But there are numerous applications of automotive blogging which pose a choice for car dealers today. You have guys like Alex Snyder effectively blogging for dealership awareness with his Checkered Flag blog. You also have guys like Paul Rushing of ISM in Training who blog for what I would call personal branding, which is the idea of branding yourself in alliance with a dealership, but ultimately building brand equity in yourself more so than for the dealership.

I see this as the future of a dealership sales professional, much like is done in the real estate industry where the Realtor builds a clientele that can be carried along from agency to agency. The Internet gives automotive sales professionals the possibility to do this. I don’t see the purpose of blogs to sell cars. That’s what your website is for.

I think it’s important to know and respect the basics of blogging. For one, blogging is about conversation. It’s not about shouting and yelling, or selling and soliciting. It’s an easy pit to fall into because it’s so effortless and enticing to do so.

But this doesn’t mean you can’t promote yourself with a blog. Quite the contrary because that’s really the purpose of a blog – to promote yourself. The key is you have to go about it differently from what you might be accustomed to.

Blogging requires a balanced blend of research, listening, testing or experimenting, and then in the end some execution. The nature of blogging does not stipulate the need for a business model, but if you set out to blog for your business then you need to identify the role your blog, or blogs, will play in enhancing your product.

How often have we all heard that question come out of someone’s mouth? Usually uttered at cocktail parties where few people know each other, this question establishes a framework for the relationships we have with everyone around us.

When we find out what people do for a living, we can determine what they can do for us and what we can do for them, creating networks that can last a lifetime. And who doesn’t want a friend who sells cars?

Except there are only so many people you can invite to a cocktail party, and only so many cocktail parties you can attend. So how do you turn this handy piece of information into more car sales without spending the next 30 Saturdays at cocktail parties?

- Utilize social media to make local contacts -

Social media has changed the way the internet — and the world — works. People are connecting with other people in ways they never could before. They would never have the time or ability to meet before this new technology became available. Now they’re not only meeting, but becoming friends.

To use social media to forward your business goals, the first thing you have to understand is who it is that buys your product. In the auto salesperson’s case, those people are local. Focus your energies on meeting new online contacts that you know are within driving range of where you are. There are local communities on all of the major social networks, most prominently Facebook. These are where you’ll meet the people who can come out and buy your cars.

- Make them aware of what you do -

Don’t hide your occupation. Make it easy for them to find out that you sell vehicles, either by putting something simple in your forum signature line or making sure to fill in the occupation and employer categories on Facebook and LinkedIn.

- Don’t sell anything -

Social media is just what it sounds like — social. This is not a way for you to sell cars. It’s a way for you to meet people to whom you may eventually sell cars. Do not try to sell through your social media profile, ever. Just be social.

- Go about your business -

Probably the most important thing to remember about building a personal social networking profile is that you have to be yourself. You can be yourself on your best behaviour, but you have to be honest about who you are and what you’re doing. Don’t pretend to be a churchgoer or a Democrat or a kite-lover, just to sell cars. Do what you would do anyway and meet like-minded people. That will be the secret to your success.