Shopping for a guy is like shopping for that classic little black dress and Janice Lieberman’s new book, “How to Shop for a Husband – A Consumer Guide to Getting a Great Buy on a Guy”, is here to help us navigate the store of life and make that most important purchase decision.

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Although Lieberman’s rules may sound a bit insensitive, the reality is that if your shopping cart is still empty her guide provides hope for you yet. Lieberman takes us through the dating field to matrimony based on her experiences and scientific research in a step by step process that helps us pick a guy who will withstand the test of time, a guy she defines as “perfectly good husband material.”

Lieberman explains that if you want to get out of the dressing room successfully, you have to first learn what makes a guy good husband material, then make your own shopping list and get yourself ready for that shopping trip of your life.  Following Lieberman’s successful rules will improve your eye for quality and widen your dating field. If you are still single and shopping, this effective guide for women of all ages can set you straight. It’s important for women to read this book early, in their twenties so younger women will start shopping better earlier. “In your twenties, the world is your oyster, and then you reach thirty and wonder what happened,” shares Lieberman. “Also for women who are older, it’s time to look past the receding hairlines and pot bellies. There are great guys out there.”

With role models such as Betty Furness, NBC’s consumer reporter of the 1970s, and Bess Myerson, a successful television personality, actress and commercial pitchwoman of the 1960s, Lieberman knew from an early age that she wanted to be a journalist.  “I liked that they always helped the little guy out and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she shares.  After graduating from Rutgers, she hit the pavement with determination. Her Mom, a college professor, great role model and her biggest fan, drove her to interviews when needed, always believing she could do whatever she wanted.

 When there were no jobs anywhere, she called all three network affiliates in her hometown of Buffalo to be told there were no openings but she asked if they would see her anyway, and they agreed.  At one meeting, when asked what she wanted to do, Lieberman confessed to wanting to be their consumer reporter. With the help of a cameraman, she wrote her first proposal, got the job and the rest was history. Entering the newly developing  world of cable, she became the CNBC anchor for Steals and Deals, did Good Morning America, Later Today and eventually moved on to NBC’s Today Show to become a household name as a consumer expert.

 Although built on metaphors and based on some comical stories, Lieberman’s rules really work.  She writes, “The bottom line was this: I was a shopping expert, but I didn’t know how to shop for a husband.”   When she approached shopping for a husband using her skills as an investigative consumer reporter, she found her perfect little black dress guy, Steve, seven years ago.

 Divided into three parts, What to Shop For, Where and How to Shop, and How to Close the Deal, Lieberman lays out the rules for the entire husband shopping process.   One basic What to Shop For rule teaches to be less picky and more choosy.   She writes “Girls who are choosy- and not crazy picky – know these rules…..If you’re so picky that you’re holding out for a sensitive, French speaking, New Orleans jazz loving, Ivy League educated, squash playing, Hugo boss-clad cancer researcher with no children, no ex-wives, a full head of hair and a paid off mortgage, you may be missing the point.”  If this seems exaggerated, look around – we all know someone who is so particular that there is no one guy that can fit her expectations.  The next rule explains not to settle when you shop, but be willing to compromise.

 “You need to spend time in the men’s department,” writes Lieberman in the Where and How to Shop section.  The workplace, the internet, the bars, and the supermarket are not necessarily the best environments to find men. She suggests hanging out in places where the male:female ratio is more in your favor such as Home Depot, The Apple Store, or Sports Authority and thinking outside our own industries by taking courses, having lunch or visiting stores near high technology or high finance areas.

 The rules, however crass, continue through the process opening our eyes to our own flaws and what we can be doing better. Perhaps it’s not the lack of quality men but the image we are putting forward suggests Lieberman in her rule about repackaging ourselves. Although we are not all supermodels, Lieberman suggests that we must freshen up our looks on a regular basis. In addition to periodic makeovers, she believes in reviewing the image we are putting out there from the inside.  “Women need to review how they are coming across and perhaps change that a little bit as it is obviously not working well,” says Lieberman. “Do I come across hardened or nasty, or a bit desperate?” While looking in the mirror, Lieberman’s rules also suggest that we are happier with partners who look like ourselves. Research supports this theory and dispels the myth that opposites attract. Shopping for that perfectly good husband material may best be accomplished by starting with a list of your own characteristics, goals and values according to Lieberman’s dressing room mirror-image rule

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 Lieberman, a journalist, author and experienced specialty reporter for CNBC, ABC and NBC, used all her consumer correspondent skills to move her life in the direction she needed. She and her husband, Steve and their two sons, six year old David, and one year old Judah, are now living happily ever after in New Jersey.  Currently working for NBC’s Today Show, The Fine Living Channel, and writing a regular column for Reader’s Digest,  Lieberman balances her professional and family schedules by working from home whenever possible.

 Besides her great marriage buy and her boys, Lieberman is most proud of how well she has made it in a tough business. “I endured,” says Lieberman. “It’s what I really wanted to do and I’m happy with my career. It has given me a lot – it’s exciting and the people I have met along the way have been incredible. I am fortunate to have this long lasting career in a business that is so fickle.” Lieberman attributes some of her endurance in the still male dominated industry in part to her specialty niche – consumer reporting.

As a consumer authority, Lieberman and her childhood friend, Bonnie Teller, share all they know about the shopping process with us in the new book, “How to Shop For a Husband.”  For years we have been taking her consumer advice on how to shop, how to avoid scams and how to identify the real deals. Lieberman’s book provides the keys to the fine art of shopping and the information about the male marketplace that you can’t afford to miss.