How to Date Online Successfully

According to a recent survey done by DateWatchers.com, most people are starting to get comfortable with online dating. However, some minor mistakes are still what keeps people from meeting the person they so badly deserve. Online dating can be fun and easy if you know the tricks of the trade. Read these helpful dating tips and you could be the busiest person on the block in no time.

1. Self-Evaluate. Be honest with yourself about the kind of person you're looking for. Don't settle; however, understand that the saying you can't judge a book by its cover can be very true. If you can't find anyone interesting in the current profiles, understand that new ones appear daily on popular sites.  

2, Advertise. Put up several recent photographs of yourself  in both indoor and outdoor light, also a variety of full body shots as well as close ups of your face. Do not put the classic "Myspace angle" photos or any glamour pictures. If posting a photo online makes you uneasy consider using a private photo sharing service such as www.protectedpix.com. Using the 'teaser image' feature you can modify your photo to give an idea of what you look like without someone being able to actually identify you. You can show your original photo to someone after you screen them and decide that you are interested.

3. Play the field. Don't put all of your focus on online dating. Don't seem so desperate that the internet is your last and only hope to find that someone special. For all you know the right person is out at the library, coffee shop, or buying groceries. You have to be positive and think that way as well. People are not attracted to desperation.  

4. Check back. Check a few times a week to see if anyone new has shown up that may interest you. 

5. Thou shall not stalk. Do not hound the same person over and over, send them a message or two and after that leave them alone if they don't return your contact  they're probably not interested.  

6. Keep it positive. When writing things about yourself tell people what kind of person you are looking for. Be humorous and upbeat, but be clear about what your interests are and the type of individual you are interested in. If you won't date a smoker, a drinker, someone with children, make that clear (but not rudely) in your profile. Keep in mind that some smokers, drinkers, single parents may still (for whatever reasons) contact you. 

7. Do your homework. Some of the online dating websites are becoming more sophisticated in the way they match up people, but that does not mean that they cannot make mistakes. Always check someone out for yourself (Google, Dogpile, etc.) before you accept a date from them. Just because an emotionless computer thinks you may be a good match for someone does not mean that you are. Look their profile over and email/call them a few times before making the decision to meet.  

8. Interview. Always have a phone conversation with a match before any initial meeting. Be highly cautious of anyone who does not want to speak on the phone before meeting, or comes up with repeated excuses as to why they cannot meet you. Have no further contact if a match does this. 

9. Caution. Be cautious with the information that you provide a potential match. Do not give specific details about where you live or where you are employed. 

10. Play it safe. Always have the first few meetings and dates in a public place and always let a relative or friend know where you are going and who you are meeting. Never invite someone to your home during an initial meeting. Do not drink heavily and do not allow anyone but the wait staff and yourself near your drink. 

11. Have a safety net. Have a friend or relative call or text you during your initial meeting to see if you're fine. 

12. Fraud is everywhere. Be alert to red flags, such as a person repeatedly canceling meetings, asking for money, or pressuring you for personal information or sex (including nude photos) early in your acquaintanceship. Cut off contact completely if any of these occur. 

13. Keep an open mind. Be optimistic and upbeat, but be realistic that even the most accurate profile and photograph does not always correlate to real life chemistry between two people. Sometimes two individuals simply won't click, but sometimes they will. Good luck! 

14. It’s all about your main profile picture. Many online dating articles and products will try to convince you that what you write for your first message is the most important skill you will ever learn. This is true to a certain extent. For sure, what you write in your opening message and in your profile will dictate a lot of your success with online dating, but the single biggest factor is how someone responds to your profile picture.
It is the first thing they will ever see!
While your opening message’s content will determine if someone clicks through to your profile, it’s that little thumbnail image that will determine if they open the message at all. This isn’t a universal rule but take women as an example the more messages a woman receives each day, the pickier she is going to be. Have you ever deleted an opening message based solely on the thumbnail image? I think everyone has at some point, and imagine how often you would do this if you received 20-50 a day instead of 1 or 2 a week.
Now you get it.
Most attractive women don’t even open all of their messages simply because they can’t be bothered to sift through them all. You have to assume that a quick glance at the thumbnails is all she is going to use to decide whether to open the message, so if your main image isn’t the single best photo you own then you are doing yourself a disservice. No cheesy topless shots, no stuffy formal pictures and no Myspace style self-portraits either, you want a picture that shows you are a relaxed, fun person who has an active social life.
15. The key to writing an interesting profile. It almost doesn’t matter what information you write in your profile as long as you are conveying sincerity and vulnerability. The best way to demonstrate sincerity is to write your main bio in a loose conversational manner without trying to “big” yourself up. This isn’t a CV; you aren’t auditioning for anyone, so don’t write it like you are trying to impress. It will come across as needy, and although you may have the sexiest picture imaginable, your chances of meeting someone are virtually zero if you sound like a douche.
Vulnerability is the essence of opening yourself up without fearing rejection. Are you a geeky chess player? Are you passionate about computer programming? Do you have a fetish for licking stamps? Don’t be afraid of telling people who you are and what you love doing. A truly attractive person is comfortable in their own skin and has the confidence to reveal their thoughts and feelings without caring what anyone else thinks. Ask your best friend or someone you trust to proofread your profile to check that what you have written is a fair and honest representation of your personality and you aren’t coming across like a crazy person.
Unless you want to attract crazy people of course.
16. That all-important first message. Okay, you’ve sorted out your profile and taken some decent pictures, now you’re ready to send your very first message. What do you do?
First, don’t just send messages out blindly: you have to tailor the message to your goals and the person you are writing to. You don’t want to give a beautiful woman a physical compliment because it won’t have a huge effect on her. Likewise you don’t want to tease someone who comes across like they might not be the most confident person. With regards to messaging men, don’t be overly flirtatious as that can immediately set off their BS detector. Instead, give a man a non-sexual compliment and show interest in something from his profile. Guys, read that last sentence too, it applies both ways.You are almost guaranteed to fail if you write to a woman on a dating site telling her “You are gorgeous/sexy/hot.” Sorry to break it to you, but this kind of e-mail makes you seem generic and boring. Most reasonably attractive women with online dating profiles receive dozens of those kind of responses per week in some cases, dozens per day. Your compliment won’t stand out from all the other responses in her inbox. She’ll be bored not because she’s vain, but because you haven’t said anything to convince her the two of you belong together.