Top Five Tips For Making The Most Of Your Online Dating Profile

GSOH – OK moving on…

Likes long walks  – yikes would I need sturdy boots for that?

The days of wandering up and down the aisles of a supermarket on a Thursday night with a carefully chosen basket of produce, hoping to attract the attention of a like minded singleton* are long gone.

That’s why you’re here online now, with your grocery shopping delivery slot booked it’s time to hone that dating profile.

It’s no surprise to learn that internet dating is becoming the most popular way to meet and connect with new people and whether you jumped right into the first sight you came to or if you looked at ten, twenty maybe even a hundred, ranging from popular to niche what they all need is some information about you.

Fear not!  Take a look at these Top Five Tips For Making The Most Of Your Online Dating Profile and lets create a well crafted profile that looks better than a hand finished artisan sour dough loaf!

 

One: The Photo

It’s the first thing you look at.  There are some dating sites where that’s all you’ll see.

It’s good to smile – profile pics with smiling people get way more attention.  Get together with a friend, go through the photos on your Phone, Facebook, Instagram and find one that you like – really like – something candid capturing a snapshot of your life.  If nothing is working grab your mate get outside find a cool backdrop and start snapping.  Did you know you could look so good standing in front of the gourmet taco wagon?

Best advice – choose a photo where you are central in the shot and make it a recent one.  Yeah you look great at a festival, you’re with friends having fun – this is how you like to spend your weekends – styled with mud at Glastonbury – but if Tony Bennett  is crooning in the background its a sure give away this wasn’t taken recently – it wasn’t even taken this century!

 

Two:  Be Honest

An inch here and there when it comes to height – well we’ve all done that!  But if your profile states that your 6’4 and you’re actually 5’1 in Cuban heels then it’s going to show.

It’s hard work keeping up a profile pretence because you’ll give something away at some point and if you have been less than honest with the obvious then what other truths have you stretched?  You may have three hens and a guinea fowl but don’t go calling it a zoo!

If you’re going with “I love taking my classic 1965 Porsche 911 coupe out on the coast road” and that Porsche is in several bits in your garage then it’s quite literally going nowhere fast!

Instead try something like this, it gives an insight into your hobby and an opener for a conversation…

“I love vintage cars and am currently restoring a classic Porsche.  One of these days I’ll manage to get it out of the garage – perhaps we can grab a beer sometime (torque wrench and overalls optional!)”

I doesn’t have to be a Porsche it could be a tractor or a boat (not an inflatable dinghy though!)

Try not to narrow the field with too many stipulations but if for example a smoker is a deal breaker don’t be afraid to say so in your profile.  Same applies to ‘Must Love Dogs’.

 

Three:  Cliches

Avoid them – all of them – we’ve read them before.

“I like long walks on the beach” good for you don’t we all, preferably somewhere hot, maybe not the coast of Namibia hot!

“I’m new to this so here goes…” and go we do.

“I like to travel”  that’s great but don’t just leave us hanging – where did you go?”

“I like staying in with a glass of wine and a movie” would that be on your own?

“I love laughing” oh thank goodness… we all have laughed – life would be too dull if we didn’t.

 

Four: Spelling and Punctuation

Spell check your profile then get your friend – it can be the one who helped with the profile pic but it doesn’t have to be, it could even be your favorite family member – and then get them to read it checking for those grammatical errors that can easily cause a reader to move swiftly on.

Spell check can miss a homophone (word for the day) so check your you’res and then your to two too!

Bonus – your friends know you and their opinions can make a difference – they may tell you to miss that bit out but then remind you about some of your greater assets and anecdotes you had forgotten about.

 

Five:  The Headline

This is the hook – yeah hear me people – the hook I’m referring to is in no way to be confused with the urban legend of the couple parked in lovers lane.

Much like the hook in a song is there to catch the ear of the listener your hook is there to catch the eye of the reader.

Not all dating sites have headlines but for those that do this is a great opportunity to highlight your personality and with an average of only one in ten profiles being read make it funny – harness you inner Donald O’ Conner and “Make ‘Em Laugh”
 

 
If you’d rather be captained by Janeway any day rather than the great James Tiberius or the English one with the French name that sometimes does Shakespeare then write it down.

If you can’t think of a title – try a quote from your fave movie, the lyrics from a song or a line from a poem;

Like Kurosawa I make mad films. Okay so I don’t make films”

I’ll have what she’s having”

All that glisters is not gold”

Maybe share one from your bucket list;

“I want to rope swing into water” – “One day I want to feed the swimming pigs” – “Have you ever been in the front row of a concert?”  – “I’d love to dance with Ellen DeGeneres/Bruno Mars/Justin Timberlake/Darcey Bussell/James Cordon” – “Learn how to use chopsticks properly”

Can you mix the perfect ‘Old Fashioned’,  put the cover on your duvet without climbing inside, make huevos rancheros the breakfast of champions?

Finally the one to avoid – I’m going right back to where we started…
“Blah blah blah”

 

Now its up to you. With the basics under your belt open a new tab and start writing now. You never know who you might meet – although if you’re feeling the need to procrastinate a moment longer -grab a coffee and have a look at these hilarious dating profiles!

*Singleton – not made up but actually in the dictionary – a man or a woman who does not have a romantic or sexual partner. Also it is a computer programming term and rather surprisingly the Singleton of Dufftown is not a lonesome soul but a Single Malt Scotch Whisky!