BT Tradespace - Possibly all is forgiven

My Bt Tradespace account was one of the first online tools I embraced when I launched CarCare Direct

I Loved it. I met lots of great people, nearly all of whom I am still in regular contact with, discovered Twitter via it and got lots of excellent advice and referrals. Yes it was a bit slow at times, and yes the "whoops" message got a bit tedious when the page you'd spent ages on wouldn't load BUT...it worked, especially for Google rankings and searches, and when I say it worked I mean page one for key words within 3 months.

How excited was I then about the refresh? Answer: Very!

Sadly the November launch slipped and then lots didn't work. Many people were getting very cross, and I don't blame them as I was super frustrated. Here was my Google ranking machine BROKEN!

Over the next few weeks I returned occasionally to find my questions still unanswered, buried under a tonne of other complaints and postings from some unhappy people. But how much can you complain when it's FREE? I decided "not much" and so virtually walked away.

However yesterday for, no good reason I decided to see if anything had changed. The look was the same (and as a self confessed Luddite I don't like it as much to look at as the old one) but it seemed to respond quicker. My frustrations over the way my content had been transferred was suddenly fairly easy to fix. Loading images was painless, I'd go as far to say as quite quick and suddenly, suddenly my site looked OK.

I still have more to do, but more I shall for the new BT Tradespace is vastly improved over the excellent original and the issues, on today's evidence at least, appear to be fixed

This is my CarCare-Direct.bttradespace account. I'd love to know what you think of it and to hear your experiences too.

If you did have a BT Tradespace I'd suggest giving it another go and if you didn't, well it seems you may have nothing to lose :)

Follow Friday - One stop car sales shop

I have a number of motortrade twitter friends, some are journalists, some are magazines and some actually buy and sell cars.

Ooh I thought they'd be a good bunch to do a follow Friday blog on. Many of them are jolly good twitterers like @Dealdrivers who not only shares some of the latest offers but also the tribulations of running her business and offers support, comment and a dollop of humour in her tweets. I am extra biased as we've met and enjoy a history in the Contract Hire and leasing world.

I quickly scanned through my followers to create a listing. First stop was to look at today's stream @BarrieCrampton appeared with his normal comments and links to the news. His is a bricks and mortars site with a clever web cam idea

@MotorTorque is a breed of on line retailers who post lots of tweets on interesting motoring stories so have an appeal even if you're not ready to buy

@carandvandeals mused with me this week what a diverse possibility of followers/followees there are...and so I was amazed to find that out of my c.749 followers I have 19 whose core business is selling and/or buying cars.

So if you are in the market for a new or used car, or perhaps have a car to sell or would just like to find some twitters who tweet and interact on all things cars and more then I'd give them a follow. However if you do buy a car from them remember that you might want to buy your extended car warranty, RAC breakdown cover or Service plan from me ;)

Here's my full list:

http://twitter.com/buy_a_car
http://twitter.com/autoebid
http://twitter.com/Mammothcars
http://twitter.com/makeandmodel
http://twitter.com/clivesutton
http://twitter.com/motorexchanger
http://twitter.com/autotrader_uk
http://twitter.com/Usedcarexpert
http://twitter.com/PendleLease
http://twitter.com/motoringcouk
http://twitter.com/BarrieCrampton
http://twitter.com/motorscouk
http://twitter.com/ExchangeMart
http://twitter.com/motorhound
http://twitter.com/InchcapeHonda
http://twitter.com/MotorTorque
http://twitter.com/DealDrivers
http://twitter.com/carmony
http://twitter.com/carandvandeals

Total Recall - Why the Toyota media frenzy is a bit bonkers

Let me start by saying that I think the way Toyota are handling the recall issue, around the sticking accelerator pedal, has been entirely proper.

They have acknowledged that there is a problem and, despite a lack of any real incidents, acknowledged that a potential risk does exist for their drivers. They have identified the fault, designed and manufactured a replacement part, listed all affected vehicles, organised extended opening hours at their dealers and engaged on every media known to man kind (bar a small sign on the moon perhaps?)

For twitterers there have been lots of news and I must say that I thought @ToyotaPR typified the candid, open and apologetic stance on the Today Programme on Radio 4.

Toyota owners/drivers will no doubt be concerned about their cars and will no doubt endure some stick from friends and colleagues but before we all lose total perspective I'd like to alert you to VOSA Vehicle Recall web page

Pick a manufacturer and enter the same affected dates as the current batch of Toyota's and then ask yourself :

"Can you remember hearing about this recall and is the manufacturer doing as much as Toyota are for its drivers?"

Toyota have a reputation for the reliability of their cars. I'd suggest that this unfortunate event should also enhance their reputation as a manufacturer that behaves reliably as well

For full details on the Toyota recall click here