General Motors has reached an agreement to offload Hummer onto China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, with Tengzhong taking an 80 percent stake and a private investor consuming the rest.

Details on the deal (available in the press release after the jump) include Hummer contacting vehicle manufacturing from GM, with the General's Shrevport and Mishawaka plants continuing to produce vehicles through June of 2011, with a possible extension until 2012. A recent report says the sale will net GM around $150 million, although the transaction still has to be approved by both U.S. and Chinese regulatory agencies, which could come later this year or in early 2010.

Tengzhong, which only produces commercial trucks and industrial equipment, has never entered into consumer vehicles before, but according to Yang Yi, chief executive officer of Tengzhong. "We are excited about some of the initiatives already underway at HUMMER that we believe our investment will be able to accelerate, particularly related to the creation of the next generation of more fuel-efficient vehicles to meet not only future regulations but also customer expectations."

[Source: GM | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty]

While the Cash for Clunkers Gas for Guzzlers Program proved to improve the economy over its short lifespan I fear the aftermath will be felt much longer. Overall, rebate applications worth $2.877 billion were submitted by the Tuesday deadline. This covered 690,114 applications.

The top 10 most purchased list includes:

1. Toyota Corolla  2. Honda Civic  3. Ford Focus FWD  4. Hyundai Elantra

6. Nissan Versa  7. Toyota Prius  8. Honda Accord  9. Honda Fit  10. Ford Escape FWD

My Fear? What's left to sell??? We already know the standards for credit approval to purchase these days are far tighter than in recent years. Car buyers who could once purchase a vehicle with less than stellar credit find it challenging to get approved at all and if they do succeed in acquiring a car loan the interest rate is ridiculous! How many of the Cash for Clunkers participants had less than A credit? If the majority of the car buyers taking advantage of the program had high "B" to "A" credit and purchased new vehicles how did the program help those with less than perfect credit?

If the vehicles traded in were demolished where then will the pre-owned inventory come from for those sub-prime credit buyers? I know many people who have low beacon scores yet perfect credit, who cannot qualify, or simply do not have the monthly income to support new car purchases and yet the pre-owned inventory available for them to choose from is now limited at best.

And what about the "Independent Dealer"? Did the government forget to include them in this big economy boost? Not only were they unable to participate in the program they are now left without pre-owned inventory to purchase for their lots because the Cash for Clunkers trade-ins were required to be destroyed! Don't misunderstand my point of view here. I do understand that we need to help the environment and purchase more economical vehicles. I even understand the need to boost the economy but at who's expense? The cost of the small dealer? The Independents? The credit challenged car buyer? The single Mother? The Self Supporting College Student?

I voted for Obama myself and certainly do not hold him solely responsible for the fallout that will surely follow this program. I understand he has advisers and votes are required before implementing any program. What I don't understand is why they did not think this program all the way through and why they didn't consider how it would affect all auto dealers and car buyers, large. Why didn't they didn't consider the market after the program ended.

The way I see it they succeeded in getting people jobs, now instead of right before the holidays when business in the auto industry typically picks up on its own. So what does that mean? That means that when business would typically pick up it will lag, simply due to the fact that hundreds of thousands of consumers have already made their purchases a few months earlier...but again...at what cost? Now those that would have typically purchased pre-owned during the holiday season or at the yearend have purchased new. Where does that leave the used car industry? Those less fortunate car buyers that would have purchased pre-owned now are left without cars to buy... I don't know...

My Advice? 1. Hire experts in the auto industry within the auto industry, not just researchers, but people that work in the auto industry. They have a different perspective of how the program will affect their industry. 2. Think the program completely through, beyond the actual time of its run. Consider how it will affect all involved, not just the franchise dealers.... heck the franchise dealers are going to be kicking themselves later when they are paying astronomically high prices for pre-owned (used) vehicle inventory due to "supply and demand". Consider the little guy. Will everyone be able to participate, or is the program just for those who can afford a new car payment and have excellent credit?

