If for no other reason that if I see or write another blog focused on GDPR I may lose my mind ever so slightly, I decided to do a slightly humorous blog this week; the sort of topic that I would normally limit to my own personal blog, which I keep under lock and key, but that I felt would offer some reprieve from this cold and grisly April (Spring say what?)
Now…I have often thought about the similarities between dating and selling, but have only ever espoused these thoughts, never before have they been written up in my trademark witty prose. So here for your reading pleasure is my blog all on dating & selling and why they’re the same, but also not.
- Jitters
This feeling is the same in both dating and selling. That anxious, knot in your stomach that twists your insides into agonising, despairing stabs of physical pain. Happily that is a feeling I am all too familiar with thanks to that moment when you send a message to that boy with the sparkling brown eyes and formidable build (mentioning no-one in particular…obviously) as well when I send over a content proposal to a brand spanking new potential client and I have to wait with baited breath to see if I can…you know pay my bills and stuff…It’s the little things I guess.
- Secret nuisances
If this was being published on my personal blog, I would use a word significantly stronger than “nuisances,” but it is not so I will not. Growing up, I rather assumed that every bad boy would come with a sign; something like a cigarette dangling out his mouth, or a preponderance to punch things that one isn’t wont to physically attack. Sadly, it has taken me some time to learn that, in fact, bad boys can come across as innocuous, inconspicuous and downright nice. The same is true of clients; I mean don’t get me wrong, there are those I can bet money will have me tearing out my hair and staring in abject shock at the screen. But, sometimes I’ll meet a client who seems lovely. Who I am looking forward to working with. Thing is though nice people can make extremely challenging clients.
- Attitude
Just to mix things up a little this is one where dating and selling different (or certainly the way I go about selling.) See…in dating I know I shouldn’t reply straight away, I should never ever seem too keen….lest I seem heaven forbid desperate. And so when I first started my business I applied the same rule to sales. Waiting to reply so I didn’t seem too keen, taking my sweet time over quotes so as not to seem desperate. I’m not quite sure when or how the penny dropped that customers rather respect promptness in all things. But, drop it did and now I make sure to reply to emails within the day. The boys, on the otherhand, well they can wait.
- Confidence
It is a truism often touted that there is nothing sexier than confidence. And both in dating & selling, I firmly believe this to be one of the most integral aspects. We shan’t touch upon prospective suitors too much in this blog, so I can, at least, make a pretence at business. But, without doubt I noticed a huge shift in my business when I started really believing in myself, my product and my added value. Pretty darn important really.
- Authenticity
My final, and most important, point is that in both dating and selling there really is no point in being anything other than yourself. On a personal note, for a long time, I endeavoured to take up less space, to be thinner, to be quieter so I could be an improved version of myself. But, really I was trying to be someone else and it made me uncomfortable, awkward and less confident. At the end of the day; they either buy into you or they don’t. Simple as that really.
If you would like some actual business blogs on serious topics like content marketing and blogging feel free to check out my blog here and if I have sufficiently tantalised and you are dying to read my personal blog, drop me a message and I’ll take it under consideration.