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Visit: Lings Cars

How do you market the business?

"Good old word of mouth and renewals are not very exciting but they are number one. Internet advertising is number two, my nuclear rocket truck parked at the side of the A1 is number three. I run email marketing and fax marketing campaigns. PR and publicity is very high on my agenda, but I find it difficult to measure the results, except to say I get lots of exposure. My business revolves around my web page www.LINGsCARS.com , which I promote relentlessly. Currently I generate around 50,000 unique visitors per month."

Ling had this parked at the side of the A1 near Darlington in Tony Blair's constituency "pointing at George Bush in America". It caused a bit of controversy. The local council forced her to remove it because they thought too many people were looking at it and were being distracted from their driving. She subsequently moved it to the M62. The dispute led to Ling being featured in a full-page Financial Times article and being interviewed on Radio 5 Live. Her unique approach and no-nonsense answers to the questions she was asked raised her profile. Hearing Ling on the Radio 5 Live interview made Biz/ed want to find out more about this business! Source: Lings Cars.

Much of the marketing so far has been based around the factors mentioned above. Ling has now made a move into a different sort of marketing. She has bought an old London Routemaster bus and has equipped it with full access to the Internet, TV screens, DVD players and all the information that customers need to be able to look for a vehicle, find information on prices and rates and buy a car. She uses it for weekend events, such as the Rallycross Superprix at Croft Circuit.

Ling's new marketing drive involves getting out from the office and meeting people face to face. The Routemaster bus is designed to attract attention and customers whilst giving them everything they need to be able to make a purchase. Source:Ling's Cars.

Ling also specialises in viral marketing. During the 2006 World Cup, she gave away free England flags with DIY chopstick flagpoles. This was promoted by her ex-Red Guard sister in a viral movie on the Internet. Ling has also made a spoof series of "Chop Gear" car road tests, testing cars (again with a Chinese theme) in movies, seeing how many Chinese takeaways can fit into their boots.

In addition, Ling has sponsored a local entry in the Mongol Rally, where two local lads drove "a crap car to a crap country". In this picture, they're trying to change the car's head gasket. Looks like they know what they're doing..! Source: Lings Cars.

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