Oh.. and let's not forget about companies like mine... http://www.autotechnologiesinc.com/ - Auto Dealer Marketing Companies. Sure Cash for Clunkers needed to be advertised so some direct mail companies welcomed the promotion but not me. No, I'd have had the mail business whether they launched Cash for Clunkers or not. The dealers would have simply been taking advantage of successful creative programs my team and I developed for them. We'd have still had the marketing jobs. Now however, with dealers waiting on funding for "CARS" applications, their budgets are limited, at best. Not only that, their inventory is limited. They say "We have nothing to sell". That's right. Vehicles were destroyed so trades they would have otherwise resold on their lots or sold to "Wholesalers" who would have then made money (their living) by "re-selling" the vehicles to Independent Dealers are now left holding the bag.

That said my clients are holding off on pre-scheduled mail until they evaluate the aftermath of Cash for Clunkers. Independent Dealers without inventory aren't buying either, because they have little or nothing to sell. So, the snowball effect continues...it doesn't stop with me, it affects my employees and their children. It affects the vendors who supply the promotional items for my innovative events. It affects the printer who would be printing my mail each month, and the drivers who would be delivering the mail and it did I mention the companies who apply the descriptive window labels to the pre-owned vehicles, and upload them to the internet for our prospective buyers to see? They aren't just a huge conglomerate left unscathed from Cash for Clunkers. They have employees just like you and me and the list goes on. So again I ask you, did this program genuinely help our economy, and if so at what and whose expense?

Stumped,

Roberta Long
President/CEO
Auto Technologies Inc.
Kansas City
{866) 673-5476 Toll-Free
(530) 236-7774 Fax
rlong@autotechnologiesinc.com
 

http://www.ati123.com/
http://www.myusnetwork.com/

With the increase in direct mail volume at all-time highs, the need to grab a reader's attention in a sales letter is even more crucial. As a prospect sorts through loads of daily mail, he needs to know two things up front: what is being sold and how it can benefit him. Consider these six steps.

1. Know and state the biggest benefit for the reader up front. Readers spend, on average, five seconds deciding if they'll open a mail piece.

2. Remember the basic goal for your sales writing: increased response. You're not a writer, you're a salesperson who uses the medium of writing.

3. Review a sales letter you're presently working on. See where the "grabbing" material or "hook" is and determine whether it's too far down. Also try this: begin reading in your third or even fourth paragraph. Chances are you'll discover more reader benefits there than at the beginning.

4. Use specifics to grab attention. It's not enough to mention profits?use numbers, names, dates, etc. Use everything you can get a hold of to capture your reader's attention.

5. The "hook" can be placed in various places besides the first or second paragraph. Some prefer the superscript above the salutation. Others like to use the space where the inside address is usually found.

6. Be creative in your salutation. "Dear Friend or Reader" sounds trite. Personalize the salutation, if possible, using: "Dear Executive," "Dear Doctor," "Dear Homemaker," etc.

Craig Huey is president of a direct response advertising agency, Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc and InfoMat. 310-212-5727 (craig@cdmginc.com).

Direct mail marketing is often part of a bigger picture and longer sales cycle. In such cases, your direct mail postcard or letter serves a ?learn more" function. This is where direct mail and websites become perfect marketing partners.

Postcards make excellent website promoters. With their easy readability and "at-a-glance" impact, direct mail postcards can help you entice people to your website. Here are five ways postcards can drive qualified traffic to your site.

1. Free reports and white papers.
Create a valuable report and make it available for download via your website. Feature the report (with graphics, excerpts, and other teasers) on a postcard. Make sure you have a web-based lead-capturing system in place to collect the name and email address of each respondent.
2. Seminars.
Seminars are a great business-building tool for certain industries. Real estate, financial services, investing, technology - each of these sectors can use seminars to increase their exposure and gain clients. Direct mail makes it easy to promote your seminars. Put the primary benefit of your seminar in the headline, and offer multiple incentives for attending. Offer a web-based form to simplify the sign-up process.

