Here’s a single stack kit designed to fit all full size pickups. All you need is the mounting hardware for your truck and one of the many different stack options MBRP has to offer. This Smokers T stack kit is guaranteed to make yours the toughest looking truck on the street. And with the huge 5″ mandrel bent pipe constructed to MBRP’s precision standards you can count on a trouble free install and much improved performance.

For more information on this product, please visit MBRP.

After almost a decade in the aftermarket industry cutting his teeth at the retail level, bolstering Exedy’s US presence, managing Motovicity’s marketing department, and exposing the USI want to fully integrate myself into my clients’ businesses market to Disc Brakes Australia, Yoni has branched off to offer creative services to new aftermarket clients. “Being able to give my full attention and experience to my clients is what really drove me to start this business.” Kellman says. “I want to fully integrate myself into my clients’ businesses so we can be certain our goals and strategies are aligned to achieve maximum results.”

Six25 Creative offers commonly outsourced services such as graphic design, brand building and content writing, but also some industry specific services like co-op program development and management, media buying and event planning that some of the less experienced outside firms may not have the same level of experience with. Yoni’s passion for the industry will surely benefit his clients by helping them grow their brand and spur new business.

yoni@six25creative.com
www.six25creative.com

Late last week we released an updated version of our support portal. The new portal is completely redesigned (it looks awesome) and full of brand new content like understanding the catalog, adding your own products, configuring data feeds, and a six-step getting started guide.

Please take some time to visit the portal and let us know what you think. You may even learn something while you’re there.

The guys over at Redline360 did some “unscientific research” and put together a nice infographic showing the largest forums along with some demographic information. VWVortex is the largest based on users, while (surprise, surprise) BimmerForums ranked highest in the wealth category (along with NASIOC).

Head over to the full post to get all the details. Thanks to Tom Masiero for submitting the link.

Facebook just released a major update to pages. Have you updated your page yet? We have. These new pages are huge for businesses that have something cool to show off. Our industry oozes cool stuff to show off – I bet you’re working on something awesome right now. Take an hour this weekend and let the world know about it.

Kyle’s 3 point guide to Facebook Awesomeness

1. Do something awesome. In our industry that’s a given. You’re building cool shit every day.
2. Take a good picture. Grab an app like Camera Awesome and snap a couple pictures, apply some effects. Boom!
3. Best picture = Facebook cover photo. You have 268,065 pixels (815 x 315) to make an impression. Use it!

Kyle’s 5 tips for great pictures

I’m no professional but these tips should work 90% of the time. Of course, if you are a professional, carry on … nothing to see here.

1. Clean up. Cluttered pictures are boring.
2. Zoom in. I don’t care about the banner on the wall or the scenery. Walk closer, zoom in, crop.
3. Get down. Cars look best when shot from a lower position. Kneel down then shoot.
4. 1%. Don’t post every picture you take. Post the best.
5. Easy on the effects. Less is more. Stick to one or two effects.

Need Help?

Our friends at Pix-L Graphx eat, sleep, and drink Facebook. Give Alcides a call and they’ll whip something up for you at a reasonable price.

Here’s a simple and cost effective way to register a domain, setup @yourdomain.com email, acquire a dedicated phone number, and setup an analytics tool for free. I know you may be thinking Tom has been hanging out with Matt and the Data Guys getting high on spreadsheets, but I’m serious. These next four steps lay the groundwork for your success online.

Step 1 – Your Own Domain

If you already own a domain name, you may skip this step. You’ll be able to use your existing domain name with step 2.

Head over to Google Apps and create a new account. Once you’re logged in, follow this link to purchase a domain from Google. The price is $10/year and guarantees you’ll be the only one able to use the domain. C’mon now, hurry up and lock down your super top secret domain name.

Step 2 – Google Apps

Google Apps is a web-based suite of applications specifically for your company. You can use all the Google tools such as GMail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs and a bunch more all from your own domain. GMail is incredible. You’ll be able to send professional emails from your own domain name (you@your-awesome-company.com). You can even setup groups like sales@your-awesome-company.com that forward to a number of users.

Once you complete step one you’ll be sent back to the Google Apps sign up page. Google offers a couple different packages but you shouldn’t need any of the extras. Click Solutions, then Google Apps (Free), then Get Started and follow the setup instructions.

Step 3 – Google Voice

Perhaps, the coolest application is Google Voice. Your Google Voice account (one for each user in your domain) comes with a dedicated phone number in an area-code of your choosing. You can direct calls to as many phones as you like and even place and receive calls directly from your computer, iPhone, or Android phone. gives you a virtual phone # that you can direct to forward to as many phones as you like or use with a headset via your computer. It’s a great tool and one that I have taken advantage of for the past 4 years.

Step 4 – Google Analytics

Our last step is the most powerful, and most underused application in the suite. Google Analtyics collects information about every visitor to your website and provides reports you can use to improve your online store. It’s an amazing tool but also very easy to be intimidated by. Over the next couple of weeks I will show you how to interpet and act on these reports. In the meantime, it’s easy to start collecting data. We have all the instructions in our support portal.

Be sure not to miss my next post as teach you how to create a simple SEO strategy that works.

A couple of weeks ago I began listening to the 4 Hour Work Week via Audible. Now I know what you are thinking: this explains a lot! Hear me out though, I know the book sounds quite gimicky and in many ways it is, but there are some really great nuggets of truth if you know what to look for.  The two aspects I wanted to share with you today are Pareto’s Principle aka the ’80/20 Rule’ and  the lesser known Parkinson’s Law (this has nothing to do with Parkinson’s disease FYI).

