This post is a continuation of part one (where I discuss dating site choices), and part two (where I discuss date safety and what makes a good date). In part three, we’re talking about dating profiles, and how to best create one to attract the kind of person you’re looking for.
Online Dating Tip #5: Create an Attractive Profile
There are many elements that go into writing a dating profile; it needs to showcase your strengths, sense of humor, wants and dislikes in a relationship, as well as appear flirty and fun. Its a tall order even for the most astute writers, and newbies to the online dating world can feel overwhelmed. So to start, I recommend reviewing other people’s dating profiles first on the dating site that you’ve signed up for – and make sure that you are looking at the people who you’d be ‘in competition’ with for dates. Why? Because these are the people that your profile will come up with in searches. If you look like everyone else, use the same tag lines or just fade into the background, you’ll never get anywhere. But if you can stand out from the crowd and still be yourself, you’ll be laughing and way ahead of the game.
Now looking at other people’s profiles is just one small part of creating an attractive dating profile, but it will give you a better idea of how you want to present yourself.
Online Dating Tip #6: Post Attractive, Recent Pictures
Contrary to my colleague’s opinions in his blog post, Using Better Pictures, I don’t recommend that you post photos on your dating profile that showcase you and someone of the gender that you want to attract. In his post, Dave felt that men were better served with pictures that showcased them having fun with a myriad of ladies, in an effort to show lightheartedness and few issues with the opposite sex. The issue with this tactic, in my opinion, is that it creates a lot of questions – and in many women’s minds it automatically places a gent in the category of ‘player’, even if the photos are of him and his cousins or best friends.
Instead, I recommend a main photo that is less than 6 months old, just of yourself, and something that showcases an unusual trait or something else that folks will remember. As an example, I once saw a dating profile picture of a guy wrestling a blow up crocodile. It showed he had a sense of humor, I could see his face clearly, and it stood out as something truly unique. If you can cover all three of these bases with one picture, you’ll do well on most online dating sites.
