Writing the Perfect Personal Ad; Tonight’s the night, and you want it to happen again and again. That’s right; this is your first date with that cute guy you met at the gym. You’ve just been shopping for a new dress, shoes, makeup, and had your hair styled at some posh boutique for $50 more than you should have spent. It takes you longer to get ready for this date than it takes a guy with no teeth to eat beef-jerky. You put a lot of effort into appearing nice. Doesn’t it stand to reason that you’d put that much effort into a dating profile on a personals site? Believe it or not, more than half of the people who sign up and become members of a dating site fail to thoughtfully fill out a profile.

There are plenty of reasons why you need to fill out a good profile, and there’s probably not one reason why you shouldn’t. What sort of excuses are you going to make? Were you too tired? You couldn’t think of anything to write while the profile was in front of you? You want to remain mysterious? No matter what weak reason you choose, it’s not worth signing up unless you’re willing to put a little effort into it. Look at it like you’re going out to the club. The way people notice you is based on the outside. How you look is what attracts a crowd. Would you go out with your hair messed up, no makeup, and tattered clothes?

There’s really not much to writing the perfect personal ad. The only tip worth following is simple: Be yourself. There, how hard was that? There is not huge list of things you can do to attract someone else. Well, I’m sure there are, but what good are they in the long run? Any sort of gimmicks and tricks you use will be found out once you meet someone. Any lie you tell will leave you busted and back to square one. But by being yourself; being honest with yourself and with the world, the person you meet will know to expect only what you can bring to the table.

Your profile is the only representation you have when it comes to an in depth look into your personality. If you’re a religious person, you need to add that. If you’re a smoker or drinker, don’t put “I’ll tell you later.” There’s no mystery behind that sort of stuff. Be up front about movies and music, hobbies and cuisine. This is your chance to run down the list of everything you’d like to know about another person, and serve the same heaping helping of knowledge to them.

You also want to invest a little time into your presentation in your “about me” and “what I’m looking for” sections. The previous items mentioned were just things you can check off. But when it comes to talking about you and what you want, you really get to be creative and shine here. Don’t come across as too humorous or too serious. You also don’t want to talk about past relationships too much. Speak to anyone reading about who you are as a person. Talk to them about what you want out of life. Put your dreams and aspirations in print.

You’ll only have once chance to make a first impression here. The things you put in your profile will ultimately mean the difference in a potential partner and a passerby. Nobody is going to give you the time of day if you spout off the same gibberish they’ve heard a million times over. Give someone a glimpse into your soul. Make them want to know more about you from what they read. Be up front and honest and open.    Back