Online dating has become a popular option for singles today, especially in an age of instant technology and busy schedules. Each year more and more singles are turning to the web to enhance their dating life and many are enjoying success. More marriages than ever are occurring between people who met first online. Of course, if you’re interested in finding the love of your life, you need to learn how to best use the services available.

Here is a look at some great internet dating tips that will help you improve your experience on the web when trying to find love.

Tip #1 – Choose a Service That Works for You

One of the most important internet dating tips to remember is to choose a service that works for you. There are so many services available today that it can be tough to figure out which one will meet your needs. There are general services, relationship services, social networking sites, niche dating websites, and more.

Take a look at all the options and consider what you’re really looking for in a date. Do you just want a fun date, are you looking for a specific demographic when it comes to a potential lover, or friend, or are you looking for something serious that results in marriage? Ask yourself these questions and choose a service that will meet the individual needs and desires that you have.

Tip #2 – Build a Quality Profile Online

Once you have chosen a good service, another of the important online dating tips to follow is to build a quality profile online. Don’t leave your profile blank or you’ll definitely have a tough time finding a match. Possible matches are going to be checking out your profile, which means you need to develop a profile that will show who you really are. Make your profile interesting and positive. Avoid being negative or you’ll turn people off when they see your background information. If people look at your profile and they find it interesting, they are more likely to contact you.

Tip #3 – Ensure You Post Good Photos

If you’re going to try to date online, ensuring that you post good photos is one of the best online dating tips. After all, while looks are definitely not everything, your attention is often captured by what you see. While you may be tempted to just post a generic picture, this probably won’t really cut it today. You need a picture on your profile that shows who you really are. You want to look great and you want to look like you’re having a great time. If people find your photos attractive and intriguing, you’ll have better results trying to find love online.

Tip #4 – Be Yourself and Avoid Lies

It is also very important that you be yourself and avoid any lies. It is tempting to make yourself sound a little better by lying about the job you hold, how much you make, or even your age. If you really want to find something real on the web, you need to be real. Lying is not only disrespectful to those you meet on the internet, but it also will come around at some point in time. You don’t want to find someone you really like, only to drive them away when they find out that you lied. Keep everything truthful and you’ll have better luck finding the one you want.

Tip #5 – Learn About and Practice Online Dating Safety

Of course, one of the most important tips is to make sure that you practice online dating safety. While there are many success stories, there are also stories of online relationships that have gone wrong. Keep yourself safe with the following safety internet dating tips:

-Listen to Your Gut – One of the most important things to remember is to always listen to your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, trust that feeling. It could save your life.

-Avoid Giving Personal Information Right Away – If someone is pushing for your information, beware. You should never give out that information right away. Keep your phone number, address, and other information to yourself until later.

-Watch Out for Negative Characteristics – If you notice negative characteristics like anger, avoiding questions, or even acting controlling, you may want to avoid that person.

- Always Meet in Public for the First Date – To keep yourself safe, always meet in a public place for the first date. Make sure you tell someone where you are going too.

With these online dating tips you can enjoy fun, excitement, and success when looking for love online. Always follow these tips if you want to find someone special.

I guess we kind of knew already, but now it’s official…

Researchers have discovered that women should wear  red clothes to grab the guys attention.

It is not just the singer Chris de Burgh, who is fond of dancing girls in red. A group of researchers have now discovered that men generally prefer women who have red clothes on, according to the British newspaper The Daily Mail.

The study, which has just been published in the journal European Journal of Social Psychology, concludes that women in red are better at attracting men’s attention. Additionally, men are more flirtatious when they’re with women wearing red clothes, and they also want to move closer to these women.
Women in red makes men… well – horny

It’s a research team from the University of Rochester in the state of New York, who conducted the survey. A group of men were shown  some pictures of some “fairly attractive” women who wore blue clothes.

Another group of men were shown women in red clothing, and according to the researchers, these men acted far more playful and humorous, when they subsequently were to describe them.