3. Free trial.
If you're selling software, e-books, or anything else digital, you can offer a free trial or sample download through your website. Then use the direct mail piece to build interest and point readers in the right direction.

4. Newsletter subscription.
Want to increase the size of your subscriber base? Send a postcard that conveys the value of the newsletter, along with a strong bonus incentive for signing up. Create a landing page with a short URL / web address so it's easy for people to type.

5. RSS Feeds.
RSS feeds are becoming a popular web-marketing tool, and for good reason. They're easy to produce, and they give you another way to stay connected with your audience. So why not send a postcard to your customers showing the value of your RSS feed (and how and where to sign up for it).

Leveraging your website can reinforce your direct mail, which in turn can lead to higher response rates. So think about your own website, audience, and product or service. How can you bring them together to accomplish your goals?

As consumers move their media preferences toward customized, one-to-one vehicles such as iPods, satellite radio and TiVO, marketers are challenged in managing multi-channel messaging opportunities, according to direct marketing experts at Pitney Bowes. As spam is auto-dumped from personal computers, traditional mail has regained and maintained a great deal of relevance, usefulness and profit potential in the marketing mix.TheWiseMarketer.com).

According to the Cable & Telecommunications Association, 70% of American consumers prefer to receive advertisements and promotions by mail. Letters, including transactional mail, constitute a US$36 billion dollar industry in the US alone, and the entire global mailing industry - including shipping packages - tops some US$900 billion.

Mailstream marketing?
According to John Schloff, vice president of marketing for Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies, mailstream marketing - the direct mailing of marketing materials that lead to other channels - is arguably the fastest way to optimize both B2B and B2C customer communications management. Printed mail, whether postcards, letters, catalogues or brochures, can all be used as catalysts to drive web site traffic.

Communication management
Proper customer communication management is necessary for effective one-to-one marketing with mixed media that merges digital and physical channels. Direct mail today already comprises data-rich systems and processes that provide mailers with options for making their customer, production and channel intelligence more comprehensive and more precise than ever before.

Personalizing everything
Brands that use the traditional mail channel have a particular taste for highly personalized, relevant marketing to current clients. Financial statements, mortgage bills, credit card statements, insurance premiums, even drivers' license renewal forms, all arrive directly through the consumer's front door to deliver timely and useful information.

Five Direct Mailing Best Practices To Optimize Mailstream   Marketing Efforts

1. Leverage customer intelligence
Use your data intelligently to create more personalized messages that enable cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, and to ultimately foster customer loyalty.

2. Deliver only relevant communications
Your message is traveling with an important personal document (e.g. a bank statement, or an insurance policy's explanation of benefits). Be respectful of the medium by keeping the marketing message aligned with the purpose of the document. In addition to content alignment, a relevant document is always accurate.

3. Apply the highest data quality practices
The shortest route to the waste basket is a wrong address or a misspelled name.

4. Mandate the highest mailing accuracy and integrity
... especially with personalized transactional mail and inserts. Misdirected mail can put customers off the brand completely. The wrong marketing message - or worse, the wrong personal document to the wrong person - is a far greater problem than just creating a bad impression.

5. Practice event marketing
Be opportunistic about events in your target customer's life such as birthdays, graduations, home moves, weddings and births. Sending helpful promotions around life events can create close connections with customers.

Writing sales letters and brochures is both an art and a science, says Tony Attwood of Hamilton House Mailings. It's important to have a sense of both. There are only four ways of writing a direct mail ad that will raise your response rate.

1. Sell on price
This is the oldest approach?and it works if you are really sure you are less expensive than anyone else and you are sure that your audience is not concerned with quality. Of course, there's a downside to selling on price alone. The problem is that it can get you into a competitive price war, with negative results for both you and your competition.

2. Headline a benefit
This is on page one of every marketing book. But vast numbers of direct mailers still sell on features. Benefits are things like "No more back ache when you spend all day at a desk," or "double the speed of your broadband at no extra cost." Unfortunately, many still ignore benefits and promote features.

