One of the first and most important things you need to do is to choose an online dating service. Pressure from advertising will take you to the more popular national sites, even though they may not be your best choice. Think carefully about what you want to accomplish – dating, a serious relationship, marriage, family? Some sites will meet your needs better than others, so do some research.
After you select the site you want to register with, in most cases you will be prompted to create a profile. Your profile is very important and should not be ignored or quickly pieced together. Think of your profile as an outfit you would pick for a special occasion. You will want your outfit to reflect your personality and the occasion. The same attention to detail should go into your profile.
You will need to decide what goes into your profile and what should be omitted. Some basic information should be kept, including gender, age/date of birth, hometown, etc. However, the choice to put more personal information in your profile will depend on how open you are as a person. How much information do you want people to know about you? Do you want to tell them everything before they contact you? Do you want to omit some details in order to tell them on a more personal level? These questions need to be addressed before creating a profile.
Your profile picture or avatar will be the next thing you put in your profile. You should choose the most flattering picture possible and not go overboard (avoid using Photoshop). Never put a picture that is not you as your profile picture. It’s wrong in the first place and it’s false advertising. What if you are dating someone and decide it’s time to meet?
After creating a profile, you’re almost ready to start dating! Test the waters by getting to know the dating service you are using. Explore all the features of the service and then determine which ones are best to use. It’s important to know exactly what each feature offers so you can make the most of it. Most online dating sites have a general information forum, or a help line to answer any questions you may have while you are a member. If you have any questions about a feature on the site, you should contact the site administrator, who is always happy to help you.
After creating a profile and learning about all the features the site offers, you are ready to start marketing yourself to others. I know “marketing” may sound a bit harsh, but in reality, that’s what you’re doing. One of the things you can do to optimize your marketing efforts is to update your personal information. Let’s say you recently got a new puppy, or you went on a crazy diet and lost 20 pounds in two weeks, or you just learned that your best friend is getting married and you’re going to Barbados for the wedding. All new developments in your life should be considered noteworthy and eligible for inclusion in the profile.
Here comes the fun part, you found someone! What kind of work do you do? When you find someone you think is worth spending time with, you should get to know as much about that person as you can. Learn about their background, interests, hobbies, family, favorite color, favorite Tom Cruise movie, pretty much anything you learn from someone in the real world, you can learn in the virtual world.
Once you find someone worth dating, it’s time to go meet that person. This process can take three days or it can take three years, it really depends on how comfortable you are in the relationship. Make sure you are both ready to take this step, as it will be by far the most important step in your relationship. Let’s say you meet this person and fall deeply in love with them the first time you meet – then your journey to find love online is over. However, let’s say you decide to meet and find out that this person has been lying about their appearance the entire time you’ve been chatting online – you decide to keep checking online and then the whole process starts all over again.