Marketing myself one swipe at a time

Shapr's app. Note the countdown
clock until the next batch.

A friend suggested a website today. So, I loaded it into my browser and began to peruse. It’s for writers – but it’s heavily weighted to those who write books or poetry. I fall into neither category.

But, an ad caught my eye. It was a story about an app, Shapr, which is a marketing/networking program to help people connect with others near them.

A bit skeptical, I opened another window and went to Shapr’s website. It’s from a French entrepreneur, Ludovic Huraux (he’s got a great accent), who has a nice website and some fun YouTube videos. (He has a series called “Conversations with People Smarter Than Me.”)

Still not sure I wanted to do this, I Googled it again and did some reading about people who actually use the app. One writer, for aplus.com, a NY website that produces positive content, used the app to find and follow three people in jobs she thought were interesting: a photographer, a baker and a stand-up comic. It was a good read and showed how connecting with others can be a positive thing – even if you’re not really looking for a job.

But because I am looking for a job, I figured I’d try it. The basic app is free.

You create an account, choose keywords or hashtags to describe your interests for networking (such as #marketing, #copyediting, #socialmedia) and select why you’re using it (to find a job, find or be a mentor, find investors, etc.). You can write a little more than a Tweet’s worth of copy about what you want and what you can do for others. And then you’re off swiping.

It connects to your LinkedIn profile, so you get photos of potential matches, based on keywords and what they’re looking for (hire freelancers, for example). Each day, you’ll get 15 new people to consider as networking contacts. If that person also swipes to meet you, then you can arrange a time to get together.

It’s kind of like online dating, except for networking. I think. I’ve never done online dating, so maybe it’s not. But others compared it that way.

So, I set it up and started to swipe. The first was one of the company employees, based in France. As much as I’d like to swipe to meet someone in Paris, that’s not really pertinent right now. The next couple weren’t good fits. However, I still felt a little guilty, like I was rejecting them personally – even though they will never know I didn’t swipe right -- or left -- or whatever.

Then, I got to one who was looking for freelancers. He works for a company outside Atlanta. I Googled the company. It’s an international trade and development company. I have no idea what they do, but they publish an award-winning industry magazine (since 1954). So maybe that’s why they need freelancers and why one of his tags is #journalism.

Here’s the deal, though. I couldn’t swipe. I couldn’t say that yes, I was maybe interested in this networking opportunity. Not just because I don’t know what they do or what I’d do (and I’m really anal about that kind of thing), although that was part of it. Probably not because he might not be interested in what I have to offer, although that could be part of it, too. (I’m getting better at rejection.)

I think it was because it was change. Swiping on this networking opportunity marked change.

Despite recent appearances, I’m not a fan of change. Much like the next person, I’d rather have things stay the same. It’s comforting to know what to expect. Routines rule.

I struggled to swipe. I could see there were eight other potential network connections behind him.

I finally did it -- swiped to show interest. And then I was on to the next one, and the next.

Turns out the others behind him didn’t have any job opportunities, after all. One kind of interesting is in Raleigh, N.C., and he’s just looking for inspiration. Sorry, but Raleigh is too far to drive for coffee, even with a side of inspiration.

There’s a little countdown clock on the app that tells me when I’ll get my next batch of potential networking matches. No need to be anxious. I can do this.

One swipe at a time, right?