy is to pay attention to customers through all channels and work to rectify customer complaints no matter when or where they happen.

In this age of customer experience, customer service and satisfaction are more important than ever. We can no longer afford to ignore, procrastinate over or neglect any customer’s concerns.

Consumers have a lot of choice when it comes to buying and servicing their vehicles. With profit margins shrinking and competition growing it makes sense to ensure the customer is king – to handle all customer service issues and complaints just as promptly and with as much enthusiasm as you would if they threatened a poor CSI survey or posted a negative review. A reactionary customer service strategy is probably not the best policy.

Once consumers realize that they don’t need to resort to strong-arm tactics to get you to care, they will believe that you actually do. And that’s how relationships stay strong and businesses flourish.

There is one common problem most companies run into when they start a content marketing strategy. Frequently, executives have unreal expectations and expect to go from zero to hero in a matter of days. They want an immediate return-on-investment – such as leads, engagement or website traffic. I am afraid that is simply not realistic. Hey, sometimes you can hit gold straight out of the gate. But that is the exception rather than the rule.

Content is more of a long-term gain, but well worth the effort. And it isn’t just another piece of the SEO puzzle. In fact, it’s pretty key. Most web traffic still comes from organic search, more than paid campaigns, social media or any other channel. And, one of the most effective ways to improve SEO is with good content. In fact, according to an infographic published by copygoals.com, companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages and 97% more links.

However, many dealership websites are rather devoid of much useful or engaging content. They consist of a home page filled with specials, banners, multiple calls-to-action and pop-up widgets. Drill down and the “content” that exists is usually just inventory. The best form of content some dealers have on their website is typically the “Meet Our Staff” and “Who We Are” pages – and many of those aren’t updated or particularly engaging.

What happens when your customer needs information and advice? Perhaps they want to know how to pair their iPhone with their in-vehicle entertainment system – a common enough problem. If they don’t find it on your website, they are forced to bounce and go to another website to find their answers – which you probably don’t want them to do.

After a quick Google search, they end up on a third-party listing site. It is rich with content which answers many frequently asked questions such as how to set up new technology features, scheduled maintenance, available rebates and incentives, etc. But, the problem here is that they are also exposed to inventory from your competitors… and could just find something that catches their eye. I’m sure you don’t want that!

So, it is time to get some good content onto your site and out to your social media properties on a regular basis. I’m not suggesting you have to immediately bang out 40 pages of content. The point is to make a commitment to a marketing strategy with regular, quality content that is of interest to your consumers. Once you place it on your site and social media properties, it will build in value for both you and your customers.

A perfect example is this video from the Leith Auto Group website. Their service advisor explains the importance of an oil change, sharing his value proposition for getting that service done at his dealership.

It ranks high in Google searches and informs service customer why their vehicle needs regular service.

Another example is this written blog on the Capital Lincoln website, providing customers with valuable information about the different warning lights and what they mean. Along with what action to take if they come on.

And don’t think good content is limited to service. Customers are interested in your new models too. Video walkarounds are an invaluable source of rich information for online car shoppers. A great example is this video from Gosch Toyota. It is also a perfect illustration of why content marketing tends to be a long-term play. Check it out:

While the video was filmed in 2010 for a model no longer in production, it has produced an incredible amount of views – almost 25,000 and people still view it to this day! The dealership did not publish the video on its website, but it was part of their content marketing strategy on YouTube. The employee identifies himself and his contact info is included in the post.

When it comes to content marketing, consistency is the key to success. It is more of a long-term play but has a tremendous ROI. Plan out a strategy that includes video and written blogs. This will keep customers on your website longer, increase exposure, greatly improve search results, and ultimately, show customers that you care about them -- building trust and loyalty.

It may take time to work but it’s worth every penny.

We’ve all seen it happen. In fact, chances are really good that you’ve done it yourself -- posted that Facebook status update, sent that text message, or that e-mail and then – oops, you notice those typos or grammatical errors…after it’s too late to correct.

Well, does it really matter? In a word, yes.

When dealing with your friends, you can get away with it with a chuckle, quickly correct as needed and they don’t mind. But what about in a business setting, when you’re dealing with colleagues or customers?

Those are a little harder to retract… and can cost business. Image is increasingly important. For eons people have been judged on how they present themselves verbally. The same applies these days to the all-important electronic word.

In the automotive industry, mistakes can not only lose a sale, but also have other rather expensive ramifications. Many states have laws regarding pricing and disclosures. Say the dealership receives an Internet lead. If the salesperson responds quickly, without proofreading their reply before they hit send, multiple problems can happen.

First, and most likely, the customer on the other end of the email may perceive the salesperson, or even the dealership, as unprofessional.

Second, there are many numerical figures that can be involved in an email sent from a salesperson to a customer, such as down payment, price, trade-in value, interest rates – you name it. Get it wrong and this can anger customers. You lose their trust as they can feel purposely misled. In some cases, depending on how egregious the error is, the dealership could even be held accountable for that mistake. Many states have laws against advertising and/or bait and switch tactics – even if it was a genuine mistake. If it’s an obvious error (like quoting $2,000 instead of $20,000), chances are you’ll be fine, just look a little silly to the customer. But, what happens if you quote $16,000 instead of $20,000 because of a typo? You might just be held to that price if the consumer is angry enough to report it. They do have it in writing after all.

It’s not just spelling errors that can make you appear unprofessional. Grammar errors are just as bad. I’m sure most of you have come across that grammar Nazi! Some people just cannot stand poor writing and it can be easy to do. Words such as “affect,” and “effect” are mixed up all the time. “Their” “there” and “they’re” are also commonly misused.

Software exists which can assist you if grammar isn’t your “thing.” Free programs such as Grammarly are quite good and can give your emails a once-over before you hit send. If you’re really unsure, and it’s important to get it right, an extra set of eyeballs is always helpful too.

Remember that age old saying, “you only get one chance to make a first impression?” It’s applicable in this electronic age too. You wouldn’t want to show up to a job interview in shorts and flip flops. Sadly, it can appear as if you are if you’re not careful in your missives to potential customers. It can simply seem as if you lack professionalism. As if you don’t really care.

Take the time to double-check your writing for typos and grammar before hitting the send button

Oh, and yes, the typo in the title IS intentional – for those of you who caught it, just making my point!