Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Seven Online Dating Mistakes in Profiles

I have tried online dating on three separate occasions. The first time I was terrified and the second time I was frustrated. The third time was better because I finally read-up on the topic, asked my friends what they were writing online, and experimented with my profile until I got the attention I wanted.
I have tried online dating on three separate occasions. The first time I was terrified and the second time I was frustrated. The third time was better because I finally read-up on the topic, asked my friends what they were writing online, and experimented with my profile until I got the attention I wanted.

As a favor to yourself, don't make the same mistakes as me.

Mistake Number One: The Competition Ignored Three-fourths of the women in my zip code have a picture of themselves at a baseball game. If I hadn't gone weeks without looking at other women's profiles, it would've occurred to me sooner that I should one-up my competition and post a picture of myself playing the game. It's important to compare yourself to the competition.

Mistake Number Two: Never Changing Your Photo The first two times I was on Match I used the same photo. The third time I signed-up I searched men under 35 and found a guy I had seen on the first-go-round. Although I really liked him, I quickly changed my mind about writing him because his profile was exactly the same. I picked a new photo for myself and changed my profile a little every couple of weeks. I did this so guys who may have passed by me once, wouldn't pass by me again.

Mistake Number Three: The Wrong Photo Uploaded It's odd to have pictures of your ex or a friend of the opposite sex hanging or hugging on you. Since it's safe to assume we've all been in relationships and have flirty friends, avoid pictures where its obvious someone has been cut out or where someone is a little too friendly.

Nice try, but pictures of you with babies or puppies is cheap.

And then, of course, are the photos of you in your bathing suit. It's great that you're hot and want to tell someone, but keep it classy.

Mistake Number Four: Novel Writing To let him or her know you're interested it's ok to write a novel in your second, third or fourth e-mail, but the written portions of your e-mail should never be too long. The 580 words describing your ideal date is too much for our attention spans.

Mistake Number Five: Played a Broken Record Make yourself sound unique by focusing on your distinctive attributes like, for instance, the fact that your eyes change from hazel to green depending on your outfit. Avoid clich phrases like "I'm laid back" or "My friends say I'm..." Making yourself stand out may be the most important aspect of an online profile.

Mistake Number Six: Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve No one cares that you just broke up, or that you've been hurt before. Let me take that back, everyone looking at your profile cares, but not in a good way. Don't say things like, "I just got out of a relationship and am just looking to have fun" or "I've had bad luck finding a good man, and now I'm here to find Mr. Right." It's ok that you're heart-broken; just keep it to yourself or you risk scaring a lot of great suitors away.

Mistake Number Seven: Forgetting to Get a Second Opinion It's hard to write about yourself, let's be honest. Asking a friend to write or review your profile is one of the best things you can do. If that's not an option, for a small fee there are many services that will help you put together the written portions of your profile.

Online dating shouldn't be hard and isn't scary. Like all types of dating, with the right expectations and attitude-the outcome will only be positive.

Mistake Number One: The Competition Ignored Three-fourths of the women in my zip code have a picture of themselves at a baseball game. If I hadn't gone weeks without looking at other women's profiles, it would've occurred to me sooner that I should one-up my competition and post a picture of myself playing the game. It's important to compare yourself to the competition.

Mistake Number Two: Never Changing Your Photo The first two times I was on Match I used the same photo. The third time I signed-up I searched men under 35 and found a guy I had seen on the first-go-round. Although I really liked him, I quickly changed my mind about writing him because his profile was exactly the same. I picked a new photo for myself and changed my profile a little every couple of weeks. I did this so guys who may have passed by me once, wouldn't pass by me again.

Mistake Number Three: The Wrong Photo Uploaded It's odd to have pictures of your ex or a friend of the opposite sex hanging or hugging on you. Since it's safe to assume we've all been in relationships and have flirty friends, avoid pictures where its obvious someone has been cut out or where someone is a little too friendly.

Nice try, but pictures of you with babies or puppies is cheap.

And then, of course, are the photos of you in your bathing suit. It's great that you're hot and want to tell someone, but keep it classy.

Mistake Number Four: Novel Writing To let him or her know you're interested it's ok to write a novel in your second, third or fourth e-mail, but the written portions of your e-mail should never be too long. The 580 words describing your ideal date is too much for our attention spans.

Mistake Number Five: Played a Broken Record Make yourself sound unique by focusing on your distinctive attributes like, for instance, the fact that your eyes change from hazel to green depending on your outfit. Avoid clich phrases like "I'm laid back" or "My friends say I'm..." Making yourself stand out may be the most important aspect of an online profile.

Mistake Number Six: Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve No one cares that you just broke up, or that you've been hurt before. Let me take that back, everyone looking at your profile cares, but not in a good way. Don't say things like, "I just got out of a relationship and am just looking to have fun" or "I've had bad luck finding a good man, and now I'm here to find Mr. Right." It's ok that you're heart-broken; just keep it to yourself or you risk scaring a lot of great suitors away.

Mistake Number Seven: Forgetting to Get a Second Opinion It's hard to write about yourself, let's be honest. Asking a friend to write or review your profile is one of the best things you can do. If that's not an option, for a small fee there are many services that will help you put together the written portions of your profile.

Online dating shouldn't be hard and isn't scary. Like all types of dating, with the right expectations and attitude-the outcome will only be positive.


http://www.articlefair.com/Article/Seven-Online-Dating-Mistakes-in-Profiles/27853