3. Ask and answer an interesting question Pose a question that you think could be interesting to your reader. Spend a paragraph or two developing the question and the issues around it. Then answer the question. All the way through this, don't talk up your product or company name; instead, have as close to a conversation as you can get in direct mail with your potential customer.

As an example, consider this headline: "What's the simplest way of doubling the response rate in direct mail?" If direct mail is your line of business, you have to read it, even if it is just to prove "I'm already doing that."

4. Use humor
Humor is widely used in radio, television and particularly cinema advertising. But it is hardly used at all in direct mail. A good starting point is to present yourself at one with your audience, and share with them some sort of issue that annoys them. So if you are a business-to-business service, look at the company's day-to-day work, find the thing that really annoys them and raise a chuckle through it.

Two Bad Approaches. What Not To Do

1. Announcements don't work.
Announcing in a headline something like "ABC Ltd launches the XYZ laptop version 2" is close to useless. If you then proceed to tell the reader that you've been in the computer business for 20 years and the XYZ is the very latest technology, then you can be sure no one will read it. Don't talk about yourself?talk about the reader and his/her wants and needs.

2. Grabby images don't work.
"Grabby" images are graphics that aim to capture the readers' attention in a gimmicky way. Grabby images are everywhere: direct mail, TV, newspapers. And yet, they simply don't work.

By Tony Attwood, chairman of Hamilton House Mailings, UK, for MarketingProfs.com

    By Joe Vitale

Hypnotic Marketing's Joe Vitale gives his mesmerizing tips on how to make your direct mail a smashing success. What are his tricks of the trade?

So many of you seem willing to spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on a direct mail gamble, that I feel compelled to give everyone a brief lesson in what it takes for direct mail to work.

Far too many people try it and then say "Direct mail doesn't work." They often say the same thing about advertising. Well, it may not be the fault of advertising or direct mail. It may very well be that the three keys to success were not covered.

There are three legs to a successful direct mail campaign: the list, the offer, and the creative. Blow it on any one of them and the whole campaign will die. But get the three elements right and you just might be able to laugh all the way to the bank.

1. The list. This is THE most important element. Don't think because you can get a list cheap, or even for free, that it's something you can use. Don't think because thousands or even millions of people will read a publication that you should advertise there. Those people may not be your prospects. The best list for you may be the one you pay an arm and a leg for. The more targeted the list of prospects, the better. If you are selling a book on, say, gambling, you want to find a list of people who gamble AND who buy books on gambling. Try any other list and you may end up saying, "Direct mail doesn't work."

2. The offer. What you offer to the list better be something they cannot get anywhere else, while also being something priced to make a profit for you. If you offer a book on gambling that anyone can buy down the street for two dollars less, you'll end up saying, "Direct mail doesn't work."

3. The creative. How you present your offer to your list has to be done professionally, so that all of the emotional hot buttons are triggered while also maintaining interest and going for the sale. Some of the best copywriters are paid upwards to $15,000 to write a single sales letter simply because the creative aspect of your campaign is that important. I've known many people who tried to write their own letters and ended up saying, "Direct mail doesn't work."

Direct mail DOES work. Just ask Robert Ringer, who launched his series of best-selling, self-published books with direct mail and advertising. Or ask John Kremer, who has successfully used direct mail to sell his own books. Or ask me, as I've used it to sell some of my work. But, again, those three key elements have to be there or the direct mail or advertising won't net you a dime. Hope this helps you save - and make - money.

Beyond Commerce, Inc. Announces Third Consecutive Month of Record Revenues and is Profitable for the Month of February 2009

HENDERSON, Nev., March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beyond Commerce, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BYOC - News) www.beyondcommerce.com, an E-commerce solutions, local advertising and niche social networking company, announced today that www.LocalAdLink.com has again exceeded its growth expectations. Total revenues of $3,326,000 for the month of February represent an increase of 44% compared with the prior month, and about 80% increase since December 2008. Based on current trends, the Company anticipates the first quarter to be profitable.

"We are creating income opportunities for people who need to make a living to support their families, pay mortgages and put food on the table during these difficult times in our financial lives," stated Chairman and CEO Bob McNulty.

