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Tips for Creating a Successful Personal Online Dating Profile
Your profile is the key to meeting your perfect match at online dating and personals services so it's surprising that many profiles are mediocre at best. With a little extra time, thought and effort, and the help of these tips, you can make yours a winner and attract a large pool of admirers to take your pick from.
Invent a distinctive username:
Your username (nickname) is the first hint at what kind of person you are. It needs to be original and memorable, while somehow summing you up - not easy in a dozen letters or so!
For ideas, think about your interests, background, location and personality. For instance, an outgoing person from Phoenix might choose PhoenixSparkler, an avid skier with a wild streak might be SnowTiger. Humor's great (I recently spotted MissBehaving) but overly sentimental (LetMeBeTheOne), meaningless (Vyc2DX) or desperate sounding (SoLonelyInOhio) names are a turn off.
Give yourself time: think of a name before sitting down to complete your profile, as well as a couple of backup options. It's amazing how many "original" names are in use already. Most services spit out alternatives but they're usually unimaginative and full of numbers.
Write a compelling headline:
Your opening line, or headline, is like the first thing you see on an ad: it should compel people to read on and find out more about you. Don't be apologetic about being there - "I don't normally do this sort of thing" - and don't begin (as thousands do) with "My name's Bob, I'm 25 and live in Boise." This isn't compelling. It's not even interesting. "Born in Boise, Heading for Barbados" is more the thing. It's intriguing without being confusing, and raises questions: is Bob a traveler, a dreamer or working for an international company? Only one way to find out ? read on!
Again, it's not easy. If you get stuck, a favorite line from a song, book or movie can say lot about you ? who you like and/or what you believe in - and stands out to other people who love it too.
Post at least one photo:
For 75% of online daters, the photo is the first thing they look for when browsing through profiles. Not surprisingly, profiles with photos get ten to fifteen times the response of those without. Including a photo is a must! But beware, some photos do more harm than good. Big offenders are photos that show you with someone else, or even worse, part of someone else. (It might not be your ex, or your ex's body part, but people have no way of knowing.)
If you don't have a suitable photo, get one taken, and keep it real - glamour shots could come back to haunt you. Think about asking a friend to pick out a photo that they think looks most like you. Make sure people don't have to squint at the screen to see what you look like, and be sure to smile!
Check the right boxes:
Most profiles have a hefty component of check boxes ? age group, sex, and so on. It's a basic thing but when researching sites I do it a lot myself: check the wrong boxes or forget to change them from a default setting that isn't right for me. And I'm not alone. Believe it or not, a common mistake among online daters is choosing the wrong sex of their ideal partner. So, take care over these basic but important details.
Check your grammar and spelling:
You might be the most intelligent person on the planet but if you rush your profile and don't check your spelling and grammar you're not going to come across well to anyone who values intelligence. You might like to prepare your freestyle entries using a program with spelling and grammar checkers, then paste them into your profile.
Avoid clich
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