You know that look. If you're not paying attention, you end up wondering how long your prospect has been looking at you that way. If you're not paying attention, you end up wondering how long that initial sparkle in their eyes has been missing.

Whether this is a prospective client, prospective soulmate, or prospective employer, there is only one pivotal moment when their fresh new excitement about you suddenly turns into, "how do I send this person back."

No, I'm not advocating that you lie. I'm advocating branding.

If you're not paying attention, you'll miss that moment - and any chance of recovery.

There's an old proverb that says, "it is the task of the fool to know the answer before the question."

And that's it.

Somewhere along the line, instead of listening, you started talking. 

Before you found the question, "What medium of marketing has worked best for you so far? And worst?"

You said, "I hate print ads." 

Their business was built on print ads and your prospect's father name is Rupert.

Before you found the question, "How familiar are you with the pros and cons between PHP and Ruby?"

You said, "Ruby is just a trend. We've never had a good experience with Ruby. I once did a girl named Ruby. It burned for three weeks every time I pee'd."

"it is the task of the fool to know the answer before the question."

Your prospect's son is at Stanford studying Ruby (no, not the girl). And the prospect wants his son to maintain the site after you're done building it.

Before you found the question, "Do any of your friends date single parents?"

You said, "I'm so glad I found a babysitter. Butch, my daughter, needs her Ritalin every two hours."

Your could-have-been soul mate is still paying for Med School and while a kid-loving human, just has too much responsibility on their plate.

No, I'm not advocating that you lie. I'm advocating branding.

You can hate print ads. But to win the client, you should have branded yourself as a, "If you thought print was effective, you should try social media on for size kinna person."

You can hate Ruby (she went on to infect two of my best friends). But to win the client, you should have branded yourself as a, "ruby has far more potential than PHP but since this is an interim site you need built and since PHP programmers currently far out number Ruby programmers, we still recommend PHP over Ruby kinna person." 

You can have an ADD daughter named "Butch." That is all.

The facts don't have to change. The only thing that has to happen for you to consummate that deal is perfect branding. 

Brand yourself as a marketing professional, period. Print and social media are just details.

Brand yourself as a programmer, period. The code and language is just a detail.

On our corporate website http://sparkah.com we don't even list a physical address or principal's names and photos. Addresses and photos can't make more people come to your site. But they sure can make less people convert into phone calls. Some prospects want to work with old guys. Others want to work with young women. Still other, minorities. Some people only want to work with people in historic brownstone buildings.

Brand yourself as "Single." The "parent" part, as large as it may be, is still for the moment, just a detail.

- Bob Wan Kim, Corporate Team Builder, Web & IPhone App Developer, Marketing: 310 598 1606. LA and NYC