Have you tried online dating? One of the hottest online dating sites available today is eHarmony. Founded by a famous psychologist, this relationship site is one of the most trusted in America.
This article offers tips on how to write the best personal ads that come alive and get responded to because there is one thing that will make or break your online dating efforts – your personal ad.
The first mistake most people make is creating one while at the dating site. This can be intimidating and prone to mistakes. A better way is to first make a draft on a separate piece of paper or typing program (Word, WordPerfect, Word Pad etc).
Make sure that you screen name is attractive enough.This is vital, as it helps catch prospects’ attention. When creating your screen name, you might want to consider your best qualities or interests and build it around this. This will not only tell something about you, but also offer prospects something to open up dialogue on. Try for something unique and interesting.
Just as in your screen name, you can use your headline to describe yourself, or what you are looking for. You could also incorporate one of your main interests or an interesting aspect of your personality.
Next is the body of your personal ad. You will need to describe yourself and what you want, in specific terms without sending your prospective mate to sleep. This means being descriptive and using action words. It would help to make the following four lists:
1. Things you just have to have in your life
2. Things that would be an extra indulgence in your daily life
3. Things you absolutely hate and will not tolerate
4. What are your hobbies and interests
Making the above lists will help will help dig deep into yourself and you find things to write about. It also helps in answering profile questions, both multiple-choice and essay-type.
In eHarmony, you are required to tell your potential dates about yourself. Imagine you are talking to someone seated right there in front of you. Tell him or her how you feel about things, what you like to do and what you are looking for. Be specific and positive. Just write it down, without minding about spelling or grammar. Get excited and write fast. This helps bring out your personality, without getting stalled by the analytical part of your brain. Write in a conversational style, which has proved to work best and shows that a real person is behind the ad.
Writing about yourself does not mean that you should reveal every detail. If you can’t tell it to a stranger at the coffee shop, don’t write down in your profile.
When finished, put your draft personal ad down (or save it in your hard drive) before uploading it at your chosen dating site. Better still, let it sit overnight. Then come back with a fresh mind and correct spelling and grammatical mistakes. Also, cut any clutter. Read it over at least three times to check for flow.
There you have tips on how to write the best personal ads. All you have to do is transfer your winning ad to your dating site of choice. Some minor modifications may be needed to fit different sites, but the hard part is done.
I wish you all the best with your online dating!
