Tid Bits of Advice for Creating a Profile

Having searched probably over a hundred profiles by now, I have a few tips for the men out there posting on these websites.  Maybe I am just being too nit-picky and overly judgmental, but isn't that the point of having so many guys' profiles to choose from?

So here are some tips for posting photos:

1) Display more than one picture
2) Include pictures taken from different angles
3) Don't only post the one or two best pictures that have ever been taken of you or your date will inevitably be disappointed by the real thing
4) Include close up and panoramic shots
5) Make sure the pictures are recent enough to accurately represent what you look like TODAY
6) Pictures of yourself wearing socks with sandals are not okay
7) Pictures of you holding a puppy or a baby are transparent attempts to show your sensitive side
8) Even if you do in fact wear a baseball cap and sunglasses 24/7, try to still include at least one picture without these two items
9) Don't make your main profile picture one of you and another girl
10) Take a good, long, hard look in the mirror before posting a shirtless photo
11) It's one thing to include a shirtless picture, but it's another to have a close-up of just your abs (ahem, Inochan94)
12) It is quite another thing to have a shirtless, bicep flexing picture, highlighting your generic, black, arm band tattoo, which is located on the wrong part of your arm (take note, BigDawg39)

And here are some tips and observations about writing a description about yourself for your profile:

1) Don't describe yourself as intelligent unless you are at least willing to spell check and proof read your description (I'm actually planning a blog post exclusively devoted to spelling and grammatical errors on people's profiles)
2) Don't exaggerate - an entrepreneur is not the same thing as a delivery driver for a dry cleaning company (I mean, come on Cgy3952!)
3) Don't describe your "worst quality" as being too nice, or too honest, or too giving.  This isn't a job interview and you're not fooling anyone, like JoeofKerala who described himself as "looking for the important girlfriend position to fill."
4) Similarly, don't list "business networking" as number one on your list of interests and hobbies.
5) Don't describe yourself as "confident but not conceited" and then go on to compare yourself to the likes of Gandhi, Obama and Einstein.
6) Don't proclaim that you are a great kisser - this just makes you seem like you have something to prove or you are naive enough to have believed that one girl you were with five years ago who felt the need to fill the awkward post-kiss silence with a half-hearted compliment.

These may seem like pretty common sense type of suggestions, but you would be surprised the ridiculous things people say in their descriptions.

I was talking with Amanda about one of our pet peeves with guys describing their ideal match.  Basically, some guys (and probably girls too, but I don't peruse female profiles so I can't really comment) describe the person they are looking for on really narrow terms.  For instance, a lot of guys describe the ideal body type for their match as "thin" or "slender", or they might specify a certain race they are looking for.  Even if these superficial qualities are an absolute requirement, some girls who actually fit these criteria may be put off by the fact that you would even specify such things, and not respond to you at all.  Although, now that I think about it, it is actually a good thing when people show just how narrow-minded they actually are, so that I can screen them out right away...

And before I close, I must say that in my last post I mentioned that a few guys who I have e-mailed haven't written me back.  That night when I went home and checked my e-mail there was a message from one of those guys.  He politely told me that he is actually seeing someone now but can't figure out how to close down his profile and that I seem like a really nice girl, etc. etc.  I must say, I found this to be incredibly nice and I appreciated the time he took to write me.  So, I am going to try harder to respond to people, even if it's just to say a polite, "no thanks".

souldoctor4325 (49 years old): "I like to talk quietly in dark corners" and "I promise I won't bite, at least not until I know you and them maybe a nibble or two in the right places."