LocalAdLink is a low cost provider of local advertising, selling ads to local businesses through its network and skilled independent ad sales representatives. Exploiting the "people-to-people" business model, LocalAdLink uses a local sales force in order to connect local businesses with local consumers with the goal to develop local marketplaces, helping small businesses grow and reach new geo-targeted customers. This business model has proved successful and the Company now has reached the pathway of profitability. Additionally, the Company has assembled a strong management team across all operating divisions and continually develops innovative technologies.

Bob McNulty said, "Our profitability will even get better when we launch i-SUPPLY, along with other pending technology products and powerful solutions for our valued Advertisers. The vision of Beyond Commerce is to go beyond our "hybrid" platform and to become a meaningful partner for any small or mid-size businesses that want to grow and increase their profits."

The i-SUPPLY's E-commerce widget store will enter the market using a beta version 1.0 on thousands of Web sites in late March 2009, offering about 1.8 million brand name products. i-SUPPLY will add an additional revenue stream and be the backbone of the proprietary advertising network the Company is currently developing.

About Beyond Commerce, Inc.
Beyond Commerce, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BYOC - News) www.beyondcommerce.com, provides best in class products, services, and solutions by being the low cost provider in its market sector. i-SUPPLY, www.i-SUPPLY.com, offers easy to use, fully customizable E-commerce services, and revenue solutions for any Web site, large or small, and hosts local ads, providing extensive reach for our proprietary advertising partner network platform. LocalAdLink, www.LocalAdLink.com, is a local search directory and advertising network that brings local advertising to geo-targeted consumers. BOOMj, www.BOOMj.com, is the leading niche portal and social networking site for Baby Boomers and Generation Jones.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors affecting Beyond Commerce, Inc. operations, markets, products and prices and other factors discussed in the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For those of you I did not have the pleasure of meeting, at the recent GMMDA Convention  I wanted to bring you up to speed on a "No Fail" Mail program.  To my knowledge, no other mail company offers this "Complete Mail Solution". From Mail leads, phone leads and even "email' leads, this program offers much more than you are accustom to.

 

For those of you who visited the Auto Technologies Inc booth,  you know exactly what I???m talking about .

First let me tell you what the Complete "No Fail" Solution is... 

 

Auto Technologies creates a great mail piece. Nothing spectacular about that. All mail houses have some great graphics people. It???s the rest of the campaign that makes it different. Bear with me, while I explain.

 On that mail piece itself there are several ways to capture the car ??" shopper???s attention... Let me explain... some of you may have seen similar programs but please stay with me, because I promise you, this is different.   Remember... I told you it was "No Fail".

 

Like some competing mail companies, the piece will have an activation code. Wait.... this is different. You are not simply provided with your "Postal Mail Pieces", better known as ???Snail Mail???, you are additionally provided with  approximately 100,000 "Email Pieces" and SEVERAL ways to capture the contact information of your recipients. 

How it works:

1^st  the customer may choose to go online and activate the code, thereby generating a "lead" to your dealership with the shoppers "contact information".

 

2^nd the customer may choose to call the dealership, to activate his/her code... wait....Auto Technologies also provides a national toll free number and or  local #'s, so even IF, the call does not get answered... the callers "ID" is captured in the system! You never miss a call!!!

 

3^rd the recipient may bring their code to the dealership for activation. Wait...,  There's so much more!

 

Now, as you may recall I indicated there are 100,000 Email Pieces sent out also.  Those email pieces correlate with the Mail Piece offering the same incentive, or can lead to a Credit Application! You can???t lose! You get email leads, ups, calls, and applications!!!

 

The program offers an incentive of your choice. A "Highly Perceived Value Premium??? works best. For instance $1000 online Shopping Sprees or Mini Vacations, etc...."Pre - Loaded" Visa or Wal-Mart Cards, etc....

 

In order to receive the Incentive, the customers have to activate their code.