First The Pareto Principle

• 80% of outputs result from 20% of the inputs
• 80% of the results come from 20% of effort and time
• 80% of profits come from 20% of products and or customers

This is so true, have you ever looked at your data on the products you sell or the customers you sell to?

The basic principal of the 80/20 rule is to limit tasks to the important 20% to shorten work time and maximize ROI.  For RPMWare Clients, this means focusing marketing efforts more heavily on what you’re selling: specific part #s, specific brands or specific range of products.

Second we have Parkinson’s Law

“A task will swell in perceived complexity in relation to the time allotted to complete”. Parkinson’s law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

Think of it like this; the more time you have to complete a task, the more time it occupies and the bigger it becomes. The perfect analogy is the term paper you put off until the last minute.  Remember how well you focused and executed on it?

The goal of Parkinson’s Law is to shorten work time to limit tasks to the important.

Basically we see an inverse of the Pareto’s Principal. By combining them you can create not only an extremely efficient way to work but a much more profitable and anxiety free way as well.

So the goal would be to use Pareto’s Principal to determine the most profitable sectors of your business, then implement Parkinson’s Law to tightly focus on just those aspects.  The combination will allow you be more efficient and more profitable while tightening the speed and efficiency of those tasks.

Would love some feedback from you guys after you try this!

Looking for more info? Here are some links that dive a bit deeper into Pareto’s Principle and Parkinson’s Law:

• From lifehack.org
• From BetterUnderstanding

I was pretty heated about the Tesla vs. Top Gear lawsuit. Thankfully, sanity has prevailed.

Tesla’s libel suit against Top Gear was dealt a crushing blow with London’s court ruling that no Top Gear viewer would have reasonably assumed the Tesla Roadster’s on-track performance on the show relates to its real-world capabilities.

I’ll sleep well tonight – in my The Stig pajamas.

Source: autoblog.

If you haven’t already, please take 30 seconds to answer our quick survey. Your opinion guides the future of RPMWare and we take your feedback very seriously.

Please Read: We’re Not Going Anywhere

One of the survey questions (How would you feel if you could no longer use RPMWare?) has inadvertently caused some concern about the future of RPMWare.

I want to make it absolutely clear:

We’re not going anywhere. RPMWare is profitable, growing, hiring, and intensely focused on improving our product to ensure things stay that way.

If you’re interested in the origin and purpose of the survey: read more about Survey.io here.

I have sold, or helped others sell, tens-of-millions worth of parts online. Because of that experience I’m frequently asked “how do I grow my online sales?” There is no silver bullet, but there are two fundamentals you must know and master. Without these, nothing else matters.

Product

Product trumps everything. Successful e-commerce operations excel at merchandising: selecting the right products, displaying them properly, providing the best information about them, and pricing them competitively. If you haven’t covered those 4 steps yet stop reading right now and get to work.

Selecting the Right Products

RPMWare makes it incredibly easy for you to sell parts from 218 different brands, but that doesn’t mean you should. Sell what you know in markets you understand. A Honda shop isn’t going to sell many parts to BMW owners, so limit your catalog and focus on your core. Only expand after you have mastered your current catalog, and do it slowly.

Display Products Properly & Provide the Best Information

RPMWare meets these requirements out of the box — our catalog is packed with tons of information from all the manufactures we support. We’re constantly improving the catalog and updating it daily.

To set your site apart consider using SEO Extensions to fine tune product descriptions, page titles, and <meta> tags.

Priced Competitively

Pricing is extremely important. You don’t have to be cheapest, but you do need to be competitive. Even your most loyal customers will look elsewhere when your pricing deviates too far from the norm. If you’ve followed my advice so far and selected the right products you’re ahead of the game — you know your main competitors and you know the going rates.

It’s dead simple to set your pricing within RPMWare. You may also consider offering free shipping; it’s a great promotional tool.

Promotion

If you’re already getting thousands of unique visitors a day and selling six-figures a month you don’t need this. If not, like most of us, you need to do some (more) promotion.

The most common misconception I hear is: opening an online store immediately opens a floodgate of orders, new customers, and untold riches. In reality, opening an online store is more like dropping a penny in the middle of a NASCAR race — nobody notices, or cares. It’s up to you to make them notice, and to make them care.

Notice

Grabbing attention is the easier of the two, there are a million ways to promote your business both online and off.

• Forums
• RPMWare Showcase (Submit Your Shop)
• Google Shopping, Bing Shopping, Street Performance
• Google AdWords
• Writing & Submitting Articles
• Banner Advertising
• Sponsorships
• Magazine Advertising
• Social Media
• Etc., etc.

Your specific business and market will dictate the best options, but whichever you pick make sure you track your results and adjust as necessary. It’s very easy to burn cash with no results. The key is to identify and continue what works; eliminate what doesn’t.

Care

I see a lot of promotions along the lines of “We have an online store; come check it out.” These are fatally flawed by a simple, brutal truth: nobody cares about you or your business.

You’re not reading this post because you care about me or what I have to say. You’re reading it because you want to improve your business. You’re reading it because I am (hopefully) giving you something you need to make that happen — I am helping you achieve your goal.

Your customers are no different. They want you to help them achieve their goal and will respond well if you reach out to do so. Don’t promote yourself, promote what you offer your customers.

Wrapping Up

These fundamentals should be at the core of your online store. Executed well, they will grow your business. From here the possibilities expand dramatically because every subsequent move builds on a strong foundation.

I’m interested to hear what you think and what your results are once you address these points. Please let me know in the comments.