Afterwards, all the men were told that they could meet these  women. The men who had seen the pictures of the women in red generally chose to sit closer to the chair where they figured that the woman would sit.

Red signals fertility

According to Niesta Kayser, who has been involved in the study, the phenomenon has its roots in the early evolution. The red color signals fertility, and therefore women in red generally is considered a better catch when it comes to finding a partner who can secure the family, by having some children.
It seems, according to Niesta Kayser, that this is also seen on many of the Internet dating sites. The women who have a profile picture, where they wear red clothes, received on average more inquiries from interested parties.

“Women should definitely wear a red shirt or a red dress when they are getting ready for a date with a man they want,” says Kayser Niesta to The Daily Mail.

Women also wants me in red

However, it’s not only women who should wear red clothes if they will improve their scoring potential. A research that was published a few months ago, showed that men also appears more attractive to women if they have a few red shirts in the closet. According to research, women are attracted sexually to men who have red clothes on.

“Traditionally speaking, red is considered a sexy color when it comes to women dresses, but our findings suggest that the relationship between the color red and sexual attraction also is true for men,”  researcher Andrew Elliot of the University of Rochester writes in the conclusion.

Men receives an incredible amount of female attention on dating sites if they are photographed with his pet. For women, this has the opposite effect.

Pet or no pet?

Women on dating sites should never be photographed with their animal if they want to attract men. In turn, men should definitely show their pet in order to attract the female gender. That is, if they have a pet of course J. New, comprehensive analysis of dating sites reveals the pitfalls of dating profile photos.

If your inbox is littered with messages from beautiful women or men on your dating site, you’ve without doubt chosen the right profile picture. On the other hand, if you get no mails, you’ve probably chosen one of the images that directly turns off the opposite sex.

A new photographic analysis, conducted by the dating site OkCupid among 7,140 of their total 3.5 million users, reveals just how to get as many contacts as possible solely based on your profile photo.

Guide to women:
How to take pictures that sparks the interest in men

Guide to Men:
Take the perfect dating profile photo

It turns out, that there are huge differences in what kind of pictures men and women use on dating sites. More than half of the women smile – either friendly or flirtatious. But for guys the “smiling ratio” is only one in three.

And with good reason. Men who are looking with a mysterious facial expressions towards the horizon, gets 50 percent more inquiries than those who smile politely to the camera lens.

The photo analysis also reveals that women never should pose with their cat if they want more masculine attention. If they do, the number of mails in their inbox decreases  with 40 percent compared to the average dating profiles.

The opposite is true for male profile photos: getting their picture taken with their pet on the shoulder attract the opposite sex big time. In fact, being photographed with their pet is the most effective motive when it comes to attracting women. “But I don’t have a pet” you might say – don’t worry. It turn out that are two other motives that works almost as well. Check them out here.

Cleavage works

Although the furry creatures has a negative effect on women’s chances for a date, the female sex has another weapon that generates many mails: the cleavage.

“As one might expect, many women receive fewer and fewer inquiries, as they get older. But they can counteract this trend by showing a little cleavage. A 32-year-old showing some cleavage actually receives more new contacts per. month than a 18-year-old who does not reveal anything of the breasts, “says Christian Rudder from OkCupid, who has avoided the model-like profiles in his investigation and instead has based his figures on average people.

Now, I  agree with Christian Rudder that your profile picture has an enormous impact on the number of inquiries you receive from other users. The dating market is huge and it is much faster for people to evaluate profile photos, than to start reading the profile texts. Moreover most of us focuses, unfortunately, on the same thing: appearance. Which is why people with attractive photos receives far more inquiries than those with a bad profile picture.

In my experience though, you should definitely have a picture on your profile, regardless of how you look. People without photo gets only one tenth inquiries compared to photo profiles.

Are you unsure which picture to use on your profile? Let me help you out choosing the right one and guide you to write the perfect profile text. Click here.

What is your experience with profile photos? Have you tried the “pet trick” and how did it work out for you? Let me hear all your good advice on what has worked well for you previously – and also what definitely didn’t work for you.

