“Single white female, 27, loves cats, white wine, and strolling on the beach.”
You may think this says a lot about you, but when you’re one of hundreds or thousands of potential candidates in the expansive world of online dating, a profile such as this won’t attract much attention. It’s bland, boring and outdated.
Those who do happen to read this profile might think its author too is bland, boring and outdated. They’ll move on without ever looking back.
Quality Counts more than Quantity
If you want other online daters to notice you, the profile you create needs to be unique, captivating, positive, honest, and even a bit funny.
Your photo will draw some amount of attention, but what others really want is to know about the person behind the image. The only way they can do so is by reading what you have written about who you are.
When you create a profile, it’s not necessarily how much you write that matters. Less can be more and when people are scanning hundreds of profiles, less is often better.
One way to think about your profile is that it is in a sense a marketing tool and you are the product being marketed.
Market Yourself
To begin, your profile needs to grab the reader’s attention. The best way to accomplish this is by writing a catchy opening. Make it interesting and intriguing because the goal here is to make the reader want to continue past the introduction. Short sentences work best.
From there, go on to list your benefits, which in a profile are your attributes, likes and dislikes, and your goals. Listing your vitals, things like your height, weight, build and perhaps your profession helps the reader create an image of you.
Next, focus on describing your personality. This involves mentioning the things you enjoy doing in your spare time, your goals and aspirations, where you’ve lived, the things that make you smile, and what you are looking for in a companion.
Remember to sound positive because mentioning all the bad things that have happened to you is a real turn off.
Sounds like a lot to write and it can be. So what happens when writing isn’t one of your strengths? Fortunately many of the online dating sites offer assistance with profile creation. Some use templates where you just fill in the blanks.
Another effective approach is to study the profiles that catch your attention. Look at how they’re written, the words being used, the message being conveyed. Use these as models for your own profile.
It’s always a good idea to create a rough draft of your profile in a word processor where misspellings and grammar errors can be identified and corrected. When you’ve finished, put your profile aside for a day or so, then reread it to make sure it conveys the right image.
When you’re happy with what you’ve written, transfer it to your online profile. Revisit the profile from time to time and make changes as necessary.