Seven tips to help you succeed at online dating!

Very often I am asked by people how they can improve their results using online dating services.

Although the answers may vary slightly when looking for individual improvements, generally everyone can do better by following these simple, but sometimes overlooked, changes to their profile and how they approach online dating.

- Login regularly. Many services show the last time you logged in, so if you haven’t been there for a while odds are good that possible new friends will overlook your profile because it seems ‘stale’ or abandoned.

- Post a recent picture. Most online services offer the search option to “search only profiles with a picture”, so if you don’t have a picture uploaded with your profile you’re missing out on a substantial amount of possible visitors to your profile. And keep in mind to post a recently taken photo of yourself, with only you in the frame and an upper body or head and shoulders only shot.

- Don’t Annoy Others. Did you find the perfect match but he/she never replied to your messages? Maybe they didn’t feel that immediate spark that you did. Maybe they don’t login any more. No matter what you feel, sending more than a couple messages to someone is a sure way to be an annoyance, if not being branded an “online stalker’.

- Be positive. We all know that life has it’s ups and downs, but sharing bad or negative details in your profile is a sure way to not get any responses. Positive people bring out the best in others, do your part.

- Be proactive. Participate in all areas of the dating service you are a member of. Do they have a blog? Comment on it. Do they have a forum, polls, story submission? Your name is your “brand”, use it as much as possible (without contravening any of the above tips, of course) so that other members see your name and check out your profile. Activities other than just posting your profile can greatly enhance the visits to your profile page.

- Reply promptly. You don’t have to be logged in every moment, but try your best to log in every day about the same time and answer messages within one day. If someone is waiting for a reply from you and they don’t get it, they might just make plans with someone else.

- Update your profile regularly. Many dating services rotate to the top of the search results profiles that have been recently edited. You usually don’t have to make any major changes to your profile just a sentence or two and save it.

Have a great time online!