To take pictures that arouse men’s interest:

1. Always keep eye contact with the camera. This is preferred by the vast majority of men.

2. Smile or send flirty eyes to the camera. Do not look serious or lipped out.

3. For women of all ages, the number of male interest increases, if they show a little cleavage. A 18 year old showing cleavage is 24 percent more likely to be contacted and a 32 year old woman receives a staggering 79 percent more inquiries, if she shows cleavage.

Also read – Guide to Men:
How to take pictures that sparks interest in women

Bonus features

The three most effective ‘bonus features’ female online daters between 18-30 years should use in her profile photo:

1. Pictures taken by the woman herself, from a vantage point where she looks flirty into the camera. This is called the ‘MySpace’ motif.

2. Photos where the woman sits / lies in her bed.

3. Outdoor / active photos

And the three least effective:

3. Hanging out with girlfriends pictures.

2. Photos where the woman drinks alcohol.

1. Photos, where women pose with her cat / dog.

What is your experience? Does the cleavage work? (I think it does…) How about the pet-connection? Does these kinds of pictures put guys off?

There is something about the grainy image of a Web cam photo that really gives me the heeby jeebies. For some reason the first thought that comes to mind is MySpace spam.

I think Web cams do serve a great purpose. I have the USB 3 LED PC Webcam Camera and use it to communicate with friends and family over the Internet. I could also see a Web cam coming to good use to talk to someone you’ve met online. But as a way to take your picture for your online profile? No way.

If the MySpace reference wasn’t enough to talk you out of a Web cam photo for your online profile. Here’s three more reasons not to use a Web cam photo:

1 – You want to show that you are an active and interesting person. Someone who sits at their computer all night scamming for chics looks a little one-dimensional.

2 – The image just isn’t very good. No Web cam can take a photo like some of the latest and great digital cameras can. You’re much better off taking your own photo with your camera.

3 – You decrease your chances of success with a Web cam photo–especially if its the only photo you have of yourself online. Show a little variety in your profile by uploading several photos.

For more online dating advice, sign up for the Dating Tales profile writing service. Complete the personality survey in just five minutes!

When you aren’t getting the results you want from your online dating profile, there are several things you can do to spruce up your existing profile and motivate “potentials” to contact you.

Profile makeover tip #1 – Use spell check
Simple things like proper spelling, complete sentences, and correct grammar can make a big difference. I know this sounds like something your 10th grade English teacher would tell you, but even eHarmony’s advice blog goes on and on about proper spelling. If the online dating site you use doesn’t have a spell checker, copy the text into a word document and use the spell checker there.

Profile makeover tip #2 – Think neat and tidy
Create an online dating profile that is visually inviting. Don’t use all caps, don’t use crazy fonts and font sizes (if your dating site will even let you), and keep your sentences and paragraphs a nice short length. You need to post several nice and friendly pictures of yourself too. You wouldn’t show up on a date without ironing your shirt and shaving, so why wouldn’t you take the time to make sure your online profile looks good too?

Profile makeover tip #3 -An inverted pyramid
Journalists are trained to write their stories so the most important facts are first and the least important facts are last. Do the same in your profile. Start off in a punchy way that grabs your reader’s attention. And end your profile with a call to action. Ask your potentials to wink or invite them to ask you about your latest joke … whatever it takes to motivate him or her to act.

Profile makeover tip #4 – Change your photo
This is one I’ve said many times, but it still holds true. Every now and again add a new picture and change your main photo (if you have that option). Include one head shot, at least one photo where you are smiling and are not wearing sunglasses, and one photo where you out and about doing what you enjoy.

Profile makeover tip #5 – Try out a new dating site
Sometimes it’s not your profile that’s the problem; sometimes it’s the dating site. Maybe the site you are on doesn’t attract the kind of people you like. Maybe the site just doesn’t have many singles from your town. Whatever the case, it doesn’t hurt to try a 7-day free trial from Yahoo! or a 3-day free trial from Match. You aren’t committed to buy and you might realize that the problem wasn’t you…it was them.

