Would you date yourself? No seriously, are you the type of person that has the qualities that you look for in a potential long-term partner? Believe it or not there are quite a few similarities between building a product or a brand and dating. Let me explain…
When a business person is building a brand they have various goals to keep in mind before marketing their product to consumers. The key to building a solid brand is complicated but then so is dating, so this month I want to use this article to help you build your own personal brand (you’re the brand) resulting in an increase in your marketability. Here’s a quick rundown of things to keep in mind when you’re developing Brand You.
- Identify the demographic that you want to market yourself to and then begin your market research. Research what type of consumer (or sect of the dating pool) you are looking to target. Once you have identified and listed a handful of notable desires and needs that seem to have a consistent theme throughout your demo you can then move to the next step.
- Let’s just say for the sake of example that you have concluded that your desirable demo is looking for active, well off, established, honest, clean, family-oriented, honest people who enjoy travel, good food, intimacy and communicating. That’s a lot I know, but just an example for sure. Who knows, you might want someone who can burp louder than you and likes the same fast food restaurants. It doesn’t matter; the point is figure out what you want so you can market yourself to them properly.
- Now that you know who your consumer is, how do you develop your brand so that it has market appeal and gets noticed and purchased before your competition? This step is product development and at this stage you have to be very mindful of your potential consumer and not lose focus on creating a market niche for yourself. It always cracks me up when people want the world but they don’t have squat to offer. It’s like the world owes them a wonderful life yet they have nothing to offer the world.
- Now it’s time to start inventing your brand and remain patient during its development. The last thing you want to do is rush to market before its completion. Take the time to really get it together; if you’re broke save a few bucks; if you dress like a slob and you’re unkempt get yourself cleaned up; if you’re sketchy and untrustworthy start working on building your honor; if you never leave the city limits start exploring outside of your area; if you lack the ability to communicate effectively reach out to someone who can communicate for pointers. Whatever the case may be, once you figure out what your desired dating demo is looking for make sure you invent your brand accordingly.
- Taking your brand to market is your final step. Just like any good brand they market directly to their desired consumer. Example: you won’t find any erectile dysfunction commercials running in the middle of cartoons on Sunday morning. For obvious reasons, the business who owns the brand would just be wasting their time, money and resources on an audience that could give two sticks about their product. Translation, if you’re looking for a family oriented, career-minded person who loves to unwind at night by cooking a meal together and sharing it over a glass of wine, you probably won’t meet that person at a dive bar on Colfax. Market your brand smartly and don’t compromise it because you want to settle on the first taker. Test your brand a few times and see what the market has to offer before you sell out.
Lastly and most importantly, be yourself, just be the best self you can be and start putting thought into being someone you would actually want to date or commit to. If more people were conscious about who they are, what they want and what it takes to get there in a productive way we would all save time and energy by avoiding crappy products (people) who don’t last and end up getting tossed aside like yesterday’s news.
Announcement time! A lot of exciting things are going on in my world and I am very proud to share them with you! Most of you may know I host a radio show named The Modern Dater Show. TMD is a very fun part of my life and it allows me to meet tons of great people and see so many great bars, restaurants and events. Through that experience I really fell in love with the great state of Colorado and our culture. I really enjoy great food, drinks and friends and exploring the booming food and beverage that we are so blessed to have. Therefore I am thrilled to tell you about my new radio project with world-renowned Chef Jesper Jonnson called The Modern Eater which will air every Saturday at 6 p.m. on iHeart Radio and 630 KHOW starting May 16!
Lastly, The Modern Dater Date Club is on the brink of launching and FYI, last month when I said I had many more women than men who were interested and put a call out for guys to contact me, you fellas stepped up to the plate and evened things out! Fantastic! Now it’s last call for everyone out there who is interested in joining this exclusive club of relationship-minded people who are looking to go on low pressure singles excursions, hosted by me of course. Don’t let this pass you by, hit me up at themoderndater@gmail.com for details. Now get started on your brand and happy dating!
Your pal, Sheik!
