Just in time for the summer Directed Electronics is shipping the Orion Cobalt subwoofer enclosures. Available in single 10" & 12" boxes and dual 10" & dual 12" vented enclosures these affordably priced boxes pack the punch that today's music enthusiast demands. With these killer boxes starting at $149.99, it's sure to become an instant summer classic. Follow this link to find an authorized Orion Car audio dealer in your area and ask him to demo the Orion Cobalt enclosures. In no time you'll be listening to your music with the thunderous bass it's been missing and you won't need a congressional bail-out to get it! Check out the website for more information about Orion - High Performance Car Audio
• World’s fastest Remote Start Install • Worlds first all in one interface and remote start module • Saves hours off a typical remote start install (takes less than 15 minutes to install)
The VIPER RESPONDER LE 2-WAY XPRESS-START REMOTE START solution is the world's first true all-in-one interface and remote starter. The kit includes everything you need to interface and remote start many 2008+ Chrysler, Dodge & Jeep vehicles.* Never before has there been a product that has made installing a remote starter this easy, there are as few as 4 wires to connect to the car that will control all the convenience features as well as provide remote start using DEI's award winning Responder LE remote!
Unlike conventional remote starters this bundle will perform the transponder override and control all convenience features on the vehicles DATABUS. The complete system installs in minutes and has been featured as the world's fastest install. Just ask Steve Riviera of Audiowerks who competed in the world's fastest install challenge and won with a total install time of 32 seconds!
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 -- Directed Electronics has announced the immediate availability of Orion Wired premium high-performance audio accessories at authorized Orion retailers worldwide. 2009 is the 25th anniversary of the Orion brand, and Directed has marked the occasion with a top-to-bottom re-launch, including the return of the Orion Wired line featuring fuses, hardware, amp kits, interconnects and 99-percent oxygen-free copper wire. According to Christopher Fierek, marketing manager and Orion brand manager, “Wired has something for every car audio enthusiast: from the super-premium XPT series for high-end installs, the premium PRO series, and affordable Orion Wired PERFORMANCE interconnects for killer entry-level installs. And of course it’s all performance matched from the ground up to achieve the highest levels of performance from your Orion amps, speakers and subwoofers.”
For more information, please visit www.orioncaraudio.com.
February 9, 2009 -- VISTA, Calif. -- Directed Electronics has announced the immediate availability of Orion Car Audio XTR series coaxial speakers to Orion dealers.
Directed, a business unit of DEI Holdings Inc., is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Orion brand and Directed has marked the occasion with a top-to-bottom re-launch of the line, including the return of XTR and XTRPRO –- two renowned series of products from Orion's past.
Featuring universal fit baskets, UV coated fiber blended cones, and positionable silk soft dome tweeters, Orion XTR coaxials offer high power performance at a midrange price, according to the company.
"Orion's XTR series offers a clear retail step between the rock-solid Cobalt series at entry level and the high-current competition HCCA series, Orion's top-of-the-line," said Chris Fierek, Directed's marketing manager. "XTR is designed for car audio enthusiasts demanding maximum performance at a midrange price. Orion's silver anniversary is all about returning to the glory days of the brand, and XTR is a big part of Orion's championship legacy."
The Orion XTR652 6.5-inch two-way coaxial speaker (pictured) offers power handling of 60 watts RMS and 120 watts peak. Frequency response is 85Hz to 22KHz with sensitivity of 86dB and a shallow-mounting depth of just 2.01 inches. Suggested retail price is $149.99 for a pair.
For more information about Orion visit our website orioncaraudio.com
Most of us have heard the term Web 2.0 somewhere, it is one of those buzzwords that pop up from time to time, but what exactly is it and what does it have to do with electronics specialty retailers? Maybe everything.
What is Web 2.0?
The answer could probably fill a book, filled with words that I can barely pronounce much less spell, but I'll give you the basic description from Tim O'Reilly himself (the man who first coined the term):"[In Web 2.0] the cardinal rule is this one: Users add value. Figuring out how to build databases that get better the more people use them, is actually the secret sauce of every (successful) Web 2.0 company".
Web 2.0 is much more than a page on your computer screen. It's interactive, it's a conversation, it's alive!
