This is the second in our series of videos covering our recent integration of YouTube videos into the AutoRevo system. This video covers the three vital bits of information that will help get your YouTube videos to explode your site traffic and online sales.

Help us stump Erik the Intern! We’ve had a few questions come in so far, but they’ve all been really easy to answer – we really want to try to stump him, so send us some tougher questions! No matter how random or off-the-wall it is, we really want to see him squirm! Email your questions to askerik@autorevo.com.

Don’t forget – we’ll be publishing a new Tip video every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe to the blog if you use a reader, or check back every week if you don’t… If you’d like to see something talked about in the videos, email us at tipoftheweek@autorevo.com. See you next week!

AutoRevo has just announced a partnership with YouTube, integrating the YouTube service into the AutoRevo system. Now you can attach videos to vehicles to help engage more customers, and you can do it all from inside the AutoRevo interface… you can even upload videos to your YouTube account without ever logging in to YouTube!

We’ll be putting out a series of tips regarding the YouTube integration, starting with this week’s tip about how to set up your account and attach a video to a vehicle.

We’ll be publishing a new Tip video every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe to the blog if you use a reader, or check back every week if you don’t… If you’d like to see something talked about in the videos, email us at tipoftheweek@autorevo.com. If you’ve got a really random, off-the-wall question you’d like to try to stump our design intern with, email it to askerik@autorevo.com. See you next week!

The Senate approved the “Cash for Clunkers” program yesterday, so now the bill goes to the President for his final approval… This is exciting news for all the dealers out there, as it is expected to produce a huge influx of business. If you’re a participating dealer, here’s a list of important preparations to make that will help maximize your potential sales from the “Cash for Clunkers” program:

1) Prepare your website - Potential buyers are already hitting the Internet to find out more information about the program.  You should create a custom page on your site to help educate potential buyers about the program… explain the qualifications and the difference between the $3,500 vouchers and the $4,500 vouchers.  Not only will your site benefit from featuring fresh content, you’re more likely to snag a few extra visitors who are looking for information on the program. Most consumers out there don’t even know what vehicles will qualify, so providing that simple information can result in significant increases in web traffic.

2) Prepare your staff - You’re bound to get a lot of calls from potential buyers who want to know more about the program.  You’ll also have a lot of in-person questions to answer, and you want to be sure that your staff is fully up to speed on all of the program details.  Don’t lose any sales because your employees can’t answer a potential buyer’s questions!

3) Prepare your inventory - Since the program will award vouchers based off of gas mileage, make sure you’ve got window stickers prominently displayed on all of your inventory with better gas mileage.  You might even want to order special window sticker stock to use for the 3-4 months that the program will run. Get your staff ready to showcase all of the available inventory to potential CFC buyers.

4) Prepare your strategy – The program is only slated to run for a few months, so you need to be able to hit the ground running.  You’ll want to be sure that you get the most out of the program, so it’s all about short term profitablilty – there’s no long term plan needed here – just prepare your staff and your inventory to ensure maximum effectiveness.

As always, comments are encouraged – if you’ve got any other ideas that will help maximize the results of the “Cash for Clunkers” program, let us know!

Hold on to your hats, the Tip of the Week video is back! We’ll be publishing a new Tip video every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe to the blog if you use a reader, or check back every week if you don’t… If you’d like to see something talked about in the videos, email us at tipoftheweek@autorevo.com. If you’ve got a really random, off-the-wall question you’d like to try to stump our design intern with, email it to askerik@autorevo.com. See you next week!