The above is not a direct quote: John Assaraf said it better. I don’t have access to the exact quote at this moment.
I shared this concept at the networking meeting this morning in just so many words. People wrote it down, considering it an eye-opening, memorable realization. (See what the power of words can do? A simple sentence sent people scrambling for their pens!)
This morning at the meeting I also learned a quick way to come up with an elevator speech no matter what you sell or provide.
Answer the following questions in as few words as you can…
Who you are (name)
What you do (one active word is ideal)
Who you do it for
Why they need it
What they get out of it
So, for example… here is my ten second elevator speech:
Hi, I’m Kris. I write for business owners and entrepreneurs to help their marketing and informational materials convert browsers into buyers so they can do something besides scramble for new leads all the time and enjoy better work-life balance.
Excellent! Short, sweet, understandable and memorable. Perfect!
And on another note…. ahem….
I also got a question: “Do you write profiles for Match.com and the like?” I haven’t, but I can. I just need to know who the target audience is and why. Unless you’re very specific at dating sites (or anywhere else!), your responses will be anemic and/or you’ll do a lot of dating before you find whatever you’re looking for.
And you need to be honest. (Yes. Even on dating sites.)
You have to ask yourself questions and truly know the answers:
Do you want a relationship or do you just want to get laid?
Unless you express exactly what you want, you’ll get lots of something else, because people go to dating sites for very specific reasons. Two of them are “to get laid as much as possible (no strings attached)” (aka fun and games) and “to find someone I’m compatible with and won’t want to live without for the rest of my life” (commitment-seeking).
You’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors if you’re a “bait-and-switch” joker. That’s cruel, arrogant and narcissistic. Dating isn’t all about you. Dating should be “about us”–mutual satisfaction and respect.
The integrity of your search is important. If you just want to get laid, say so… but say it in as appealing a manner as possible. Lots of other people just want to get laid too but they want to know they won’t be axe-murdered, given STDs or treated like garbage for being “sluts.” (Have you ever noticed that sexually-active men with multiple uncommitted partners are called “stallions” or “players” while women with the same proclivities are called “sluts” and “whores”? How do you spell “double standard” and “paternalistic society”?)
Although I am certainly amenable to writing dating site profiles, I draw the line at responding to the interested people who resonate to the profile and answer back. Doing that would be unethical. If I ever found out that I’d fallen in love with a ghostwriter instead of the person I thought I was falling in love with, I would hit the roof! So would you.
Once you get responses to the profile I write for you, you’re on your own–unless you need a proofreader or editor. But you ought to do the best you can (pick up Strunk and White’s Elements of Style for starters if you’re clueless when it comes to writing) because down the road, if you do get involved in a big way, you’re going to be “outed” as a bad speller or grammarian if you don’t–so it’s best to be transparent from the start.
