Dating. Social Media. Who knew you could combine the two? Well, you can.

I read this article on CNN that touted “6 Dating Tips for Men”. I’m always interested in what men think they should do to get the girl. Sometimes they’re right, and this article had some handy tips.

And then I decided to have some fun. Let’s change them up and apply them to how we behave in our social media lives. Here is the result.

Tip 1: Women have baggage, especially the attractive ones.

You’ve seen them, all the pretty Facebookers out there, with the black and white pictures, jauntily shot, maybe showing some skin (hey, skin still sells). The images that are done up THAT much usually means they might have some insecurities, and are trying hard to show themselves in the best light. Don’t be fooled. Some of these (not ALL) have some baggage from past lives. Just because they’re gorgeous doesn’t mean they’re perfect. Be nice to them, get to know them, and find the real person behind that image.

Tip 2: Women prefer personality to looks

No kidding! If your wall on Facebook or your Tweets in Twitter make other yawn (or unlike you), you’re dead in the water. Show who you are, that wonderful human side of you. Love dogs? Share it! Like to cook? Give some ideas, or share some cooking horror story (we love these). Social media allows us to be human. So, go and be yourselves!

Tip 3: Women DO NOT like bad boys.

Don’t be foul or insulting on Facebook, or any social media platform, particularly on someone’s business page. They’ll assume you’re 14 or something and block you. Or maybe just an angry dude. And then you’ll never get to say that amazing witty remark because no one will be listening.

Tip 4: There is not “right” line but there is a right way to say it.

Truer words were never spoken. You don’t have to have an English degree to engage people in social media, but you do have to take care about the WAY you share stuff. There’s no silver bullet to get you fans and followers, but if you consistently speak in your own voice, and take care about your grammar (it counts), your audience will respond to you favourably. Here’s a social media tip: Develop a plan for what you’re going to say online, whether on Facebook, Twitter or your blog. Then work the plan and let the silver fall from your fingertips!

Tip 5: There is never a bad time to approach a woman.

True. You’ll procrastinate yourself to death if you keep waiting for that “right” moment to get out there. So, in the words of Nike: Just Do It! Start posting, tweeting, texting and blogging today (well, tomorrow if you are developing your content plan today, but that’s your only excuse.). Your audience awaits you, they’re out there poised and ready – all you have to do is show up. So, go to the party and get boogieing!

Tip 6: Women want you respect them, not admire them.

Ah, one wonders how I’ll apply THIS one to social media. Well, if you respect someone on social media, you’ll engage with them. If you just admire them, then it’s like perfume: you’ll smell it but you won’t taste it. You definitely want to gain respect and influence because people will respond to this. The #1 and #2 things people look for out there are to be told something they don’t know yet (educate) and keep them up to date (news). Can you do that? If you can, and you do it consistently, you’ll find that the number of people who engage with you, talk to you, and maybe even become clients and partners will come out of the woodwork.

And the final line of this wonderful article: “Sitting on your couch watching “Law & Order” is not going to bring you results with women.” I don’t think this needs translation.

Go forth and prosper! If you’re looking for the article, look no further. Men, these tips do work for dating, too. Read up!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/07/14/how.to.pick.up.girls/index.html

Rebecca

About author:

Rebecca has been in Marketing for over 12 years now. She has worked at all sorts of companies – large public ones, small private ones, medium sized firms and now she works for herself. She specializes in training companies to use social media intelligently, so they can use it to grow their business, get found in social and Google searches and integrate their online and offline marketing strategies. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook

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