[Matt Herring]

Hey Neil...hope everything is going well...good to hear from you!

I did mention my current mpg in my Prius and it floored her and the photographer (currently I'm around 60-63 mpg my last few tanks). But because I was promoting my Super Commuter Driving Instruction and what I can do for "her" mpg in "her" car I didn't put an emphasis on it.

I think anyone not familiar with a Prius (probably the majority of her readers) thinks the Prius is a freak of nature and doesn't relate to it. I didn't want to come off as only a "Prius" driver that has a skill that every day commuters can't learn themselves. Instead, I tried to make the conversation relevant to all people driving "normal" cars (her 2007 Hyundai Sonata is rated at 24 mpg and probably more in the ballpark for someone to relate to).

I did think alot about what angle I wanted to take with today's meeting and I decided that talking about my skills and accomplishments would alienate people reading the article instead of capturing their attention that "Hey, maybe this guy can help me too if he helped her!" If she writes that I posted 34+ mpg and she posted 26+ mpg in the same car on the same route...I think that would be ideal.

At the end of our interview she asked what she could write in the article for people that want to take a lesson with me and she wrote in her notebook "for a nominal fee that was worth every penny you can take a driving lesson with Matt to improve your miles per gallon by calling or emailing him at..."

Hoping that makes it into the article!

I should also note that on two occasions she mentioned she gets around 36 mpg in her car prior to us taking a drive today. I think the SGII reading after her drive was a pretty big wake up call as she was well under that figure. My run didn't even go that high (maybe it would have if I inflated the tires to max psi)!