96 episodes
The First Pencil Kathi Kruse and Mike theCarGuy Correra
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- Business
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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Mike The Car Guy Correra and Kathi Kruse are best friends, with many many years of retail experience in the car biz. "We decided to get together every week and talk about the things that are important to us in the auto industry, and hope you’ll come along for the ride. We’ll cover industry stuff, social media, and digital retail, all with a dose of our love for 80s/90s music. Join us!"
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Genuine Care and Kindness Leaves a Lasting Impression
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Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life. It can also be the difference between you and the competition.
Kathi and Mike share some real time stories about employees that have gone the extra mile, and in the process made themselves memorable. We also share some examples of what happens when poor management, lack of training and a culture that doesn’t put the customer first is left to its own devices.
In our music segment:
Metallica: Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Ultravox: Reap The Wild Wind
Ultravox: Vienna (Live Aid)
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com -
Spring Forward: Refreshing Vendor Relationships, Sprucing Up Operations and Financials
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Spring is always a good time to review and reflect on what’s working for you, what’s not, and what needs more attention. Kathi and Mike share a few “Spring Cleaning” stories and best practices at the dealership.
Music segment:
Alanis Morrisette on David Letterman: You Oughta Know
Milli Vanilli documentary The bizarre untold truth behind the greatest con in music history
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com -
Social Media Login Security + Website Traffic Study
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This week, Kathi and Mike share insights on Rand Fishkin’s SparkToro’s website traffic sources study. Some surprises, great data.
Then we talk about the valuable company assets known as social media business pages. It’s no longer simple or easy to retrieve them if you don’t have login credentials so we share our best practices for how to never find yourself in that position.
Weekend social media for good: Rand Fishkin’s wife, Geraldine DeRuiter is a James Beard award-winning blogger and author. Last Friday, she posted on Threads that her new book was given a terribly negative (even personal!) review by a New York Times critic. Then, over the weekend, something magical happened. It’s a fantastic example of how social media is still great for coming together to support someone and turn a bad review into a bestseller.
Geraldine on Threads (if you’d like to see how it all unfolded):
Geraldine’s book: If You Can’t Take the Heat (Kathi ordered it and her blog and first book are amazing)
Geraldine’s blog: The Everywhereist
Music:
The Jam’s last album “The Gift” released March 12, 1982: A Town Called Malice
March 1985: The first full album from a fav of Mike’s, The Sisters of Mercy was released.
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com -
Running on Empty
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As we witness every social media channel changing and shifting, so goes the user experience and behavior on each one.
Kathi and Mike try to make sense of the current state of social platforms, how to navigate the changes and what we can expect for the foreseeable future.
One thing that doesn’t change? The need for outstanding, relatable, educational content.
Music:
The Midnight Special TV Show
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com -
An Introvert Walks Into a NADA Convention
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Mike gives us a breakdown of the goings-on at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention from his view as an exhibitor.
As introverts, we both share certain traits (that are completely normal BTW) that make large groupings of people (like conferences, conventions) sometimes hard to navigate and are often draining.
In our music segment:
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations were announced!
Mike and his wife went to see the movie about the Pet Shop Boys: Dreamworld
Check out Gary Janetti on Instagram.
Kathi highly recommends Ozark on Netflix if you haven’t seen it.
Check out Smartless podcast - we can all use a laugh and they deliver every single episode.
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com -
AI Oh My: Practical Uses for AI in Car Dealerships
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Kathi and Mike are back with an episode to catch you up on what’s hip and what’s not in the world of using AI. We both come from dealerships so our perspective is different from that of a vendor’s. There’s a lot to learn and say about this exciting new tool but for now, here’s what we’re seeing as a practical way of incorporating AI to enhance operations without feeling overwhelmed by it all.
Netflix Documentary: The Greatest Night in Pop
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com
Customer Reviews
Great Content — Cars, Business, Music and More!
I just started diving into "The First Pencil" podcast, and as a marketing/creative professional, I can say it's right on! While it's steeped in the automotive catagory; nevertheless it's worth the listen as their insight applies to [most] businesses. I've discovered apps, authors, tactics, and more.
Kathi and Mike are not only experts in their respective feilds of automotive but also in business and being authentic humans.
Listen to a few episodes, and you're sure to get tremendous actionable nuggets of content you can use. Or don't; who am I, your mother? Instead, wander through life mouth-breathing, licking urinal cakes, and complaining about useless trivialities – whatevs.'