 

All incoming calls from Email and Postal mail are captured in the tracking system and it comes with a  "Follow Up" mailer! That's right.  Remember I told you if they call the number the customer???s info is captured? That info is exported  into labels and the customer is sent  a follow up letter !

 

On top of all of this, you are provided with a 40 inch "REUSABLE "fabric sign for your window. It's made from the new innovative Fabric Media you've been hearing so much about. It sticks to any surface and leaves no residual! You can use it over and over.

 

 

 

An interview with email newsletter pro Michael Katz

by Amy Black, Constant Contact Editor, Hints & Tips e-Newsletters

At Constant Contact, e-newsletter expert Michael Katz is something of a legend. I may be overstating it a bit, but it's true that several of our executives mention Michael's newsletter often as an excellent example of compelling content.

Michael also uses his newsletter skills on behalf of the clients of his business, Blue Penguin Development. In our interview, he shares some of the same pearls of wisdom with us that he does with his clients.

Why are you so passionate about email newsletters?

I stumbled onto the power of e-newsletters by accident. In 2000, I was writing a newsletter that went to about 30 people. After a little while, I noticed that people I'd never heard of were asking to be added to the list. I also started getting requests from readers to help them develop a newsletter for their own client base. Eventually I switched to doing email newsletters exclusively.

What I love about e-newsletters is how well this one tool covers so much marketing ground. A newsletter keeps you in front of clients, prospects, and colleagues; gives you a platform for sharing your focus and perspective; and helps you clarify your point of view. On top of that, it's easily forwarded, easily archived, interactive, and has almost zero variable cost. For a small company, a newsletter all by itself can serve as a powerful marketing program.

What do email newsletters have the potential to accomplish?

They can help you break through the clutter so your company stands out in a memorable way. A newsletter is a way for those who read it to check you out and get a feel for you and your company. In this way, the newsletter is a proxy for an ongoing relationship. It's word of mouth on a large scale.

What are the top three things to keep in mind when creating an e-newsletter?

Number one: Content is what matters most. It's no longer a technical challenge to publish a newsletter. The challenge is getting someone to stop what they're doing and read what you have to say. Sending content that the reader values is the only way to gain permission to stay in the inbox.

Number two: You have to stay focused. It's tempting to cover lots of topics and involve lots of voices within the company. That's a mistake. If you want to stand out as the publisher of essential information, you need to write to a specific target with a narrow topic focus.

And number three: Think of publishing a newsletter like exercising. It only works if you keep doing it. The good news is if you can make it a part of your life, after a while it gets both easier and more effective. So commit to a monthly schedule and a year of publishing.

What are some common mistakes people make in their newsletters?

The most common mistake is writing too much about themselves, what I like to call a "Me-Newsletter." All about what we're doing and who we're working with and why we're so wonderful. It may be true, but your readers don't really care. I recommend companies think of their newsletter as a magazine: It's about something in particular and it's written for a specific target.

The other common mistake is taking all the personality out of the writing in an attempt to sound "professional." I'm not against being professional, but it tends to be dry and boring. Drop the jargon, write in the first person, and talk about the things you really believe in.

What types of information do you advise your clients to include in their newsletters?

Useful information that your target audience values. What do you know that I need? If you are a service organization, develop a reputation first as someone with a useful and interesting perspective and when there's a need you can fill, the phone will ring.

If you are a retailer, help me become a better consumer of what you sell. Give me your insider's perspective in an interesting, informative way. Don't worry about selling me on buying your stuff; teach me. The funny thing is, I'll buy more of your stuff when you do that.

Coming up with content can be a challenge. What do you do to make it easier?

Use your own experiences. If you know enough to run a business in a given industry, you have a lifetime of content. Those who buy your products and services will always be novices, so use that gap between your expertise and my interest in learning more.

Are there any secrets you can share with our readers to help them find greater success with their email newsletters?

The bottom line is that this tool only works to the extent the recipients want what you have to say. If you can develop a reputation as a source of useful, interesting, unbiased information within your area of expertise, you'll expand readership and your customer base too.