Blog

Low-Cost Highly-Effective Way to Drive More Traffic to Your Shop

From the Desk of Kevin Steeland, CEO, PISTn Marketing Accelerated Let me ask you a question? If your car needs the engine replaced do you take your it to your neighbor who is a landscaper for his opinion? Of course not. In the same way, if you need advice on best practices for marketing your... Read More

5 easy steps to improving internet security

If you’re a business owner, it’s important to take information security seriously. As a small business owner in particular, you and your customers are at risk. About 43 percent of all cyber attacks target small businesses, according to smallbiztrends.com. Fortunately, there are several relatively easy—and cheap—steps you can take to protect your information and your... Read More

AIs Impact on Digital Marketing Strategy

With Chat GPT making headlines for months, it’s clear that AI is starting to offer real utility to its users. While machine learning and AI have been around for years, it’s more accessible and more valuable than ever before. PISTn is closely watching the trends to see how AI may help marketers connect with their... Read More

Why NAP Consistency Matters

Why NAP Consistency Matters NAP is an acronym for Name, Address, Phone. Essentially, it’s the contact information for your brick-and-mortar business, and it’s how visitors to your website are able to find and contact you. NAP consistency matters because major search engines, such as Google and Bing, give higher rankings to businesses that have a... Read More

Getting the Most from Your PISTn Website System: Birthday Club & Register to Win Features

Getting the Most from Your PISTn Website System: Birthday Club & Register to Win Features Are you getting the most out of your Pistn website system? One of the most powerful tools included in your PISTn Website System is the monthly email marketing that automatically goes out to your customers. There is just one catch... Read More

Why Reputation Marketing Matters So Much to Local Businesses

Reputation marketing is all about a company choosing how they want to be seen and taking steps to build that perception. You have a reputation. Your family, friends, neighbors, and even Facebook all have a perception of who you are. People may see you as empathetic, hard-working, or  perhaps business-savvy. The same is true for... Read More

Borrow Ideas From Other Industries To Help Your Auto Service Shop

In the automotive service sector, for example, it’s not always easy to come up with a different kind of marketing idea that will bring new customers into your business and keep others loyal. Fortunately, automotive businesses aren’t the only type out there, and you can draw your inspiration from other businesses and industries. Many service-oriented... Read More

Why SEO Is More Important Than Ever Since the Pandemic

Why SEO Is More Important Than Ever Since the Pandemic While most business owners know that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important, since 2020 it has become more crucial to your success than ever. When the pandemic began, there was a seismic shift on the Internet when it comes to buying. Consumer priorities changed overnight,... Read More

Why is text marketing so important?

Text Message Marketing Short message service (SMS) or text message marketing has advantages over other types of direct marketing. It’s fast, it’s cheap and it’s effective. It also encourages interaction between your brand and your consumers and, for that reason alone, it’s increasing in popularity. In the US, over 77% of the entire population owns... Read More

The Importance of Establishing a Personal-but-Professional Voice on Your Facebook Business Page

The Importance of Establishing a Personal-but-Professional Voice on Your Facebook Business Page Facebook marketing provides businesses with the opportunity to reach a wide audience in a variety of ad formats. It also offers interactive engagement in a format that consumers are already used to using. However, some Facebook business pages fail to reach their full... Read More

Exciting News! Service Reminders via Text Messaging

Great News for You in 2022! Hey, it’s a New Year and like always, PISTn has been hard at work. Over the last several months we’ve been testing NEW digital marketing tools that will be launching SOON! (NEW) Service Reminders via Text Message! Yes, that’s correct you can now send Service Reminders Via Text Message!... Read More

“Your News” Articles: Are You Making the Most of Your Website?

Are You Making the Most of Your Website? Sharing short news updates about your business on your website is a great way to keep customers engaged and thinking about you. Your website is the only real estate on the internet where you have total control. You can use that space to promote your business with... Read More

Take Control of Your Business Listings

WHAT IS BUSINESS LISTING MANAGEMENT? Business Listing Management means taking control of the facts about your business across 150+ digital services globally.  Properly done, Business Listing Managment ensures consumers find accurate information about your business — no matter where they search. So, your business appears to customers in your neighborhood that are looking for your... Read More

Beyond Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: Making Social Media Work for Your Business

Beyond Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: Making Social Media Work for Your Business While it’s difficult to ignore the millions and millions of followers that the big three social media sites have, there are more than 500 other social media platforms. Niche social media sites target specific audiences like book lovers, knitters and car enthusiasts. If... Read More

2021: Looking Ahead

2021: Looking Ahead Planning for next year’s goals may seem pointless after a year when so many of our plans have been completely canceled. It’s been a tough year in many ways but it hasn’t all been bad. These pauses to our normal activities can provide a chance for innovation. This was a year of... Read More

Refresher course: Get noticed through Google My Business

Google My Business is one of the most useful online tools a small business can access. It puts your name and business name in front of customers who are looking for you nearby—and it also places you on the map when people do searches for other businesses close to your location. These local search results... Read More

Local searches matter! How to improve your odds

Improving your Search Engine Optimization ranking is difficult enough, but when you factor in the local angle, it becomes even more challenging. That’s the goal you’re striving for: to have your business appear to customers in your neighborhood that are looking for your services. Fortunately, Google has made it somewhat easier and there are actions... Read More

How to improve your SEO ranking without new content

Search engine algorithms are always changing, but you don’t have to change your content to increase your Search Engine Optimization ranking for your web sites. There are many things you can do by simply tweaking and organizing the content you already have to increase your ranking and climb up the search engine ladder—and you don’t... Read More

Can you pay to have bad reviews removed?

Bad reviews are troublesome enough. When scammers or identity thieves get into the act, it can get even worse. We recently had a customer call us after she fielded a call from a company that said her business had a bad review on Google and that he could “get it taken down.” For a fee,... Read More

PISTn featured at national conference

Kevin Steeland, founder and CEO of PISTn digital marketing, will be a featured speaker at the international Car Wash Show this May in Nashville, TN. The conference, billed as the largest gathering of owners, managers and decision-makers from the car wash, quick lube and detailing segments, will take place from May 13-15. “I’m looking forward... Read More