There are countless examples of of Web 2.0 which include blogging, social networking sites and more, if you search the internet you'll find tons of them but I'm going to outline the 3 most popular sites; Youtube, MySpace & Facebook.
First, take a look at a chart from Alexa.com where these websites rank nationally among all websites:
The 3 sites have ranked as 3 of the top ten sites in terms of traffic in the US over the last 6 months. In fact, YouTube has ranked 3rd behind Google and Yahoo (both search engines) for much of the time period outlined in the chart above.To put that into perspective on March 31, 2008 it was estimated that there were 1.4 billion internet users globally. If you go back toalexa.com again and put "youtube.com" in the search box and then click on the "overview" link
for youtube and then "traffic details" you will see that the past 3 month average of GLOBAL INTERNET USERS THAT VISIT YOUTUBE is 18.647%.
Let me do the math...that's 262,498,465.8 people VISIT YOUTUBE!!!!
Here's what I find amazing, the car stereo video was uploaded 5 months ago and has over 5200 views, plus this is only one of a series of 14 videos that he's uploaded. The fella showing off his Viper car alarm in his video was uploaded 11 months ago and has been viewed a whopping 45, 000 times!!!
MySpace
The social networking powerhouse that gives you the opportunity to upload music, pictures, videos, blogs themes...with the endless amount of 3rd party software available and the simple way that it can be updated it can become a showcase for your business. Take a look at RIX Magazines MySpace page:
Here's the really cool thing about MySpace...you can go out and get all the friends you want by asking people to be your friends. With 3rd party software like FriendBlasterPro, you can target your friend finder by sex, age, location and how often they log on to their MySpace page. You can narrow your search to your target market, let's say male, 18 -34 years old, NYC area, logged on ot MySpace within the last 30 days and contact them by the hundreds...do that with the yellow pages!
Rix Mag sends out info for everyone of their events, with over 6,500 friends on MySpace they are able to send out reminders to each of them like this one below:
Do you think that's not strong? Ask Rico from RIX Magazine about the turn out for his events. How would your business benefit from a sales campaign if you were able to contact 10,000 individuals in your target market that live in immediate area?
Facebook
This has the least apparent business use capability but considering vast amount of traffic Facebook receives, it shouldn't be overlooked. With MySpace you would want to collect as many friends as possible, conversely with Facebook it more about connecting with people that you actually know. It's more quality and less quantity. One area electronics specialist uses it to keep in touch with key customers and has started a fan club for his customers to opt into. Facebook's best use for business might to be used in conjunction with other Web 2.0 websites such as blogging, podcasting or "Twittering". Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
Here's the key to using Web 2.0 with your business, it's being active. It's being part of the community, contributing and interacting within the community, adding value, the more you do this the healthier your online presence will be. Is all of this work? Anything of value usually is, but the internet is here to stay and if business isn't what it used to be, then it's time to make some changes.
A drunk was crawling about on the sidewalk under a lamppost at night.
A Police Officer came up to him and inquired, “What are you doing?”
The drunk replied, “I’m looking for my car keys.”
The Officer looked around in the lamplight, then asked the drunk, “I don’t see any car keys. Are you sure you lost them here?”
The drunk replied, “No, I lost them over there”, and pointed to an area of the sidewalk deep in shadow.
The policeman then asked, “Well, if you lost them over there, why are you looking over here?”
The drunk looked at him and said, “Because the light is better over here.”
Are you looking in the right place for your customers?
Every now and again I need to get back to basics and I go thru some of my old notes to get properly grounded. After the frenetic pace of the holidays, end of year, CES show trifecta, I felt it was a good time to take a fresh look at the reasons that Directed Electronics is the premier security/remote start/convenience manufacturer, bar none. Being in sales and trying to reach quotas it's easy to get caught up in the "price" game, and to forget that it's not about price, but about value.
Would you have heart surgery done by less experienced surgeon because it's cheaper?
Do you buy the cheapest locks for the doors to your home that protect your family from intruders?
We are willing to pay a premium price for products and services, just as long as we are receiving real value for our money.
So here I want to point out the real value that Directed Electronics brings to the table when choosing a security system/remote start product:
$2,500 Guaranteed Protection Plan - Pays up to $2,500 towards your insurance deductible if your vehicle is stolen while protected by a Directed Security system that was installed by an authorized dealer - whether the car is recovered or not!
