Email: Branding and dating [Lu]

Branding really is the be-all and end-all of marketing, esp. on the Internet. The trouble is it's being turned into a buzzword by people who are trying to sell it without understanding it. Any company, product or service name or logo can benefit from sound design and brand establishment; however, some ventures are just never going to be big enough to warrant the investment. The top five players (occupying the top 50-75% of a market) benefit most from brand identity; the bottom 50 players (occupying the bottom 25-50%) less so. Branding is about rising above the chaff and din; but most importantly, it's about business owners who understand (or are willing to learn) that name and reputation are everything, so they are also willing to pay for their gains in mind share and market share.

The Internet turns everyone onto a level playing field, so execution really has to be world-class to rise to the upper 1-10% (sharing 90% of market revenues); the bottom 90-99% (sharing 10% of revenues) prove to be hobbyists at best and dreck-ists (dreckies?) at worst. Weblogs make it even more Darwinian: The flog-the-blog crowd is electronic publishing on steroids.

Don't worry about others' (or esp. my) opinion of you regarding getting into better shape. Anyway, either do it for your own health or don't; if it's a gambit to win romance [but] won't be an ongoing lifestyle, is that honest? Either way, I look to people for what's inside not outside. In a way, I wouldn't want someone to date me in my best shape because if she is shallow, she would be disappointed when that goes away over the coming decades. In similar fashion, if I were a millionaire, I certainly wouldn't mention that fact, for fear of being pursued for my possessions rather than for my character.

I take the long view anyway: I'm not looking to rush into anything, and anyone who is, is not the one for me.

One more thing: I suggest you will be best prepared to meet your future mate when it's no longer an overriding desire, but a free and well-considered decision because you really could go either way.