Girls Love Wheels
Karen Flowers saw a unique niche in the online automotive marketplace, one she realized needed to be filled. Women everywhere drive cars and buy cars, yet very few companies really create products or accessories for women drivers, or market much to women at all. As Karen succinctly puts it, type in your typical automotive search term in your favorite search engine, and what do you get? “Either links to auto parts store chains or sites filled with buxom beauties draping themselves over cars.”
The results of Karen’s brainstorm? GirlsLoveWheels.com, THE Internet source for fashionable auto accessories, info, tips and fun for women drivers everywhere! And Law of Attraction has, of course, come into play - recently the site was featured in Seventeen magazine! (The Maternity Seatbelt, pictured right).
Attraction Market Place had the chance to interview Karen about her site, LOA and her insights into running an online business. Enjoy!
Name: Karen Flowers
Website: Girls Love Wheels
Attraction Market Place: How would you describe your site and your products?
Karen: A Women’s automotive resource website with information, tips and women’s automotive accessories.
Attraction Market Place: What originally inspired you to start Girls Love Wheels?
Karen: While working for years in the automotive industry it became exceedingly apparent that the auto manufacturing industry didn’t recognize women as buyers. They are just now waking up to the feminine force behind the majority of auto purchases. And are putting long over due focus on women as buyers and drivers.
The automotive aftermarket industry (auto accessories and parts) especially have specifically denied women have any interest in vehicles. Yet women buy over 50% of all autos purchased. Influence the decision making process for over 80% of all cars, trucks and SUVs purchased and have veto power for 95% of all vehicles purchased. I felt it was time they had a place to find answers to questions, share tips and to buy attractive accessories to use in their vehicles.
Where do you see your business going in a year? In five years?
One year - Expanding my product line. I’m always looking for more and more attractive automotive accessory products to offer women on my site. They’ve not been easy to find because of the masculine dominated aftermarket industry makes everything in gray, black or brown. I’m always looking for pastels, primary colors, florals and feminine themes.
I would like to offer a searchable database of vehicle information and articles for women to turn to when needed. I also want to find women columnists to write more articles specifically for women regarding every aspect of their vehicles. Articles such as “how to keep your new teenage driver safe”, “assistance in handling aging parents and driving issues”, “how to get the automotive industry’s attention so they design vehicles that fit women’s needs”, “maintenance issues from a women’s point of view”, etc.
I’d like to offer women a geographical listing of women owned automotive businesses, repair shops, oil change shops, dealerships, etc. So they can look up their area and find women owned businesses to buy or maintain their vehicles. Women like dealing with women when it comes to their vehicles.
I’d like to offer a chat area for women to discuss and share their vehicle insights, tips and questions.
I also want to offer international shipping.
Five years - I’d like to design our own Girlslovewheels line of fashionable women’s automotive accessories. Seat covers, steering wheel covers, visor accessories, organizers, floor mats, etc. in attractive colors and colorful themes. An entire product line of items designed for women to shop, dream and choose what fits her vehicle and inspires her driving experience.
I also have an idea for something completely different, that would be a godsend to busy women and especially Moms to keep their vehicle’s cleaner and looking more attractive. I think women would love it, but I have to find a designer and manufacturer. (Organizing Wonders, pictured left.)
I’d also like to be in a position to sponsor women race car drivers.
I’d also am thinking in terms someday of expanding into a line of motorcycle accessories, and mobility accessories for women.
I would like to work in conjunction with teenage driver sites to offer fun, interesting safe driving programs and car maintenance workshops for Mom’s, and teen girls who have just gotten their licenses.
I have ideas for a few non profit organizations I’d like to start regarding women and their wheels. Educational scholarships for women interested in automotive related fields, repairs for low income Mom’s who can barely afford to run their car, much less fix it. Wheels for seniors; rollators, scooters and power chairs for our senior women who don’t have insurance (or enough insurance) and can’t afford them on their own.
Attraction Market Place: You are a fabulous Creator - can you tell us some of the ways the LOA has weaved its magic when it comes to Girls Love Wheels?
Karen: First I was stumbling around trying to find out how to start this whole thing, I didn’t have a clue. The first company I signed with did nothing for me except they did sign me up with Discover and American Express and get my merchant numbers set up.
A little while later when I was feeling like nothing was ever going to happen, I got a call from a company who got my name from Discover, they work with the Discover card company all the time and they explained their web hosting, web design, store front and marketing services.
I immediately sacked the other company who were totally uncooperative immediately and went with them. Their prices were great, I got to design my own site using their software, which at the time was huge for me. And they have been wonderfully supportive helping me every step of the way. I knew that with the first company I had rushed into it without the feeling being right, but LOA found a crack in the form of that Discover Merchant number to bring me the firm I should be with, the one that would handle as much or as little as I wanted them to and do it with a friendly smile. If anyone is interested the company is websitepros.com
Also GLW was featured in Seventeen Magazine’s automotive section in the May 2006 issue. We carried 2 of the magazines chosen “Top 10 car accessories!” I did absolutely nothing to find them or request the article. They found my site on the internet and called me to be included. That is LOA at it’s best!
Attraction Market Place: What do you love most about your business? What thrills you about your site and your products?
Karen: Every time a woman tells me how much she loves my site I get a thrill. They always say what a great idea it is and they are so glad I’m offering them choices.
