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5 Things to Look for in a Mechanic

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Finding and hiring a mechanic is inevitable if you own a vehicle. You will need someone to keep up with the maintenance on your car and do repairs when it breaks down. You can’t just hire any mechanic, however. You need to hire the very best provider for your money. The following are some things to look for during your search.

1. Reasonable Tenure

The first thing you need to look for before you hire a mechanic to work on your car is a reasonable tenure. You’ll need to look for an establishment that has been in the business for at least five to 10 years and is loved by most community members. If you can find that, you’re on the right track. Reimagining Education says that more than 6,000 mechanics are in the United States. So, there are plenty to choose from. Still, not everyone will fit the profile of the best mechanic to take care of your vehicle.

You can typically find out how long an automotive shop or mechanic has been in business by reviewing the information on their website. Most will have an ‘about us’ page that explains how long they’ve been providing services in their community.

2. Strong Reputation

The next quality to look for in an auto repair shop is a strong reputation. You’ll need to know if current and former clients stand by their work and feel they received good customer service and professional treatment. Fortunately, the world of consumer reviews is out there.

With a little research, you can find any establishment’s star rating and consumer comments explaining how the process of getting automotive work went for them. You might find a shop with much better reviews than most in the area, and you’ll need to put them on top of your candidate list.

Positive consumer reviews will help you feel safe about getting services from a provider. You’ll know whether they performed work that left the customers’ vehicles safe. You should pay close attention to this part of the process because it’s vital.

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration reports that 50% of the car accidents that cause deaths or injuries happen at urban intersections and 30% in rural areas. Some of them happen because of poor automotive repair jobs and misdiagnoses. That’s why you must hire a provider you can believe in.

3. Mix of Services

You also want to look for a good mix of services. Finding a mechanic that can do everything will save you the trouble of hiring several providers. You can go to the same company for maintenance, small, and large jobs. Oil changes are examples of maintenance jobs that are super important. Experts like AAA say that one should get their oil changed every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Thus, you’ll need a shop that provides those services but can also work on your tires, suspension, engine, transmission, etc. It’s all the better if you find a mechanic who can also do odd and miscellaneous jobs.

4. Fair Pricing

Pricing is pretty important because you can only pay what your budget will allow. Thus, you need to figure out your budget first and then match it up with a company offering fair labor costs. You might get lucky and find a shop that offers coupons, promotional codes, and special discounts to its new customers. Many automotive shops do these promotions. You must ask or visit their website to see if they announce such things.

5. Certification

Lastly, you’ll want to invest in a shop that has certified mechanics working for it. A certified mechanic has formal education and experience working on cars. ASE certification is a popular system that certifies mechanics in different vehicular systems. You might find a certified automotive electrician specialist, an alignment expert, or a transmission guru. You might also be fortunate enough to run into a master mechanic who knows little about everything.

You can make a well-educated choice if you use the above criteria. Remember not to rush. Look at all the important aspects and narrow your selections down carefully. Choose wisely and you can keep your car running well for many years.

Here’s How to Engage Your Audience Online

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Whether you’re a business or other brand, by now you know that online is where the money is. This means that if you want to grow and expand, you’ll have to find a way to engage your audience online. If you can do this, you have a great chance of making an impression and building a loyal following that will be well worth your time and money. If you’re not sure of the steps to take in order to engage your audience online, have a look at the helpful tips below.

Ensure Your Equipment Works as it Should

To start with, it’s important for you to make sure that all your equipment works the way that it should. This involves testing everything you’ll use to be sure that it works. One of the easiest ways to lose the attention of your audience is to be inaudible or unclear on the screen. Sharing audio, video, and even images that are bad quality is one of the fastest ways to lose the attention of your audience. This may come at a steep price for you since the most engaged audiences spend 76 times more on products and services they see advertised online, according to High Rock Studios.

Keep Things Simple

Next, you don’t want to run the risk of boring your audience with complex statements and convoluted ideas. With most people’s attention spans getting shorter each day, the best thing that you can do is to keep things simple. If you can say something in five words, for example, there’s no use in adding more words to the mix. In fact, one of the most important pieces of advice that people running websites or social media handles is to keep things as simple as possible.

If you need to put across facts as well, it’s a good idea to put them across in a language that’s extremely easy for your audience to digest. For example, a study done by Pew Research Center found that a mere 2% of federal criminal defendants end up in the courtroom. Of these, 83% face convictions in the end. This is something that should be simplified to a single statement so that it’s easier for an audience to digest and move on to the next topic.

Make Use of Polling

Another way you can keep your online audience engaged is by using polls. With a poll, you give your audience the chance to have an input in the matter that you’re discussing. There are many free tools and plugins that make it possible for you to hold a poll. Make use of them so that you can get the most out of the audience that you’d like to engage with.

Keep in mind that this is also something that can be applied in the workplace with employees. That’s because 54% of employees say that they’re psychologically unattached to their work and therefore do the minimum, according to JB Coaches. You don’t want this for your business as it translates to lower productivity and a higher likelihood of losing employees.

Send Previews and Reminders

Last but not least, if you intend to have a presentation or something similar, it’s important to remind those who are going to attend. Send reminders to them to make sure that they don’t forget, either through emails or in the form of text messages. You can also take things a step further and send a preview of any material that you’re going to use. This should familiarize the attendees with what you’ll cover and make it easier for them to follow along with what you’ll be presenting.

With these methods, you may have more success in engaging your audience online. Remember that it may take a few trials to find out the perfect method for your specific audience because audiences differ. The time and money invested in finding this out will prove to be worth it for you in the end.