When you go to Las Vegas, you don’t just put all of your money into one slot machine and hope for the best, do you?

(Okay, if you do, this might be why you’re not winning at all.)

The same logic needs to apply to your online dating adventures. You need to start looking for ways to boost your odds of finding Mr. or Mrs. Right. And you can do this by signing up with more dating websites.

Sure, you might think this is an expensive way to find love, but with numerous free sites available, you don’t have to spend on all of the dating websites. You can sign up on several sites at a time, exposing the same profile to as many potential interests as possible. In doing so, you will up your chances of love, and that is a pretty sound investment.

It will be helpful too if you post the same (or basically the same) profile on each site. This way, you can keep your facts straight as to what people should know about you when they get to your profile. It will also help if you use the same pictures so if others are on the same sites as you are, they aren’t going to contact you 15 times.

Being lucky in love always involves a roll of the dice, but if you want to make sure you get the right numbers, you need to play smart.

Dating Essentials Love, Personal Profiles, Truth, Winning

One of the main reasons people avoid online dating is because it seems to be an unsafe method of meeting that special someone.  You don’t get to see anything more than their picture and you can’t be sure anything they say is true.

Consequently, a lot of people are staying off line, but are also staying single.

The idea of background checks has become a popular selling point for sites like True.com.  By screening all of their singles, members of the site feel safer knowing that they are talking to the ‘real’ person they think they are talking to.

Or are they?

There’s a lot of discussion right now as to whether these background checks are actually all that effective.  After all, thieves and con artists thwart them in other situations, why is it so difficult to believe that they can’t slip past them here too?

Some people are crying ‘foul’ for these background checks as they generally are only a cursory check that doesn’t usually spot the liars.

But with potential new legislation making background checks necessary for online dating, is this combination of events setting up the online dating system for a fall?

If this legislation is enacted, more singles might come online, thinking that online dating is safer.  But since the checks are often meaningless, this might actually increase the dangers of getting online – more people = more problems.

In the next few years, this question is going to be something that people consider before searching for love online.  For if the checks in place aren’t really helping, then what’s the benefit to them?

Happy Valentine’s Day?

News & Views, Personal Profiles Background Checks, Profile, Risks, Trust, Truth

When you’re getting ready to create an online dating profile, you need one important thing: a photograph of yourself. Whether you want to admit it or not, these are the things that drive you to certain profiles and that drive you away from others. If you want to stand out among the other singles on your preferred dating website, you need to make sure your profile picture does you justice.

Here are some tips you can use:

Take many pictures – Instead of just taking a few, take dozens of pictures of yourself. This will increase your chances of getting the best shot.

Have you friend take the pictures – While you might just want to take a few candid shots of yourself, sometimes that objective eye of a friend can take a more flattering shot.

Use natural lighting – Instead of taking your picture indoors, try to take it outside or at least by a window where the light is softer.

Wear a dark color, but not black – Try to choose a color that is striking, but not washed out so that you can show off your face in the picture.

Wear some makeup, but try not to overdo it – Women, while you might think that more is more, you can begin to look a little clown-like if you overdo it. This is where that friend will come in handy with their honest opinion.

Smile – If you smile in your profile, it’s like smiling at everyone that’s looking at your picture. Now that’s a good first impression.

Dating Essentials, Personal Profiles First Impressions, Photo, Picture, Profile, Truth