National Dealer Network (800) 274-0200 connects you to our national dealer network of 6000+ retail locations when they are in need of assistance while on the road.
Clean Distribution - Directed's premium lines are sold only to authorized retailers
Nearly 100 Patented Technologies - Including the Stinger DoubleGuard Shock sensor the industry's best and most reliable vehicle security sensor and are included in our leading security and remote start products
Award Winning Tech Support and Training - 24/7 access to the information needed for proper installation with over 5,500 vehicle wiring diagrams and 5,000 installers field-trained per year.
Most Well Recognized Brands - The average consumer is five times more likely to know our leadiing brand over our competitors. That's the reward for years of excellence and we earn it every day.
Superior (legal) RF Technologies - Superior FCC approved RF technologies including Responder (with the quickest response time) and Responder SST with the longest legal range (up to 1 mile)
Best Bypass Lineup in the Industry - With Directed's recent acquisition of Trilogix, we are proud to offer our dealers tje most complete bypass and interface products available to integrate aftermarket security and remote start systems with OEM electronics.
Marketing Support and Programs - Annual dealer programs, advertising, POP, wearables and merchandising materials. Directed is committed to driving demand and helping our authorized dealers succeed every step of the way!
Select a system that will give you visual confirmation that the remote start is engaged. This can be achieved by flashing the headlights, parking lights or 2 way pager remote. Pager remotes can also give you important info like temperature in car or remaining run time.
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Step Two
Make certain that the system includes a pin switch on the hood of the vehicle. The switch will sense when the hood is open and prevent the remote start from starting the car. This protects you or a mechanic who may be working on the car.
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Step Three
Make certain that the system can incorporate the foot brake so that the remote start system cuts off when the brake is tapped.
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Step Four
Make certain that the system can monitor the transmission to assure that it is in park when the remote start system is engaged. If the transmission is out of park, this monitoring feature will prevent the system from starting the car.
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Step Five
Make certain that there is a relay added to the starter of the car so that the starter will not grind if you engage it while the engine is already on. Remember, you will have to turn the ignition switch on with the key when you enter the car after you have remotely started it. The antigrind feature protects the car's starter from damage if you accidentally engage the starter while turning on the ignition switch.
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Step Six
Make certain that the system includes a temperature sensor or an oil-pressure circuit to sense whether the engine is overheating. It should be able to shut off the engine if it is too hot.
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Step Seven
Select a system that allows you to program what button or buttons you use to engage the remote start. If you have children and they like to play with your remote transmitter, this feature can prevent them from accidentally starting the car. The installer can simply program the remote so that two buttons need to be pressed simultaneously to engage the remote start.
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Step Eight
Choose a system that's made by a reputable manufacturer that has been in the business, supports their product and has a network of authorized installation shops across the country.
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Step Nine
Select a system that will turn the engine on if the ambient temperature drops below a certain level if you live in a very, very cold climate.
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Step Ten
Select a system that has a range of at least 400 feet, if you live in the city and you can park your car in front of your house or in your driveway look for something with extended range (1500' to one mile)
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Step Eleven
Select a system that can bypass the original equipment manufacturer's (OEM) immobilizer systems if your car is equipped with one. The OEM system requires a key with a microchip imbedded in it to start the car. Some manufacturers have created ways to bypass this when engaging their remote start product.
Select a Shop to Install the System
Steps
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Step One
Ask the salesperson how long his or her shop has been installing remote start systems in your type of car, and if they are an authorized dealer for that brand.
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Step Two
Find out whether the installer has been certified by the Mobile Electronics Certification Program.
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Step Three
Make sure you buy your remote start from the shop doing the installation, sure you might save a few dollars getting the remote start from eBay or some other internet site, but it's the service that will save you headaches and money in the long run.
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Step Four
Ask to see photos of their installations of remote start products. Ask the salesperson to point out features of the photographed installations that show the quality of work that the shop performs.Ask them what they have installed in their car.
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Step Five
Get the installer to thoroughly go through the installation with you to make sure that everything was done properly.
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Step Six
Read the owner's manual to see what features are supposed to be on the system, and then test the system and its safety features to be certain everything has been connected and works properly
