What my Tinder exploits can teach you about business

“Sexy as hell, body to die for. Young, rich and single – let’s talk!”* 

Got your attention?! That’s what you’re looking to do on Tinder – whether you’re looking for: love, sex, marriage, whatever - the very first hurdle you have to get over is getting someone to notice you.  

It’s just the same in business. It’s a noisy world out there. If you’re a business owner, no matter how great your product is, if you can’t get people to notice you (and remember you!) you’re dead in the water. It’s not about who you know. It’s about WHO KNOWS YOU. 

I’ve had my fair share of success AND failure at both business and Tinder! So here’s ten things I know about getting it right…! 

(*Not my bio!) (Yet!) 

You've got to show your best side - in love AND for business!

1. Optimise your profile 

Your profile on Tinder is just the same as any of your other public facing profiles – like it or not, it’s the first taste people will get of your personal brand. Think you don’t have a personal brand? You’re wrong! Everyone does. It’s a matter of whether or not you control it that’s important. So your LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter profiles are all already shouting about who you are. But is it what you want people to hear?

If you want to be noticed on Tinder, you’ve got to make an effort with your profile. I hear people laugh about the efforts some people go to – even hiring professional photographers to get the perfect profile pic of themselves – but if you’re in the business of trying to get noticed, why wouldn’t you do everything you can to succeed?  

If your Tinder is about the business of getting dates, your own business is about getting noticed to make the sale.

The principles are exactly the same. First impressions count, and if you’re trying to make a sale, are you really going to expect success with some shitty little brochure, or amateurish bad images?

What are your profiles saying about you already? If they’re full of content from three years ago, blurry shots of nights out and a few bad memes, it’s not going to be doing you any favours! 

Whether you’re running a business or just working in one, like it or not you’re on show to the world. Before you do anything else, you need to make sure your social profiles are optimised to project the best, and most appropriate online presence possible. 

What's your profile saying about you?

2. Know your market 

You may think you are being clever on Tinder by using a photo from 20 years ago when you actually had hair or the double chin was less prominent – but what are you going to do when you meet your customer i.e. your date, for the first time?! You’re going to be an enormous let down, and any trust will already be broken, when they realise you’re actually old enough to be their mum or dad! 

 Bernie managed to pull it off, but he's the exception, not the rule!

So don’t make the mistake of trying to appeal online to people that in real life are never going to be interested in you. You’ve got to be effective in your prospecting, just like in business. It’s the key to successful selling – of your product and yourself! 

Ask yourself who your target market is. What’s the answer for your personal life? And your business? If you’ve gone for the scattergun approach and said ‘everyone and anything’ then you’re setting yourself up to fail!

The wider you claim your target market is, the more unrealistic you are being, the more expensive your marketing will be, the more time you’ll waste and ultimately the less successful you’ll be at selling. You cannot please all of the people all of the time! 

So on Tinder, you might be happy kidding yourself that as an overweight 50 year old with shit conversational skills and bad dress sense that you appeal to 21 year old Swedish models, but just like in business, you’ll get a much better response rate and a lower cost per acquisition if you correctly target your prospects. 

3. Build your pipeline 

If you’re never getting anywhere on Tinder, think about how you’re playing the numbers game. How many people are you matching with? If you only swipe right for two people, you’re limiting your options massively!

There is no magic trick to closing every deal, making every sale, getting every girl or guy. The job starts way before you are trying to 'close' - you have to make sure that you a pipeline bursting full of prospects so that one rejection doesn’t equal a 100% failure rate!

You’re never going to be able to close all of the deals all the time. Some people just do not want to be sold to, but if you have enough prospects - people that you’re speaking to, having conversations with, starting that contact - you’ll always have options.

In business and on Tinder if you build a healthy pipeline right at the start of the process you’re going to increase your chances of making a match or making a sale.

4. Time it right

How do you feel when you’re being chatted up while you are trying to get something else done? Granted that sometimes this can make you feel good and excited (if it’s someone you actually fancy) but more often than not it’s just going to be a bit irritating or put you off that person as they clearly can’t read the signs.

You have to pick your moments. Is the timing right for your prospect? Is the way you’re going about trying to impress them right for where your potential date is at? It’s no good trying to go in for some sexy banter online when your Tinder match is in the middle of a work meeting. You’re just not going to get as good a response, as they’ll be distracted, busy and have their attention elsewhere.

It’s the same in business. You have to be able to adapt your messaging when it becomes clear that it’s not the right time to sell. If you work in telesales and you can tell the person at the other end of the phone is busy, flustered in the middle of cooking dinner or whatever else they’re doing, ploughing on with your sales script is just going to piss them off! It doesn’t matter what techniques you use in that situation, you’re not going to be able to sell to them. Better to try again at a different time.

5. Don’t fear rejection.  

You have it easy on Tinder because of the ‘double opt in’. You both have to swipe right before you get matched, so if you swipe someone the fact you haven’t been matched could purely be down to the fact your ‘mate’ hasn’t been shown your profile yet.

Knowing this might help your self-confidence (not to mention give you a repetitive strain injury in your fingers from all the swiping on people you may feel are out of your league!), but it doesn’t set you up for realism in handling rejection when it comes to real life and business.

I see lots of people who don’t try anywhere near hard enough (at love and business!) because they take it way too personally when they get rejected. 

Getting rejected in sales and business is a part of life, and if you are working hard enough you should be getting rejected every day. The sooner you learn this, accept it and get comfortable with it then the quicker you will succeed.

You are going to get ghosted, ignored, betrayed, laughed at, mocked, rejected and fail – and most of that probably from people that you don’t even meet! Success comes from being resilient enough to take the knocks on the chin, dust yourself off, get up and try again.

