Targeting Women

I

imported_turbomangt

New member
I recently gave some thought on how to reach out to the female segment of the population so I decided to do somehting about it. I picked up a copy of the DuPage Women news, a paper that cators to women. I contacted the editor and asked if I could write an article in the paper promoting my business. For a small fee she gave me the green light. Here is a copy, hope you like it. It reaches 50,000 homes. Gary



Vehicle Beauty is All in the Details



By Gary Kouba



Can you imagine going to the mall with dirty fingernails, stained clothing and curlers in your hair? No? You’re not alone. Women know that beauty is in the details, so they present their cleanest, shiniest, sweetest-smelling selves to the world. They know that freshly scrubbed skin and clean sparkling hair will make the best impression. Besides, it feels good.



But when it comes to their cars, those same women�so fastidious about their personal appearance�are perfectly willing to drive around town in a grungy car. Fast food wrappers wadded up in the back, grit and grime embedded in the crevices, city soot sticking to the finish.



Fortunately, for those of us with sanitationally–challenged vehicles, help is available! It’s called auto-detailing. Just as you turn to salons and cosmetics for physical beauty, you can turn to auto detailing to enhance the appearance (and longevity) of your cars. Detailing involves performing deep cleaning processes on virtually every nook and cranny of your vehicle. Unlike car-washing which typically cleans only the surface, detailing involves everything from leather conditioning, carpet extraction to cleaning the engine.



One of the biggest differences between a car wash and a thorough detail is the way the car’s finish is treated. A car wash is like a quick swipe with a washcloth. Detailing is like soaking in a tub, getting a massage, having your hair styled, manicuring your nails and getting a pedicure. Which do you think would make you look more attractive – the quick swipe or the attention to detail?



And, like the best beauty services, good detailing takes time. In my shop, we spend up to seven hours completing a full detail which includes buffing out surface scratches, hand washing/clay bar treatment, deep cleaning, and polishing and sealing the finish, as well as polishing wheels, dressing tires, cleaning the engine, extracting the carpet, conditioning the leather, dry-cleaning fabric seats, scrubbing all doors, dashes, vents, and consoles.



A good detail service should include “claying� which is the process of removing fine micro contaminants from your car’s finish. Normal washes don’t clean deep enough to get rid of them. As a result, those tiny particles act like sandpaper scratching your car’s finish during the drying process.



Most people don’t understand that the purpose of the different kinds of buffers used in detailing. At Perfect Auto Finish, we explain all aspects of fine detailing to each customer, so they fully understand the work and time involved to detail their car.



In addition to providing detail service, what I really enjoy is teaching Car Care Seminars. One thing I have learned in my business: that men tend to think they know it all when it comes to their car, but in reality are clueless; women, on the other hand, seek out valuable information and want to learn.



Maybe that’s because women know that beauty is always found in the details!



SIDEBAR



Since people are keeping their cars longer now, detailing is a small but wise investment to make:



Quick Facts about Detailing:



· Detailing the exterior preserves the finish so it looks better longer.

· Leather will dry out quickly and start to crack if not conditioned on a regular basis.

· Claying helps you achieve a “mirror finishâ€�

· The average cost of a full detail is around $200.

· Detailing should be done twice a year to protect both the beauty and the resale value of your car.



Commercial links, business address, phone numbers, etc. removed. Please don't do it again; future violations will be considered and treated as SPAM, and may result in permanent restriction of posting privileges. -- Tort
 
I recently gave some thought on how to reach out to the female segment of the population so I decided to do somehting about it. I picked up a copy of the DuPage Women news, a paper that cators to women. I contacted the editor and asked if I could write an article in the paper promoting my business. For a small fee she gave me the green light. Here is a copy, hope you like it. It reaches 50,000 homes. Gary



Vehicle Beauty is All in the Details



By Gary Kouba



Can you imagine going to the mall with dirty fingernails, stained clothing and curlers in your hair? No? You’re not alone. Women know that beauty is in the details, so they present their cleanest, shiniest, sweetest-smelling selves to the world. They know that freshly scrubbed skin and clean sparkling hair will make the best impression. Besides, it feels good.



But when it comes to their cars, those same women�so fastidious about their personal appearance�are perfectly willing to drive around town in a grungy car. Fast food wrappers wadded up in the back, grit and grime embedded in the crevices, city soot sticking to the finish.



Fortunately, for those of us with sanitationally–challenged vehicles, help is available! It’s called auto-detailing. Just as you turn to salons and cosmetics for physical beauty, you can turn to auto detailing to enhance the appearance (and longevity) of your cars. Detailing involves performing deep cleaning processes on virtually every nook and cranny of your vehicle. Unlike car-washing which typically cleans only the surface, detailing involves everything from leather conditioning, carpet extraction to cleaning the engine.



One of the biggest differences between a car wash and a thorough detail is the way the car’s finish is treated. A car wash is like a quick swipe with a washcloth. Detailing is like soaking in a tub, getting a massage, having your hair styled, manicuring your nails and getting a pedicure. Which do you think would make you look more attractive – the quick swipe or the attention to detail?



And, like the best beauty services, good detailing takes time. In my shop, we spend up to seven hours completing a full detail which includes buffing out surface scratches, hand washing/clay bar treatment, deep cleaning, and polishing and sealing the finish, as well as polishing wheels, dressing tires, cleaning the engine, extracting the carpet, conditioning the leather, dry-cleaning fabric seats, scrubbing all doors, dashes, vents, and consoles.



A good detail service should include “claying� which is the process of removing fine micro contaminants from your car’s finish. Normal washes don’t clean deep enough to get rid of them. As a result, those tiny particles act like sandpaper scratching your car’s finish during the drying process.



