Pain At The Pump: What OPEC Has To Do With Your Business

No doubt you’ve been spending more time at the pump these days – and more money as well! As long as OPEC continues to use their oil prices as a political pull toy, we can expect more of the same. I do believe that new energy resources are coming very soon which will eventually ELIMINATE our dependence on OPEC – but until then, what can we do?

I have written previous articles about my “testing” of hi-test gas versus the regular grade (which is cheaper, so most of us opt for that).

I ran a number of tests. These were performed on my nearly 12-year-old Honda Accord, which is a stick shift, and the tracking was done both in “around town” driving as well as long distances (a trip just shy of 500 miles each way).

I compared by number of gallons purchased. (3 gallons of regular vs. 3 gallons of high octane)

Then I tested the dollar amount purchased – because I know how some people will think! “Well, it’s great if you get a few more miles per gallon, but hi-test costs me $.20 more per gallon, so what difference does it make?”

So, because I anticipated that common question, I also ran several tanks with $10 worth of gas. I then compared the $10 worth of regular gas to the $10 worth of high-octane gas.

But what really blew me away was the long distance driving!

What were my results?

In EVERY CASE, the hi-test gas outperformed the regular in terms of miles per gallon AND cost comparisons.

Significantly outperformed.

I cruised longer, I ran more errands, I spent less time and money at the filling station (as we used to call it) – as long as I used hi-test gasoline.

The long trip? I went the entire distance on ONE TANK of gas (my car holds about 13 gallons), which I have never done before. On the return trip, my car logged well over 100 miles more on the tank than I ever got using regular gas.

A typical tank of regular takes me about 415 miles. I usually squeeze out a few more miles for highway driving. But on my return trip from out of state, I drove 551.7 miles on a single tank – and the “empty” gaslight still did not come on!

That comes out to 42.44 mpg on this tank of hi test gasoline, compared with approximately 32 mpg on a tank of regular.

I realize this is with ONE car, and one person testing. But I heard this tip from my sons, and have shared it with a number of folks. I’m hearing good reports from just about everyone.

So why am I telling you?

Well, first of all, if you can save money on gas that will free up funds for you to spend on other things – such as outsourcing or advertising and marketing for your business.

The other reason is that I want you to get really obsessive about testing and tracking. Track what you’re doing in marketing – is it working? Test out your theories – don’t put new systems in place without also putting in place a way to track those results.

This is critical to your success! With adequate tracking, you can make small tweaks to your marketing and systems, which can lead to a BIG difference in your bottom line.

I’m happy if I can save 15 – 25% or more at the pump. Would you be happy if you could get a 15-25% higher ROI (return on investment) for your advertising and marketing dollars?

Go ahead and do your own experiment. Does hi-test gas make a difference for you?

Then get on board with some high-octane marketing, tracking and testing so that your ROI will be light-years ahead of OPEC’s oil prices.