Avoiding the subject line of death

By Tom Kirkham

Stop press!  A new study has revealed that internet daters must take great care with the screen names they choose, or risk putting off potential lovers. 

Flirtatious names like “fun2bwith” and “i’msweet” are top ranked by both sexes, with physical descriptors such as “cutie” or “blueeyes” close behind.  Given that for many years now my screen name has been “gashedforehead”, this is enough to cause me some concern… 

Not that I’m an internet dater… But if I was, I’d be mindful that screen names, like real names, rarely tell the whole story.  Massive growth in the number of online users means that with most web services, you don’t stand a chance of getting the alias you want, unless you substitute the vowels with numbers and spell the word backwards.

Real names offer even less choice, and tend to say more about the parents than the child (‘Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily’ and ‘Princess Tiáamii’, for example).  Nevertheless, they’re a key component of our personal brands, and can be a problem in a world increasingly dominated by electronic communication. 

For instance, if I was a journalist and received an email from John Brown offering me an interview with David Smith, I’d be sorely tempted to ignore it.  Likewise, if I received correspondence from someone called Princess Tiáamii, I’d probably delete it as spam.

So, if you’re a PR with a boring name, what can you do to achieve the same results as somebody like Max Power?  Well it may sound obvious, but so often we see dull email subject lines and opening gambits full of meaningless and inane word chains and acronyms, which hardly scream out ‘open me!’ or ‘read on!’. 

In the world of internet dating, smart users will compensate for a bland screen name by posting a compelling personal ad.  They won’t put, ‘Single male, GSOH, WLTM nice girl for friendship and maybe more...’; it’s the equivalent of writing a lead line that says, ‘Are you interested in meeting the VP marketing of US company Paradigm Shifters Inc...?’

There will always be many aspects of our personal brand over which we have little control.  So it’s important to remember that when communicating online, you’re actually in a position of relative power when it comes to creating a strong first impression – providing you take time over your words, and ensure they deliver maximum positive impact.

Until next time then…

Tom “Babelicious” Kirkham

Comments

[Michael Sutherland]

I don't think your analogy quite carries. After all, Gordon Brown isn't a terribly interesting name, and neither is Bill Gates, but lots of people tend to listen to them.

[Tom]

No they're not. But, journalists already know who they are. Besides, if I received an email with the subject line, "Interview with David Smith - UK prime minister", or something similar, I'd pay it considerably more attention.

[Tom Kirkham]

Hi Tom, I'm Tom Kirkham too. Just thought I would drop you a hello note.

[Bryan Brian]

As someone who has suffered for years from having a boring name I agree totally with your comments. Nobody ever takes any notice of me or anything I say. It is so refreshing to get recognition of my problem.

[Tom]

Hi Tom Kirkham, you are the second Tom Kirkham I've spoken to in recent years (I don't talk to myself). I've actually seen your website before, though I haven't had a chance to catch your radio show on Newstalk KWHN. Please feel free to namecheck me on it! :o)