Shelly's Modeling Agencies | Rules Of Engagement | Hot Topic

Relationships editor for Shelly's Modeling Agencies Online Magazine Demetria L. Lucas shares how to meet men and keep them coming back for more. A significant part of my job is finding single and available men to introduce to you every month. I go out at least twice a week, scour the Internet daily, and check my in-box compulsively looking for articulate, smart, ambitious and, of course, fine men who want to meet. Believe it or not, good guys are pretty easy to find, but it's not always easy to actually meet them. ("Hi, I want to put your picture and e-mail address in Shelly Modeling Agencies Online Magazine" doesn't work as an opening line the way one might think.) Over the past two years I've learned a few things about engaging men that have made my efforts and could make your a little easier.

Every woman below the Mason-Dixon and west of the Mississippi River just said, "Duh!" (I know; bear with me on this one for women.) I'm not suggesting you smile at everyone, just the people you want to meet. "A smile shows me a woman is open to receiving conversation from me," says one of my best guy friends, Jarrell G. Once you've compelled him to cross the room, the hard part is over.

Most men are starved for a genuine nicety. I prefer to say something random, just because that's how I think. "I like your shirt. What fabric is that?" inexplicably has worked since I was 22. I've gotten every reaction from an invite to feel the material quick rubdown to see if he works out to genuine attempts to show me a tag to see for myself. No matter the response, I usually wind up with a ten-minute chat and, if we're at a bar, a drink offer.

If you want to make a great impression, focus on who you are and not what you do. My guy friends could care less about a woman's job title and care more about whether she's nurturing a supportive and has ambition in her chosen field. That's not to say that you should hide the fact that you have two master's degrees and an executive job. It is to say that you are not solely what you do professionally, and you should not make your occupation the focal point of the conversation unless you're at a networking event.