How to Market Yourself in the Dating World
Stop running from who you are. Frame your uniqueness as your greatest asset.
The hair company L’oreal had an ad campaign in which they unabashedly revealed, “We’re more expensive; but you’re worth it.”
This was a brilliant marketing plan because it conveyed to their prospective customer that they understand and relate to her. By highlighting a customer concern, and turning it around into something good, L’oreal simultaneously elevated the value of their product and the value of anyone who purchases their product.
We should approach the search be for our prospective partner in the same way. Instead of covering up those quirky sides of our personality out of a fear of being looked at as strange or thought of as weird, unapologetically embrace the full spectrum of your personality.
When you refrain from putting a spotlight on the out-of-the-box side of yourself, your date misses out on what makes you different from all their other prospects.
You think you’re protecting yourself from rejection; but you’re actually undermining the opportunity to fully connect.
In marketing, the audience tunes out the product that advertises itself to be the best, the most experienced, and the most reasonably priced. Everyone says that — so we don’t believe it or we are simply bored by it.
L’oreal’s advertisement jumped out at consumers because it was different — and a bit self-deprecating, but in a tasteful way. And it was real. That opened an avenue of connection with the consumer-base, and it utilized an out-of-the-box characteristic to its advantage — relating the value their product is offering. The market rewarded them and their profit margin popped.
So how about highlighting your uniqueness and quirkiness when you date? If you don’t, you are squashing your uniqueness!
Next time you go out, keep in mind: Be real and authentic. It creates connectivity. It pulls the right match towards you, and it can even repel those who are after the same fake vanilla that everyone else is serving. That’s a good thing. You didn’t want any of those people anyway.
Consider: What’s unique about you? What off-the-beaten-path interests and hobbies do you have? Is there a weird kind of music or sport that you’re into?
Are you a gal that likes the NFL? A guy that likes teeny-bopper music?
Whatever it is that the person sitting across from you might be surprised or intrigued to find out about you, don’t be afraid to share it and see what happens. This is the stuff that shows that you are something different; that you are not someone they are going to come across every day; that you are a catch. It gives your date the impression that there is something they get by being with you that they wouldn’t get if they were with somebody else. It conveys that you’re something special — and missing out on you could mean missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime.