Profile makeover tip #6 – Hire a professional
You can always have your profile professionally written too. Take the Dating Tales 5-minute online dating questionnaire and for only $39 you could have a brand new profile that actually works.

This is a completely fictitious online dating profile that I came up with to show you what to do and what not to do in an online dating profile. (See the section on� sample online dating profiles for more examples of good online dating profiles.)

Before the DatingTales.net profile writing service

HI EVERYBODY!!!!! I’M NEW TO ONLINE DATING AND AM NOT REALLY SURE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO SAY HERE, BUT IF YOU ARE CUTE AND LIKE MY PHOTO DROP ME A LINE. I’LL BUY YOU 3-4 MAYBE SIX DRINKS.

No, really. I probably will only buy you one, if that’s what you want.

I’m tall, blond, active, and I like books and travel. My looks are very important to me and I need a woman who looks good on my arm. Looks should be important toyou too. I’m a real catch. Thunderstorms are alright but I prefer the sunshine. I’m not gonna lie I like a little television at night and love to sleep in when I can. I dont wanna play games and I dont want to marry you or your sister. I’m just lookin to have fun.

I work in real estate so business is a little slow right now, but usually I work without breaks. I like to interact with clients and of course, I like the selling part of it too. I’m often out late at night and want to date someone whose up for a few shots a tequila.

If I’ve sold you clal me at 555-5555 or IM me at HOT_STUFF

After the DatingTales.net profile writing service got their hands on the world’s worst online dating profile

What�s better than an ice cold, golden hued lager?

I am a fan of good tequila and good beer.� I�m looking forward to sharing a few beers with a witty lady who enjoys a variety of hops too.

You can probably learn a lot about me just by looking at my profile. Yes, thunderstorms are great, but if I really had to choose a weather pattern, I�d pick a cloudy cool day where I could sleep all tucked under the covers and then enjoy a few good movies that afternoon.

Sounds like an ideal day off to me. How do you like to spend your free days?

Like a lot of people I enjoy reading and travel. But unlike some people you might read about on this single site, I actually like reading about travel. Something about imagining far off places and learning about different cultures through books that offers so much.

Despite enjoying my sleep and movies, I�m very driven professionally. I work in the real estate business and although business is a little slow right now, I usually work as much as I can. It�s not just about the money either. I enjoy the interactions with clients and, of course, I like the selling part of it too.

If I�ve sold you and you�re up for trying a new beer or watching a good movie, give me a wink. I�ll email you to tell you more about me.

****************

To sign up for the DatingTales.net profile writing service, complete our personality questionnaire. For only $39 you can have a shiny new online dating profile just like this guy.

Take the Dating Tales personality survey now! For only $39 you can have an online dating profile professionally written that is uniquely you.

Dating Tales provides easy, private, and inexpensive online dating profile writing help for both men and women. It’s confidential, it’s affordable, and it takes the stress away from having to write about yourself.

Here is a testimonial from one of our most recent clients:

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The Dating Tales online profile writing help includes:

1) A comprehensive questionnaire that helps you and Dating Tales learn more about you and your dating preferences.

2) A review of your existing online profile.

3) Photo review and critique.

4) A write up of the “About Me” section of your profile.

5) Assistance in deciding on a clever handle/username for your profile.

Get started now by visiting the Dating Tales profile writing page.

When choosing photos for your online profile it’s tempting to choose pictures of you with other people. I don’t think there is an official rule against this, but I think it’s sort of weird. I mean, how would you feel if your face was plastered all over a site like SinglesNet.com and you had no idea.

Of course there are always exceptions to my unofficial rule, but please, please, please avoid photos that are outright romantic or affectionate. It could be a huge turn off. Sorta like this one…

Cute, I know. But might confuse your potentials…

Don�t forget, if you request an online profile write-up through Dating Tales, photo review is free. To sign up visit the profile writing page.