What do Auburn, Blogging, and Burgers Have in Common?

Welcome back to our bi-weekly blog! Reggie here, still buzzing from that event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What a great time with the great people from MORPCA and of course our local PCA and Hoosier BMW!

Before we get into today's post, please note that we will be closed on Monday, September 3rd, in observance of Labor Day. 

Fun Fact: We pulled these photos from the archives of Reggie's phone, circa 2014, Auburn! 

This week, I’m going to get a little weird. I’m going to blog about blogging. Wait, what!? What is blogging in the first place? And, why do you blog?

But first, I need to know who is reading this. PLEASE do me a favor and comment either below, or on the social media channel that brought you here, with one of the following:

1. First Time Reader

2. Current Client

3. Fan

4. Friend/Family Member

This would mean a great deal to us, and to help break down the science of blogging!

I can’t speak to the true history of blogging, but my understanding is that “blog” is short for “web log”, which basically started off as a way for people to journal on the internet. I would assume it was more about self-expression in the beginning, and has since evolved into educating and even marketing. That’s right, sometimes we write blogs solely to get in front of your eyes so you either look at ads on our site or spend money at our business (GASP!).

So why am I writing a blog right now? Truthfully, I do it on a schedule because it is good for Reggie’s Motorworks. Beyond that though, I enjoy sharing some of my interests and thoughts to a group of people who may be like-minded. Sometimes I like to educate folks on some of the inner-workings of auto repair and share some “behind the scenes” looks into our industry. Today, I happen to be dissecting the very blog you are reading!

For these next few paragraphs I am going to focus on how blogging can be a marketing tool for a business like mine. At Reggie’s Motorworks, we work on BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, Mini, and Porsche automobiles.

See there, now if you Google one of the above terms, there is a slight chance you might stumble upon this blog, read it, fall in love, and come spend money at my business!!

Seriously, we want more than your money. We are a relationship-based shop, and we care deeply about our clients and their cars. I am just trying to illustrate the point (while also getting some great keywords in!).

I will need to go a bit further to really make this blog perform. I need to talk more about what we do. We repair and service cars. We diagnose check engine lights. Our mechanics perform oil changes (We don’t do “quick-lube” style oil changes, but you might Google “oil change” and I want you to find us! 🙂 ).

By the way, in our industry, “mechanic” is sometimes looked at as semi-derogatory. In today’s shop, the guy or gal working on your car is far more than a grease monkey. Today, we prefer the term technician, as we are very technical and highly trained. I use the word “mechanic” in my blog because we know that the general public will search for a “mechanic” in their favorite search engine.

See how this blogging for the purpose of marketing works? It’s borderline manipulative, isn't it?

By the way, we also replace brakes, fuel pumps, water pumps, windshield wipers, transmissions, timing belts, timing chains, alternators, tires, and perform alignments.

Now I am going to talk about cheeseburgers, thick juicy steaks, and refreshing cold beverages to see if we can grab a couple of random Googlers looking for a great restaurant. Is this getting too silly?

Let’s move on to a more fun part of blogging, self-expression.

This weekend, Stephanie, the boys and I are traveling up to Auburn, Indiana for the annual automotive extravaganza which includes a huge auction, car corral, and swap meet put on by RM Southeby’s at the Auburn Auction Park. This is one of two events going on this weekend. The other is the ACD (Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg) Festival, which celebrates the amazing cars that were built in this area prior to WWII.

I have been traveling to this event for 30 years now (since 6th grade). At this point it would be hard to stop going. It's just part of who I am, and I’m glad the rest of the family enjoys it as much as I do. I may be seen as a “BMW guy” since I built RMW working on BMW’s and, let’s face it, they tend to gravitate toward me. Truthfully, I am a non-denominational “car guy”.  I like Classics, Hot Rods, Customs (AKA Kustoms), Rat Rods, Low Riders, Muscle Cars, Trucks, etc. (Take those key words to the bank, Google!).

This whole theme is why Reggie’s Motorworks exists, and now it's why I blog. Sure, I want you to come see my crew when the electric water pump on your BMW e90 335i or e60 535i fails (don’t worry, they all fail) or when your Porsche 996 needs an IMS bearing upgrade and clutch replaced (preventatively, I hope). The bottom line is that these things need to be done whether RMW exists or not, but we are car people, and we take care of people who happen to drive German cars. If you found us because you were looking for someone to take care of your Mercedes-Benz, then great! We can do that. Nice to meet you! If you just want to go look at some automotive awesomeness, then we’ll see you at Auburn. If you’re looking for a cheeseburger, well, sorry about that. I happen to like BRU Burger here in Noblesville, for whatever that’s worth.

I’m not yet sure what Stephanie will write about in 2 weeks, but maybe if we get enough comments we can talk her into taking photos at Auburn!! Remember to check out her blog at www.stewartimagery.com!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!