If you are a business in the automotive industry and looking to increase sales and services creating a strong online presence is a must.SEO is becoming a very competitive arena in a lot of industries, making it harder for companies to compete for top search engine results on Google, Bing, Yahoo. The good news for the automotive industry is that only 5% of automotive repair service companies are actively marketing their website or services. I personally have seen a huge growth in automotive marketing online in California, but other areas of the United States have been a lot slower to adapt. So what does this mean for automotive repair shops across the United States? A huge opportunity for automotive repair shops to beat the competition through actively marketing their website through search engine optimization and making themselves more visible on business directories online where you can rate and review shops. The world has moved away from flipping through the thick Yellowpages Book to find local businesses (more useful as a paperweight) and has moved towards Google.com. Whether on the PC, Smartphone, or tablet.So whats the next step? Do a simple local test search online to see where your company ranks among the competition. (e.g. search “your town or surrounding towns” auto repair or more specific searches “your town” alignment repair, “your town” engine repair). After doing a few test searches how does your company rank? Top of the first page, second page, bottom of the third page, not visible at all? By doing this test you should be able to get a clear understanding where you rank locally online compared to the competition. If your company is at the top of the search results great, but do not get comfortable. Stay offensive and strengthen that position by reaching out to a SEO company or attending an SEO workshop. If your business is not ranked at the top, start planning. Reach out to a couple SEO consultative companies, compare pricing and packages, attend workshops, get your self listed in online directories, join social media websites, and have customers leave reviews on review websites. SEO Packages typically range anywhere from $300/month – $1500/month depending on the local competition and the amount of heavy lifting needed to be done to get your company to the top.Key Takeaway: If you are in the automotive repair industry and want to get ahead do your homework and start planning an effective online marketing strategy. You will be ahead of the marketing curve and it will have a direct impact on revenue.
The Small Community of Hutto, Texas
Hutto, Texas is a small community located seven miles east of Round Rock and northeast of Austin, Texas. The current population of Hutto is estimated at around 17k residents, and Hutto has been a very fast-growing city since the construction of State Highway 130, also called the Trans-Texas Corridor.
In the census of 2000, the population of Hutto was just over thousand people, but the recently built toll road has dramatically increased the population and the city is expected to continue expanding in the next few decades, as the highway nears completion.
Hutto was founded in the year 1876 when the International Great Northern Railroad passed through land owned by James Emory Hutto, for whom the city is named. Shortly thereafter, James Hutto sold fifty acres of local land to the New York Land Company for a town site. At the time, Hutto was a wealthy Williamson County landowner and cattleman, but a few years later, he relocated to Waco and entered the hardware business. At roughly the same time, numerous Swedish and German immigrants traveled to the area to begin new lives in the ranching and farming industries, which were becoming very successful in the Hutto area.
In 1915, a circus train stopped in at the Hutto train station and a hippopotamus escaped to nearby Cottonwood Creek, where it caused a commotion as local residents and railroad as well as circus employees tried to recapture the Hippo. The story caused a local legend to emerge, and eventually the Hippo became the mascot for the Hutto High School and its sports teams, as well as various other local businesses.
There are many activities in Hutto for the sports enthusiast as well as the gourmet diner, and some of the popular restaurants in Hutto include Mario’s Mexican Restaurant and El Poblanito’s, another Tex-Mex eatery. If the diner prefers a national chain, Chili’s is sure to please, and there is a popular barbecue joint called Fat Thompson’s as well.As for sports, the aptly named Hippo Stadium is home for the local Bulldogs, and there are many other sports-related facilities as well. The Hutto real estate market is also extremely affordable. It offers a much cheaper alternative than the nearby Pflugerville and Austin real estate markets.
Hutto also has a family-owned general store called Common Spirits which offers a variety of spirits and tobacco products, as well as basic amenities and grocery items at a reasonable price. The store is located on Front Street, and is a local favorite. As the city grows, there are more and more national brand stores and restaurants, but there is still plenty of local charm and family owned venues as well.
The new state toll road is expected to eventually spur the population growth to over 30k residents by 2010. The new toll road is the biggest transportation project currently underway in the entire United States, and the toll road connects the area to metropolitan Austin, and to other major thoroughfares leading to San Antonio and Houston, as well as nearby communities such as Pflugerville and Bastrop, as well as Bryan and college Station to the north.
One of the largest employers in the Hutto area is the T. Don Hutto Correctional Facility in nearby Taylor, Texas, which is just a few miles east of Hutto itself, and a family detention center that houses immigrants and their families. Hutto is also very well represented in the technology industry, with Agisca Technologies as well as Cypress Semiconductor, both of which are situated in or around Hutto.
Hutto is a very centrally located community, with access to many metropolitan areas, but a small town atmosphere and scenic rolling hillsides with parks, rivers and access to many local lakes and rivers.
Educated Management Will Help Keep Your Business in Labor Law Compliance
Managers are the primary contact with most of the rank-and-file employees in an organization. Whether it is an office manager in doctor’s office, the warehouse manager in a storage facility, or an inventory manager in a retail operation, all managers interact with their staff on a daily basis. As such, maintaining an educated and informed management team will go a long way in helping your business comply with complicated labor and employment laws.In an informal poll taken by AllBusiness (a division of Dunn & Bradstreet), managers were asked, “What is a manager’s role”? The answers were wide-ranging, but all shared the same underlying theme: daily oversight of the staff:”A manager’s role is to provide proper oversight and direction to a group that is trying to accomplish a certain task. They may also act as a mediator between those under him. Managers may need to be called upon at times to be disciplinarians or morale boosters.”"To make sure the place runs smoothly.”"A manager’s role is to maintain a productive atmosphere while conserving cost. He is the communication link between the employees and upper management.”The Manager’s RoleFor a manager to effectively do their job, they must be educated on the proper methods of discipline, motivation, and management. Furthermore, managers act as a direct extension of the executives and ownership of the organization. As such, any misstep by a manager may expose the entire organization to an employment lawsuit. While much of a manager’s role may seem like common sense, they must virtually become employment law and human resources experts to do their job properly.Dozens of State and Federal laws dictate precisely how managers can treat employees, speak to them, discipline, warn, and terminate them.Some of the most important laws governing these areas are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.Educated Managers = Safe EmployersSo, while you may have hired your manager to “make sure the place runs smoothly”, or to “maintain a productive atmosphere”, equally, if not more important, is to make sure your management team is aware of the laws that govern their daily interaction with their staff. If you follow the steps below, you’ll be on your way to protecting your company, and yourself, from lawsuits:
Make sure management is familiar with all company policies and procedures.
Managers should actively review the Employee Handbook.
They should be familiar with the company Mission Statement.
Managers should be positive role models, always acting ethically with motivational leadership skills.
Act professionally at all times.
Encourage management to attend training classes to further educate themselves.
CONSTANTLY and CONSISTENTLY contact the Human Resources department before taking employment-related action.
In summary, encourage and provide learning opportunities to your management staff. Make it clear to them that conscious application of that knowledge is expected on a daily basis. Following these best practices will go a long way to help you and your business remain compliant with employment and labor laws, while promoting a positive and motivated work environment.