Green and Mean
Green is in today. Troubles with the Earth’s environment are being highly publicized these days, and some of the evidence is disturbing. Even if you’re skeptical about such a thing as global warming, it’s not hard to be convinced that our huge population is finally taking a toll on the planet. There are more people
Young Guns
Ray and Clare Santiago are hoping to set the industry ablaze with radical new ideas and a unique business philosophy.
Laying Down the Law
When Michael Trinagel’s twin daughters were born 16 years ago, he drove them home from the hospital in a Rolls-Royce. Today, the only reason his shop, Personal Touch Auto Body in the Bronx, is still in business is because he took out a loan against the equity he has in his house – one part of
The Joke’s On You at Smiley’s
Jeff Smiley usually has a fake grin on his face as he walks around his shop in New Castle, Ind. But it’s not the typical fake grin worn by someone who’s trying to look happy when he’s really pissed. Rather, it’s a “smile-on-a-stick” prop, one of several hundred gag gifts he has collected over the
Custom-Made Revenue?
The growing demand for custom and restoration work has made it worth looking at by collision repair shops hungry for more profits.
RIP, Yellow Pages
It’s official: the Yellow Pages is dead. Hopefully you didn’t hear it here first. Hopefully you heard the death knell a long time ago and decided the Internet was the way to promote your brand. The Yellow Pages I’m referring to is the big yellow paper directory dropped off on your doorstep that some people
5 Marketing Ideas to Heat Up Your Business
Consumers should become familiar with your shop long before they get in an accident. Here are some ways to make sure they do.
E-Newsletter on the Way
Some exciting things have been going on here at BodyShop Business lately. For over 25 years, we’ve been dedicated to making body shop owners and managers’ lives a little easier and more profitable, and that singular purpose continues on even more today. So many exciting things are going on in the collision repair industry at
Reliving the Old West
Honda marketing manager gets a kick out of gunslinging.
Who’s the Wolf?
I’m sure many of you saw the article on our Web site in “Breaking News” about the American Insurance Association calling auto repair anti-steering legislation a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” And I’m pretty sure it irked you as much as it did me. The article basically said that this legislation could cost consumers millions of
Our New Web Site Debuts!
It’s official: I am now a blogger. When we re-launched our newly designed Web site on April 14, I joined millions of others who use the Internet to convey their thoughts and feelings to the masses. It was truly a special occasion. I remember 25 years ago when I plunked down $900 of my hard-earned
Talkin’ Shop in Cincy
They sure do eat well in Cincinnati. During my and Managing Editor Mike Peltier’s daylong visit to Elite Collision Service in Cincinnati last month, it was pecan squares the size of fuel doors for breakfast, Papa John’s pizza for lunch and, for a mid-afternoon snack, “cheese coneys” from Gold Star Chili. General Manager Phil Mosley