Online Dating Advice

You probably soon will want a date. Summer is ending, and the holidays are near. See here on Google trends that there is a huge spike in searches for “match.com” right around Christmas.

What do you *really* want Santa to bring you?

• Being alone during the holidays.
• Being around family: realizing you’d like to start one, or listening to relatives nag about when you’ll finally get married.
• Free time off of work.

There could also be some match.com advertising pushes during the holidays, and maybe some people just have New Year’s resolutions to find a significant other.

So, why delay? Write up your profile and get a date. Heck, you can even use a 7-day free trial if you want.

UPDATE: February 16, 2010: I’ve put up a few more match coupons in case a 7-day free trial isn’t what you’re looking for. For example, you can save 20% on your subscription instead.

As I’ve mentioned many times, match.com is my favorite dating website. They have a great combination of solid features, and a huge membership base. There are lots of other dating sites that fulfill particular nichés, but it’s hard to beat match.com.

Match.com is free to sign up, fill out a profile, and wink (though, guys, you don’t want to wink); but to send messages to other members, and to read messages you receive, you have to be a paid member.

All over the Match.com site, you will see advertised a 3-day match.com free trial, with which you can communicate with other members. This is great, but 3 days is a little tight. Not much time to really make connections and secure dates.

3 days is for suckers!

But I found a much better promo, a Match.com free 7-day trial. If you use this coupon and get 7 days to send a bunch of one-line hooks, you can definitely secure a few dates for free.

6-Month Guarantee to boot

After your trial is over, I do recommend going with the 6-month membership that comes with the guarantee. Basically, if you follow the requirements of this promo (have a profile photo active the whole time, keep your profile active the whole time, and contact at least 5 members a month), and don’t find someone special during that time, you get another 6-months free. I’ve had this guarantee granted before; and – I know – what good is a service that didn’t work for you in the first place?

I actually enjoyed having that 6-months free; but the main benefit is that fulfilling the requirements of the guarantee acts as sort of a dating coach. You have to contact at least 5 members a month – so maybe you send out one-line hooks to a few matches whom you were on the fence about and might not have contacted otherwise. I dated a girl for about 3 months who fell into this category – it was a good experience I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.

The toughest part of fulfilling the requirements of your guarantee is keeping your profile active. If you’re contacting at least five members a month, you’re probably going on some dates; and chances are you will meet someone to the point where you feel like you should deactivate your profile. So, keep the guarantee requirements in mind before you do this. Maybe you keep your profile active and send a few obligatory e-mails because you have to? It depends on what you’re comfortable with.

So, sign up for your 7-day free trial by clicking here for the coupon.

Full disclosure: I do get a small referral fee if you start paying for match.com. I provide all of this advice for free despite lots of time invested and hosting fees etc., so I feel that’s fair. But, I absolutely wouldn’t recommend any service I didn’t think was great.

Writing an online dating profile is the most daunting part of online dating; but there’s little else so critical to your success. Since it is such a challenge, it’s no surpise that many profiles are clearly given very little thought – either by being incredibly short, non-descript, or downright cliché.

It’s no wonder why so many profiles begin to the tune of “it’s so hard to write about yourself,” but understanding yourself well enough to create a profile that represents you well is a healthy process. With a little guidance, your online dating profile can stand out from the millions of others to present the interesting you. A well-written profile will not only ensure that you receive responses when you make first contact; but will attract and motivate potential matches into contacting you – making your online dating experience easier, more enjoyable, and more successful. Continue reading ‘How to write an online dating profile’ »