I told you in an earlier Junk Drawer about how to find love in the new year and in it, I touched on online dating. I had someone send me a very nice email about it, but they wanted to know how to write an online dating profile, so here goes.

I lost a bet and had to join an online dating website. I had no clue as to write an online dating profile, but what I did must have been successful because I ended up dating someone from the site for several months, so here are some things that worked for me.

Show the Truth

Before anyone reads anything on your profile, they're going to want to see what you look like. It's shallow, yes, but it's the truth. The motto I followed when I did this was "under promise and over deliver". If you post a picture of yourself on your profile where you look like a model, but you don't look like that every day, don't use it. Use a recent picture of yourself that looks like you do every day. Then when you've scheduled a date with Prince Charming, glam yourself up. Use one that shows your face clearly for your main profile picture, but show yourself from the knees up for some of your other pictures and make sure the pictures you use are just of you, otherwise it's just confusing.

Don't Lie

Don't lie on your profile about your weight, your age, your employment status or anything else. If you're looking for a relationship and you lie, it's not going to bode well for later on when they find out the truth. When you tell someone you're 25, but you're actually 29 and they come to your family birthday party and there's a big "30" on the cake, but they think you're turning 26 it's going to be awkward.

Be Exact

Know what you want. That way, when your date asks you, you’ll you know how to answer the question, “What are you looking for?” When I was dating, I was asked that question a few times and I didn’t know how to answer because I hadn’t thought about it. When you answer, answer honestly. If you’re looking for someone to marry, say so. That way it’s on the table. If the person you’re dating isn’t looking to get married, you know right off the bat that neither one of you should get attached. It will save a lot of time. When I was asked “What are you looking for” I knew I wasn’t looking to get married and it took a lot of pressure off.

Spelling Counts

If I was looking over profiles and there were spelling mistakes, I would skip it. They could have been the man of my dreams, but the spelling mistakes made them look unintelligent. If you aren't sure how to spell something, ask. There's no harm in having your bestie help you out. Before you post it on the website, write it off line and make sure you use spell check. Even if you do this, it's still a good idea to have someone read it over to make sure it all makes sense.

Hopefully you have the tools you need to find online dating success! Good luck!

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