There’s not a single successful business owner out there who’s not experienced failure of some sort, so don’t be afraid of it. As long as you are learning from your mistakes, you’re on the right track.

 Learn to deal with rejection.

6. Strike while the iron is hot.  

Imagine you’ve found your perfect match on Tinder. You’ve matched, you’ve had some good chat. And then you dither about and do absolutely nothing for weeks – what’s going to happen?! If that person is anywhere near as eligible as you think, someone fitter, more attractive and generally a bit sharper than you is going to come along and snatch them out from underneath your nose!

Moral of the story – if you find something you want, go after it with both hands!

In business, the same is true. If you have someone who is interested in your product or service, don’t hang about waiting for them to lose interest - just go for it! There’s no time like the present.

This is where being ready is everything – you don’t want to give the opportunity for someone else to stick their product under the nose of your hot prospect, because you’re either not ready or not willing to make the sale. Just go for it! 

You’ve also got to follow up on the ones who get away too. If someone rejects you – in business or romance - find out what is preventing the sale! If they expressed an interest in the first place, it’s down to you to find out what changed. What put them off? LEARN for next time, and take on board the criticism so that you can make your product better for next time.

7. Build trust  

Everyone’s got a horror story about dating online, from the stone cold fox who turned out to be an absolute munter in real life, through to the drop dead gorgeous match with all the personality of a slice of toast. Most Tinder fails come down to a lack of trust – you put your trust in someone to be true to their profile, and when they’re not, you need to run for the hills! 

If you’re being honest with yourself about your talents, your value and what you bring to a situation, it’s going to build trust. If your prospect truly trusts you, then they will buy anything you put in front of them.

There’s a lot of bullshit in business. But ultimately, you’re never going to sell to someone who doesn’t trust you, it’s a total no-go. You need to build your credibility, both online and in real life, so that when the time comes to make the sale all the hard work is done.

8. Persistence is key! 

How many times have you been rejected?! It really doesn’t matter how many times someone doesn’t want you (or your product) – the thing that matters is the one person who does.

If you’re being clear and honest about what you’re looking for, it’s going to help your chances of success, but even with the best will in the world, you’re not going to be able to sell to everyone. Some people are going to take a bit more persuading than others!

If you give up with the first rejection you get, you’re just limiting your own chances of finding happiness (or just a quick shag, depending on why you’re on Tinder in the first place…!).

It comes down to your mindset – if you really believe in the value you are bringing to a prospect or a situation, then there’s no reason why you can’t succeed. So stop being such a pussy, pick up the phone and keep on trying! 

9. Embrace video 

Tinder now gives the option to use video, which is either going to mean it gets a whole lot better or terribly, terribly worse…!

There’s a lot of people (certainly of an older generation!) for who making video content is absolutely the last thing they would do. Is this you? Do you use video to boost your social or business profiles? If not, why not? Are you embarrassed?

You need to get out of your own way when it comes to promoting yourself, and like it or not the way the world is going means that if you’re not doing video, you’re just not keeping up and you aren't maximising your opportunities for engagement.

As a business owner, you always have a choice to stick to what you know, or constantly be pushing, learning about new tech, new channels and working out the best way to reach new markets. Do not get left behind! 

I've embraced video to boost the reach of my brand.

10. Use the right platform 

So, we’ve looked at how to absolutely ACE your Tinder life. What to do, what not to do to give yourself the best chance of getting lucky…in love. But what if, like me, you’re doing all of this and STILL having no joy?!

I’ve got mates who couldn’t pull a lightswitch in real life, but are up to their ears in matches all over Tinder! What are they doing that I’m not?!!

Here’s where you have to get realistic. Some people are just not cut out for certain platforms. In love, in business, you’ve got to know where your strengths lie, and work them to your best ability.

For me, after a lot of amusing, and depressing, disappointments on Tinder, I’m coming to the conclusion that actually, when it comes to dating, I do best in real life! Rather than wasting my time and hopes swiping away, I’d be better off just getting down to the bar and chatting up people face to face!

There’s no point putting all your time and effort into something that is going to get you a worse result than the thing you’re really good at. So if Tinder isn’t working for you, but your mates think you’re hilarious – get off the internet and start living in the real world! Get a new hobby, find some new mates, whatever it takes to let your strengths actually shine.

In business, this looks like finding the right platform for you. Are you wasting time trying to keep up with the platform your competitors are selling from, but not investing heavily in the one that works for you? Maybe you’re slogging away putting content out on your company blog when actually, all your customers are busy on Facebook and you get better engagement there.  Maybe your e-commerce website looks incredible, but actually, you’d sell twice as much if you made your Instagram shoppable.

It’s up to you to control the sale. This means moving people into your domain where you feel comfortable. So on Tinder that might look like building a pipeline, finding the right match, talking online and engaging with them for a bit, and then getting them off Tinder soon as possible with a phone number or meet up in real life. In business it’s no different. If you’re working your contacts and your networks properly you can move people into a place where it’s easier for you to make the sale. It might be online, it might be in person, but get them on your turf and play to your strengths!

Don’t be afraid to make changes when it comes to getting what you want. Whether it’s that dream match who also likes Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain, or that dream customer who’s going to take your business from just getting by, to world domination – it’s down to you to make it happen! 

So what are you waiting for?! Get swiping! 

I've experienced incredible success AND failures in business (and love!) first hand, so if you're looking for advice or help to find the right funding to grow your business, get in touch or pitch me why I should invest in you. I've helped businesses of all shapes and sizes find their own 'perfect match', and I can help you too.

You can hear more about my own story on my YouTube Channel, along with interviews and tips from entrepreneurs, business leaders and celebrities. Check it out!

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