Online Dating Profile Tips
Online dating profiles have always intrigued me. I joined my first online dating site back in late 2005 – not long (enough) after I separated from my now ex-wife. Online dating profiles are far from an exact science to the point that there are those that actually make a living assisting people in crafting successful online dating profiles. What information do you include? What do you leave out? What pictures do you use? Should you mention your man-child action figure collection or that you own 2,000 pairs of shoes?
I’m launching a new series of posts that will highlight the good, bad and the ugly of online dating profiles. These are profiles that I believe fall on one end of the dating profile spectrum or the other – from great to crash and burn. If you have an online dating profile of your own you’d like showcased, please feel free to use my contact form and send me the link. If you come across an online dating profile that you just have to share with the world, pass it along and I’ll put it up!
Daniel is (well, was) on OKCupid.com
The first profile up on my showcase list is my own profile from OKCupid.com. OKC is actually one of my favorite online dating sites. It’s visually pleasing, has a number of features that many other online dating sites don’t have and – perhaps best of all – it’s free. I left my profile active on the site because I’ve actually met (by met, I mean via Email) a number of interesting people since I joined the site in 2008 and I still read others’ blogs and participate in quizzes when I have a minute or two to waste. In its heyday, my profile generated nearly two-dozen emails a week for me and up to 100 views per day (per OKC’s statistics). That’s quite a few for a man on an online dating site.
My OKC profile can be found at www.okcupid.com/profile/techilicious.
What I Did Right
I’ve received quite a bit of feedback on my profile from other singles on OKCupid, so this ‘what I did right’ portion will be what they’ve shared with me over the years and not necessarily my own thoughts.
# 1 – I made them laugh.
Hands down, the most common piece of feedback I received is that my profile was funny – I made them laugh. I think my profile successfully represents my personality, so I consider this feedback a dating profile success for me. I think the takeaway here is not that every profile has to be funny but that it should accurately represent you as a person.
#2 – I stood out from the crowd.
The longer you date online the more online dating profiles start to sound the same. They all seem to mention the same things – how great they are, how adventurous they are, how happy they are and how they like to have fun. Ugh. I regularly received the feedback that I stood out from other dating profiles with my profile on OKC and that made them take notice.
#3 – I have clear photos.
Photos on your online dating profile can make or break the whole thing. You can have an absolutely poetic profile that makes their toes tingle just reading it but if your profile photos suck, guess what? What did daters appreciate about my profile pictures? 1) You can clearly see me, 2) I’m smiling in one or more of them, 3) they’re all recent photos and 4) I’m wearing a shirt.
Dating Profile Showcase Quiz Questions
- What was your first reaction after reading this profile?
- Would you respond to this profile?
- Would you respond to me if I contacted you on this dating site?
- What feeling were you left with after reading this profile?
- Do you think this profile would be successful for the dater? Why or why not?
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