When I first started working on the site my girlfriend told her husband about what I was doing. He’s a very nice man and he is also a very high level ad executive at an agency that handles cooperative advertising campaigns for a huge number of Ford dealerships. I respected him so his response shocked me when he told her “It sounds nice, but if there really was a market for it, we’d already be doing it.”
That was like a call to reveille for me. A glove thrown down to challenge me to make my site as successful and resourceful as possible. Not to prove him wrong, he doesn’t matter. But to offer women the choices that his type of narrow minded and pervasive thinking hasn’t given them so far.
Also my site is not an Abe related site, but I try to offer as much upliftment and optimism as I can to the masses.
Do you have any funny, inspiring stories related to your site that you can share with AMP readers?
I guess that was one. Well and the woman who bought a huge order of different items, the most feminine items she could find. She told me she was ordering them to decorate her car so girly that her husband would stop taking her nice new car and leaving his old beater for her to drive.
And three race cars in Mississippi have women drivers and decals on their trunks (purchased from GLW) that say “You just got passed . . . by a girl!
Attraction Market Place: Going beyond your business, can you describe the impact that LOA has made in your life overall, in business and in life in general?
Karen: I wouldn’t have my website if it weren’t for LOA. It had been a distant dream of mine for 10 years. It was launched by the automotive company I was working for at the time going completely out of business and permanently laying off and giving unemployment, extended benefits and big severance packages to 1300 people in the US and Canada. My 401 even got vested when I hadn’t been there long enough for it to have under regular circumstances, it’s value tripled! It was so easy for me to see each of us involved in the closing and how we all had co-created the situation.
For some of the people who worked there it was absolutely devastating, for other’s it was bad but they limped through it, for still others it simply a bump in the road to negotiate, and for me it was freedom! A financial and emotional springboard to my becoming self employed as a website owner.
Attraction Market Place: What advice do you have for other spiritually-minded online business/website owners?
Karen: I think of my customers as Spiritual sisters I have yet to meet. I so honored that they have found my site and appreciated what I offer that I can’t imagine not doing everything I can to make them happy, and honestly I’ve attracted the most amazing, patient and loving customers.
Also if you have a dream, don’t put it off, the web is incredible and anyone can build a business there. Start as small as you have to, if you want to sell home made widgets, there are oodles of people in the world who want to buy them. Have a college kid design you a small widget site and get a P.O. Box for people to send you checks or use PayPal to process sales. As your sales grow, so will your site.
Join a link exchange site, but make sure it’s a quality one, not one that just sticks you in thousands of non related sites. I’ve really enjoyed the linking process. At first it gave me a chance to sit and surf looking for cools sites with which to link. Now I don’t even have to look for links, I get dozens of requests each week telling me they’ve added my link to their site and asking me to link my site back to theirs.
Attraction Market Place then asked Karen to write about anything that she wanted to talk about, or wanted to share, that hadn’t been covered by the interview.
Karen: If you feel that burn in your belly to do something don’t let anyone, not your mate, or your parent or that narrow minded executive tell you how many ways and reasons it can’t be done. And if they do, just smile and nod and blow them off in your head! Because they aren’t you, they don’t know where you are, what your thoughts are, or the relationship between your desire and where you are right now. They don’t know your potential or your connection! Follow that inner guidance and don’t even listen to the naysayer, in fact, don’t even ask for opinions, just follow your own guidance.
When I started my site I encountered two main challenges.
First - finding products. Since men don’t think women care about cars they don’t make many attractive items specifically for them. It’s was a lot of searching the web. But as I’ve done it, people have found me and it has grown in areas I didn’t think of at first. No matter what it is, if your idea is unique or different, embrace that, it’s a good thing! A very good thing.
Second - how to market. I knew just listing my site with the thousands of male related auto accessory and reference sites, that it would get lost in 279th position on a Google search. And most of those searches netted either links to auto parts store chains or sites filled with buxom beauties draping themselves over cars.
I found the way the Net works I needed to have auto related links back to my site just for the search engines. However my target audience rarely ever visited those sites, it was quite a quandary at first. All the experts I talked to had absolutely no idea how to market something that nobody else was doing on the net, most of them were men and even though they loved the idea too, they just didn’t know what to do to get it in front of the right customer.
I realized myself that I had to get my site in front of women and it didn’t matter if they were looking at baby clothes, or a recipe for dinner or wedding favors, if they saw my link, they would be intrigued and check me out. So I started to aggressively link to non auto related, women’s interest sites. Anywhere women would shop or browse I asked for a link, the more unusual the better. I created separate link pages for links of interest to women, automotive sites and women related auto sites and general links. It worked, I get great links from all over the net and the women are finding me. And incidentally so are their husbands, my products make great gifts.
Though it might pose some unique marketing challenges when you start out, thinking outside the box where the Net is concerned, is crucial. There are no hard and fast rules even though the web experts try to make it appear so. Your inspiration and imagination can solve anything and the web is a glorious avenue for the Universe to deliver your good!
And also don’t forget that it’s supposed to be fun, everything, even business is supposed to be fun! I sometimes have let things get to me and it started feeling like more than I could handle. When that happens I take the time to focus on the fact that this was always supposed to be about freedom, growth and joy for me. I either get away from it for a while and pet the cat, or I find someway to inject something new into it. Either will center me and open me to inspiration to make it fun again.
Other than that, just take a leap, even a small one and enjoy!