I have this theory that marketing and dating are the exact same thing.

Now, as a single (what I mean, “not married”) I’ve had my share of dating.

And as a marketer, I’ve seen my share of unique ways to spread ideas, products, and websites.

Now is not the time to merge the two and see what has been learned:

1) Once a mutual friend introduced me to a girl named Karen. She and I clicked right away. We are talking about sushi. She said that she “she always wanted to try it”. I made a mental note. The following week I found out where he worked and stopped by his office with a little card, on the front of which was a picture of a box of California Rolls. On the inside I simply wrote, “Sushi?” and left my business card. I handed it to the receptionist. When I got home, there was an email from Karen. She was ecstatic. We dated the next night, then dated for a few months.

LESSON LEARNED: unexpected + unique = unforgettable.

2) I’m big on gifts. Nothing fancy, just something cute to start your first date off on the right foot. More importantly, something unique. Not flowers, candy or a mixed ribbon. Something memorable. Now, he had been talking to this particular girl for a few weeks. He knew that she loved (more than anything in the world) her soaps. One Life to Live, Days of Our Lives, all of that. So I stopped by Walgreens to pick up a copy of Soap compendium. I wrapped it up and had it waiting on my car seat when she walked in. She almost cried when she opened it and she told everyone she knew.

LESSON LEARNED: Listen and remember the needs of your target market, then give them what they want. SURPRISE THEM on the first try, and they’ll tell everyone.

3) I will never forget my first night in Portland. I had just moved, I didn’t know anyone and I wanted to meet people as soon as possible. My neighbor and I went to a local karaoke bar. We noticed a table of cute girls out front. He said that he didn’t feel like talking to them. I said I would. So when one of the girls at the table came up to the bar, I walked up to her and asked her what was the name of her friend sitting next to her. “Tammy, her name is Tammy. Are you going to sing to her?” she asked. “You’re damn right.” I requested “My Girl” and ended up serenading Tammy in front of the entire bar. She was kneeling, substituting “Tammy” for “My Girl” in the chorus. By the end of the night, I had made friends with the entire table. Now, I didn’t actually end up dating any of them, but we’re still friends to this day!

LESSON LEARNED: brave wins the day.

4) Hanging out with clients is probably not a good idea. But when this sassy redhead came to my store to buy a sofa, at least I had to try. So when I packed your order for delivery, I “accidentally” forgot to include your pillow. Two days later, she called the store, not upset, but in this playful, flirtatious way: “I’m pretending to be mad, so what are you going to do about it?” road. I explained to Amber that she would spend the night on her pillow right away. Attached to the pillow was a note from me that read, “I’m so sorry about the mess. I’d be happy to make it up to you by taking you out to dinner.” We met the following week and had a great time. Of course, this would have worked out much better if she wasn’t dating an LA Kings player. Oh!

LESSON LEARNED: Recoveries from a failed sale often work out better than your original plan.

5) After a long night of fighting with all the girls we approached, my friend Aaron decided to call it quits. “No, we’re not giving up. Come on, let’s try something else,” I said. We went on the floor by ourselves and started dancing like complete idiots who don’t give a damn about a thing in the world. (And at this point, we really didn’t.) Before we knew it, the girls were actually coming over to the US and waving at us. A few hours later we ended up at a 24-hour restaurant on an impromptu double date. One of the girls is still a good friend of mine today!

LESSONS LEARNED: don’t sell, let people buy; do not market, position yourself

LET ME ASK THIS…

What marketing lessons have you learned from dating?