Most people don’t understand that the purpose of the different kinds of buffers used in detailing. At Perfect Auto Finish, we explain all aspects of fine detailing to each customer, so they fully understand the work and time involved to detail their car.



In addition to providing detail service, what I really enjoy is teaching Car Care Seminars. One thing I have learned in my business: that men tend to think they know it all when it comes to their car, but in reality are clueless; women, on the other hand, seek out valuable information and want to learn.



Maybe that’s because women know that beauty is always found in the details!



SIDEBAR



Since people are keeping their cars longer now, detailing is a small but wise investment to make:



Quick Facts about Detailing:



· Detailing the exterior preserves the finish so it looks better longer.

· Leather will dry out quickly and start to crack if not conditioned on a regular basis.

· Claying helps you achieve a “mirror finishâ€�

· The average cost of a full detail is around $200.

· Detailing should be done twice a year to protect both the beauty and the resale value of your car.



Commercial links, business address, phone numbers, etc. removed. Please don't do it again; future violations will be considered and treated as SPAM, and may result in permanent restriction of posting privileges. -- Tort
 
" Which do you think would make you look more attractive – the quick swipe or the attention to detail? "



I would change that turbo . Women have a weird sense of someone trying to " read their mind " or tell them what to do and that's borderline .



I would re-word it ( and anything else that sound similar )



" The quick swipe may get the job done in a rush , but the bubble bath soak and fresh manicure is so much more complete and rewarding . Looking good AND feeling good is a must for the independant woman with full confidence in herself ; while simply " getting the job done " is the easy way out . "



Also compare claying to a Biore treatment , pulling every last contaminent and nasty out the paint's pores to reveal it's true beauty .. ;)
 
" Which do you think would make you look more attractive – the quick swipe or the attention to detail? "



I would change that turbo . Women have a weird sense of someone trying to " read their mind " or tell them what to do and that's borderline .



I would re-word it ( and anything else that sound similar )



" The quick swipe may get the job done in a rush , but the bubble bath soak and fresh manicure is so much more complete and rewarding . Looking good AND feeling good is a must for the independant woman with full confidence in herself ; while simply " getting the job done " is the easy way out . "



Also compare claying to a Biore treatment , pulling every last contaminent and nasty out the paint's pores to reveal it's true beauty .. ;)
 
I think it sounds pretty good, but I'm sure many "modern" American women will decide the "tone" of the article is "sexist" and "belittling". :nervous:
 
I think it sounds pretty good, but I'm sure many "modern" American women will decide the "tone" of the article is "sexist" and "belittling". :nervous:
 
Well, as a female detail hobbiest, I thought your article persented detailing in a way that will resonate with many women because it uses concepts familiar to many as an anology for maintaing their cars with proper detailing. I think that the term "sanitorily-challenged" is terrific, I had a nice chuckle reading that. I would avoid the word "beauty" and use optimum personal grooming or something similar instead. It will avoid the subtext message of women doing all this "beauty" stuff just to impress or attract men. They actually do it to impress themselves and their sense of self. That concept should be brought out in some way. I think you redeemed the "sexist" tone at the end where you stated that men pretend to know more about detailing than they really do, while women apply intelligence to the task. That is a gender-based statement and , while flattering to women on one level, can make many women's ears ***** up that someone is making any differentation between men and women on this subject at all. Most women I know, myself included, simply want to be interacted with as people, not a gender. I think the focus of the detailing as an extention of good personal grooming will work as well as the point of it maintaing the value of the car. Detailing is something that a client of any gender does to make themselves feel good about themselves.....it projects the statement that they take good care of things in a very visible way. Your article can provide the women who read it with another option for good personal grooming that will also add value and life to a piece of property that does not come cheap. Good luck with the article...I would be interested to know how it turns out and what any new women customers your generate from it have to say about it. Getiing some opinions from non-detailing women would probably very useful as well....no one, men included, like to be sterotyped and then condescended to or patronized.
 
Well, as a female detail hobbiest, I thought your article persented detailing in a way that will resonate with many women because it uses concepts familiar to many as an anology for maintaing their cars with proper detailing. I think that the term "sanitorily-challenged" is terrific, I had a nice chuckle reading that. I would avoid the word "beauty" and use optimum personal grooming or something similar instead. It will avoid the subtext message of women doing all this "beauty" stuff just to impress or attract men. They actually do it to impress themselves and their sense of self. That concept should be brought out in some way. I think you redeemed the "sexist" tone at the end where you stated that men pretend to know more about detailing than they really do, while women apply intelligence to the task. That is a gender-based statement and , while flattering to women on one level, can make many women's ears ***** up that someone is making any differentation between men and women on this subject at all. Most women I know, myself included, simply want to be interacted with as people, not a gender. I think the focus of the detailing as an extention of good personal grooming will work as well as the point of it maintaing the value of the car. Detailing is something that a client of any gender does to make themselves feel good about themselves.....it projects the statement that they take good care of things in a very visible way. Your article can provide the women who read it with another option for good personal grooming that will also add value and life to a piece of property that does not come cheap. Good luck with the article...I would be interested to know how it turns out and what any new women customers your generate from it have to say about it. Getiing some opinions from non-detailing women would probably very useful as well....no one, men included, like to be sterotyped and then condescended to or patronized.
 
I appreciate all the advice and help on my project. I really welcome those commnets from our female detailers. I think all of us pro's don't give enough attention to the female drivers of the world and they make up a huge portion of car owners today. As a matter of fact, I have been getting a 40% turn out of women at my seminars. This should tell you something. Gary
 
I appreciate all the advice and help on my project. I really welcome those commnets from our female detailers. I think all of us pro's don't give enough attention to the female drivers of the world and they make up a huge portion of car owners today. As a matter of fact, I have been getting a 40% turn out of women at my seminars. This should tell you something. Gary
 
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