Online tips from the real experts
I've been seeing match.com commercials for their new "insider's guide" -- a list of tips from people who've found success on the site.
It was hard to find. I fired up my old match.com profile, but the Insider's Guide was nowhere to be found. I had to Google it to find the page; perhaps it's only clearly visible to full subscribers. At any rate, when I finally found it, I was pleasantly surprised.
The Flash version is waaay better than the downloadable list. If you're interested in trying online dating or sprucing up your online profile, it's worth the few minutes. Even though some of the tips are focused on match.com-specific features, most of the tips can be applied anywhere.
For each of seven tips, such as "Make Your Profile Pop," "Be a Good Citizen," and "Stay Active, Stay Positive, there's video of match.com's successful folks -- some with their boo, some not -- and then a summary video by match.com's resident expert. After the first tip, I skipped Mr. Expert; he seemed too much of a smoothie. But listen to the people. They offer some interesting suggestions. For example:
+ Test photos on friends. One woman said she originally posted photos that she thought were great. But after a while, she had some friends critique her photos. It wasn't good. So, she gave them pictures to choose from, and they picked the best. It makes sense -- it's good to have an outsider (read: someone that isn't YOU) look at your profile, and who better than your friends, who know you better than almost anyone?
+ Be courteous. Write back even if you aren't interested. This was a wow to me. When I was doing dating online, there were a few that I dismissed, for various reasons (you obviously don't know how to spell, craft a sentence, etc.; you don't seem like we have interests that gibe; I don't really dig your picture) but I never thought to send them a nice missive back, at least saying, "Sorry, I'm not interested."
But it's a nice courtesy. Now that I think about it, there were quite a few that I sent messages to that I would have been nice to get something back.
+ Keep the momentum going. When I first started online dating, I made this critical mistake. Exchange nice messages back and forth for a couple of weeks, and then, all of a sudden, nothing. Why? Because a date can't exist on e-mail alone. You have to be constantly moving. If e-mails go well, talk on the phone. If phone goes well, meet.
+ Be courteous. Write back even if you aren't interested. This was a wow to me. When I was doing dating online, there were a few that I dismissed, for various reasons (you obviously don't know how to spell, craft a sentence, etc.; you don't seem like we have interests that gibe; I don't really dig your picture) but I never thought to send them a nice missive back, at least saying, "Sorry, I'm not interested."
But it's a nice courtesy. Now that I think about it, there were quite a few that I sent messages to that I would have been nice to get something back.
+ Keep the momentum going. When I first started online dating, I made this critical mistake. Exchange nice messages back and forth for a couple of weeks, and then, all of a sudden, nothing. Why? Because a date can't exist on e-mail alone. You have to be constantly moving. If e-mails go well, talk on the phone. If phone goes well, meet.
Comments
The thing that always got me about that commercial is if you're a "one of their most successful members" why are you still on the site?
Posted by: Anonymous | July 23, 2008 1:07 PM