The most trusted name in live chat brings the best blog posts and auto news stories right to you! We monitor industry trends, current events and the auto dealer community every week to bring you the top blogs and automotive stories from around the globe. This weekly edition – the President turns pop star, Hubspot teams up with Hootsuite, and GM makes big changes to employee bonuses.

10.   Artist Turns Dead Cat Into A Helicopter

Whether this is an emotional tribute to a faithful pet or a twisted mockery of its former life, this taxidermied helicopter is certainly notable. Instead of burying his deceased pet, Dutch artist Bart Jensen transformed a dead cat into a remote-control flying device. What do you think about Orville’s flying corpse: art, or bereavement?

9.    Barack Obama Sings “Call Me Maybe,” Sort Of

People of all political persuasions can finally agree on one thing - this video mash-up of President Obama singing “Call Me Maybe” is hilarious. Ever since the Harvard baseball team famously made a choreographed video of the pop sensation, new spoofs have emerged daily. However, nothing is quite as funny as seeing the POTUS describe how all the other boys try to chase him.

8.    CDC To America: There Is No Zombie Apocalypse

Well, that’s a relief. Don’t worry about stocking your underground shelter just yet; the Center for Disease Control reports that they have no knowledge of any zombie virus responsible for the recent string of flesh-eating attackers. Those people weren’t zombies - they were just good, old-fashioned crazy.

7.    You Can’t Just Make The Baby, You Have To Raise The Baby

Joe Webb gives us a lesson in both lead nurturing and parenting on. Raising a child and nurturing an online lead have one thing in common: you have to care for them until they mature. Is your Internet Sales Manager still caring for its newborn leads?

6.    5 Tips To Consider For Mobile Marketing Success

Have you thought about your mobile SEO? Considered SMS text marketing? Is your website mobile friendly? If you haven’t considered these questions, don’t launch a mobile marketing campaign until you’ve read Brent Albrecht’s blog on DrivingSales.

5.    Internet Lead Lingo: “I’m Not In The Market” Means “Don’t Pressure Me”

Why treat an Internet customer differently from one on the showroom floor? Josh Vajda translates the objections of Internet customers in this excellent Automotive Digital Marketing post.

4.    4 Social Networks To Watch Out For

When we hear social media, most of us instinctively think of Facebook and Twitter – but new networks spring up all the time, and some have the potential to be just as popular. We’ve outlined the four most promising up-and-comers in the social media world.

3.    There Are Big Changes Coming In The Automotive Retail Space

As Ian Nethercrott reports to the DealerElite community, the car retail business is changing rapidly. Luxury brands like BMW are changing the rules of the buying process by adapting the best practices of successful retailers like Apple. To keep up, dealers need to stop selling cars and start selling a top shelf car buying experience.

2.    Hootsuite Partners With Hubspot to Offer Social Media Lead Nurturing

Hubspot promises to “close the loop” on social media marketing by partnering with social media management platform Hootsuite. The new app in development will make it easy for users to identify a lead’s tweets and monitoring for prospective opportunities. Hubspot is currently accepting applications into the app’s closed beta.

1.    GM Will Base Employee Bonuses On Owner Loyalty

GM has offered a year-end bonus to salaried employees if the OEM hits an internal customer-retention goal. This is one example of the company’s strong new customer orientation. GM CEO Mark Reuss expects to make the car manufacturer number one in customer service within two years.
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