Tag: dating

Why marketing is like dating…

…you need a sense of humor.

People like people who are funny and warm, not bitchy and cynical. If you are trying to meet Mr. or Ms. Right, being an upbeat person who finds the good in things, is eager to participate, and likes to help will help you make more friends and connect with people. It will make you more attractive. You will stand out in people’s minds as a positive person who is fun to be with. Someone reliable.

Same for your marketing. Successful photographers are enthusiastic, creative problem-solvers, not whiners and complainers. Clients want to know that you have the skills and, more importantly in many ways, the attitude to find a way to make things happen and work. They want someone who, when faced with a challenge will say “It’s cool, I’m sure I and my team can figure out a way to turn this challenge into gold” or “We can have fun with this!”

Your attitude is reflected in everything you put out in the world, especially your blog posts and forum posts. Complaining about the way the business used to be is a big turn-off. Complaining about other clients is even worse. Talking down about other photographers’ successes just makes you look petty and jealous.

Even the posts saying things like “The rush to motion photography isn’t a good idea” are negative and don’t help your business. Think that if you want, sure, but don’t put it out there. As your mother probably used to say, “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything.”

So, next time you are tempted to rant online, don’t. Take a breath and try to find a good and positive way to approach the issue. If you don’t like X, don’t denigrate it, but rather post what you do like (the opposite of X, for example). Instead of saying, perhaps, you think motion is a silly fad, write something about how passionate you are for the still image. See the difference?

Talking about your passions will attract other people who share those passions. Talking about what you don’t like will just push people away. Try saying “yes” much more than you say “no.” Try saying “this is cool” much more than “this is wrong/bad.”

To quote another old saying: you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

[First post in this series available here]

Marketing is like dating.

This is the first of a series of posts which will eventually evolve into a presentation, and maybe a book, about how the skills for one are transferrable to the other. And if you suck at both, there will be hints on how to change that.

Why is marketing like dating? Lots of reasons. Here’s today’s:

If you smell bad, you aren’t going to get to first base.

Trying to pick up someone? Smelling good is very important. Truth is, in both the social and the creative biz world, scent matters more than we’d like to admit or may even consciously know. Smell hits our limbic system, one of the most primitive parts of the human brain, and it connects very strongly with our romantic emotions. Pheromones are received through the sense of smell and, well, tell our brain “zug-zug.” 🙂

Women have a stronger sense of smell than men–were coded that way since we have to pick who to be our baby daddy (that means finding a good genetic match). But men aren’t without working sniffometers. I’ve had plenty of male friends who have said about their potential objects of affection, “S/he just smelled funky” or “S/he always smells so good!”

Ever been at a party or a club and someone walks by and you just breathe her/him in? Your head turns to see what could have smelled so good! Pretty much an involuntary reaction, because your pre-historic brain bits are always tuned to “zug-zug potential” mode.

So, our brains are much more smell-oriented than you might have known. And while smelling good may be a relative thing (what you like better may not be what your neighbor likes better), smelling bad is pretty much a universal negative.

Okay, that sounds really obvious, but you’d be surprised. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at photo biz events and more than one photographer was pungent, and not in a good way. I’ve talked with buyers who have related horror stories of stinky portfolio meetings. Personally, I’ve noticed those who have just smelled a bit “post-gym-ish” to those who could give a homeless alcoholic a run for his money (urine… I’m not kidding).

I know for some people, there are medical issues, but even then you have got to find a way to deal with that. If it’s some kind of uber-BO then there are medical treatments for that (and excessive sweating, too). For most people, there are answers and you need to find something that works for you. Fair or not, no one is going to give a project to a photographer who smells bad, whatever the reason. Imagine sending a stinky shooter to a CEO’s office for a portrait!

Good marketers have known the importance of smell for a long time. Why does that open house smell of cookies? To manipulate your brain. Lots of examples of that.

Most Art Buyers/Art Producers are women which means your targets are tuned to smell at a high level. PEs & ADs are more evenly split, but still lots of males… mostly males who are more aware of style and grooming than the average male. Regardless of gender issues, clearly it makes good sense (no bad pun intended) to appeal to your target’s nose!

While in the dating world there is a big exception to the “stinky means no chance” reality (if you meet someone at the gym, you get a one-time pass because you are supposed to be sweaty there), there is no such exception in the business world. If you are going to a biz event (even like an all-photographer thing), bathe, use deodorant, consider a little light cologne– you never know when I target might be there too. If you are going to a client meeting, make an extra effort. And even on your shoots, which means metaphorically that you’ve gotten past first base, if stinky is a problem for you, bring extra shirts and wet-naps and take 5 minutes to duck in a bathroom to freshen-up.

After all, don’t you want to “date” this client again and try to make it a relationship?