| Women are natural shoppers. I think it is because we | | | | The "ewww" factor is important to women. |
| are hard wired from millions of years to be the | | | | If the profile says nothing or very little or is illiterate, we |
| gatherers. Men hunt. Women gather. Men hunt for a | | | | pass. |
| pair of shoes. Women gather many pairs of shoes. | | | | If there is even one little thing that makes our brain |
| Women have shopping reduced to an art form; even | | | | think,"pass," we pass. |
| a science. When we go to the grocery store, we are | | | | Why? Because we are comparison shoppers. We |
| faced with half a dozen brands of chicken soup. How | | | | prioritize. Remember those cans of soup and paper |
| do we decide which brand to buy? | | | | towels? In a nanosecond our brains determine where |
| We make comparisons. We look at the ingredients, the | | | | they stand in rank order. |
| calorie count, how many fat grams there are, how | | | | First, second, third. Or pass. |
| much sodium there is, how many grams of sugar | | | | (Show me a man who has limited online success with |
| there are. Then we take notice of how many ounces | | | | women and I'll show you a man who hasn't taken the |
| of product are in the can, how much the can of soup | | | | time to properly perform The Three P's: Profile, |
| costs (after all, the more money we save, the more | | | | Pictures, Presentation/Packaging.) |
| money we have to spend on...new shoes!). We do this | | | | We can shop in 5 stores in one day for an outfit and |
| for each brand of chicken soup on the shelf. We want | | | | we can look at hundreds of things and ONLY ONE will |
| the lowest calorie, highest ingredient, lowest fat and | | | | jump out at us where we say,"This is the one!" |
| sodium and sugar content, biggest bang for our buck | | | | Fair or not, this is how it is. We are all competing with |
| we can get. | | | | each other in order to get what we want. We may be |
| Then we go on to the paper towel section. We want | | | | on several dating sites and going out at night to places |
| two ply sheets and we look at the cost per sheet and | | | | where we can meet men. We compare them, rank |
| determine among the many brands of paper towels | | | | them, prioritize and categorize them and can meet |
| which is the best buy. Then we look at the paper | | | | dozens of men before one sparks attention in our |
| towel's decor. Do we want puppies, ducks or the one | | | | brains to where we say,"This is the one!" |
| with the pretty colorful border on the side? We may | | | | I wrote this article because I get a lot of emails from |
| not know which design we want until we find one that | | | | guys who want to know why they are not getting any |
| trips our trigger, but one thing is for darn sure: We don't | | | | attention from the women on this site. They lament |
| want plain white paper towels. That's boring! | | | | they have been here for months with no response. I |
| We are suckers for packaging and names. When we | | | | look at their profiles and pictures and I can fully |
| get our mani/pedi we are asked to choose a color | | | | understand why. Dark, blurry pictures, no welcoming |
| from the rack of dozens of nail polish colors. We not | | | | friendly smiles and no info in the profile. I find the ones |
| only look at the color, we look at the name of the | | | | who gripe the most do the least to improve their |
| color. Blue isn't blue. It is "Firefly" or "Blue My Mind." Red | | | | chances of success. I suppose it is easier to criticize |
| isn't red. It is "That's Berry Daring" or "Charged Up | | | | others than it is to take responsibility. |
| Cherry." | | | | If your picture looks like a mug shot, we will pass. |
| Thank God women are good at multitasking. We have | | | | Then again, I get emails from men and women here |
| a lot of information to sift through in order to have our | | | | who tell me they have found their match and to |
| frontal lobes make these all important executive | | | | please remove their account. |
| decisions. | | | | So I know online dating works. And there is a lid for |
| We shoe shop. We like the red strappy sandals, but | | | | every pot. And I preach till I am blue in the face about |
| the heel is too high. We like like the heel height on the | | | | the importance of what I call The Three P's: Profiles, |
| pumps, but it is wide and chunky and it reminds us that | | | | Pictures and a Person's Presentation/Packaging. (After |
| we feel wide and chunky; so we look for a skinny | | | | college, I had a stint in national advertising where I |
| stilleto instead. | | | | wrote copy, produced and directed print, radio and |
| We like the boots, but we want something to go over | | | | television commercials. The same principals apply |
| our calves. And we want taupe and the ones we are | | | | whether the "product" is cosmetics, politicians or you.) |
| looking at are beige. BEIGE!!! | | | | Remember our lesson on how women comparison |
| Glittery things catch our eyes and we know about | | | | shop? Women look at the product, read the labels for |
| things such as cut, clarity and carat. We know the | | | | as much info as they can get, are attracted by the |
| difference between white gold, sterling and platinum. | | | | presentation/packaging. There are millions of profiles |
| Again, we are hard wired to pay attention to the | | | | online at any given time. You have to think of yourself |
| details. If it isn't shiny, it must not be so good as the one | | | | as a "product" and you have to brand and advertise |
| that is shiny. Who cares if all that glitters is not gold? If | | | | yourself in order to compete for attention. Sell your |
| you put some glitz in our nail polish, we will wear it and | | | | strengths. Minimize your shortcomings. Be positive. |
| we will pass up on the whatever it is that is dull, | | | | Take a personal inventory of yourself and take steps |
| lackluster and boring. There is something about shiny | | | | to improve your "product". If you expect someone to |
| that excites activity in our brains and makes us want it. | | | | accept you "just the way you are" and you don't get |
| (That's why your talking about your souped up | | | | responses, ask yourself if you are willing to accept |
| whatever it is under the hood of your car doesn't trip | | | | someone just the way they are if they are not at all |
| our trigger. We want to know what color it is.) | | | | what you want. |
| Don't even get me started on bathing suits. And if we | | | | I know this site has been successful at making happy |
| are lingerie shopping and find the lace demi bra that fits | | | | matches and members email and thank me before |
| and can't find the matching panties, we just give up | | | | they leave. I look at the profiles of the women who |
| and go home. | | | | are happy with the men they meet and I look at the |
| Yeah. Women are picky. We are hard wired that way. | | | | men's profiles. They are looking for the same things in |
| We also have better olfactory senses than men. This | | | | each other and their profiles pretty well match up in |
| is part of the survival instinct. We have to be able to | | | | that regard. Voila! |
| smell when food has gone bad and shouldn't be eaten. | | | | So, if your profile is less than articulate, we will pass |
| We poke, prod and sniff produce before we buy it. | | | | (yes, women look at spelling and grammar. We are |
| Generally, we don't wait for stuff in the fridge to start | | | | detail oriented.) Women love details and if your profile |
| turning green and look like a science experiment | | | | has no details or it says,"I'll tell you if you ask me," we'll |
| before we toss it. | | | | pass. If we want LTR and your profile says Friends |
| We use these decision making processes in all areas | | | | with Benefits, we pass. If you only have one picture |
| of our lives; even when it comes to looking for men. | | | | and it is dark and we can't see your face, we will pass. |
| We go online and look at men's profiles. If the picture is | | | | If your height, education or any number of things does |
| too dark or the guy has a group shot up there and we | | | | not match what's on our list, we pass. We want |
| can't tell who is who, we pass. | | | | something that suits us. |
| If the guy posts a goofy picture on his profile, we pass. | | | | And then again, so do you. |