Not getting a lot of responses to your online ad? Maybe you're committing one of these common profile blunders.
It can be extremely frustrating when you take the time to place an ad up on an online dating site only to have it ignored. If your ad isn’t netting the attention you desire, see if you’ve fallen into one of these online pitfalls.
Faux Pas: Age Range From 18 to One Year Younger Than You
- Damage: Gives women the impression you’re a skirt chaser.
- Many guys seem to think that as long as they date a woman who is of legal age, they’ve got their bases covered. To add to this gaffe, these same gents often place the top end of the range to one year younger than their own age. What guys don’t realize is that potential daters use every area of a profile to judge their character. So even if a woman does fall within your desired range, she may be put off by the fact that you’re looking for women too young for you. Think seriously about the search criteria you use.
Faux Pas: Overstatement of Body Type
- Damage: Makes women think you’re full of yourself.
- Like it or not, men often have a better body image than women. If they see the smallest hint of a bicep muscle, they’ll indicate a body type of “athletic” or “fit” even if they are overweight. While this is a great mindset to have in terms of self-esteem, it can hinder your response level. Women will compare your picture to the description in your profile, so be sure to two are in sync. Oftentimes, body type comes in second when compared with honesty.
Faux Pas: Unrealistic Body Type for Their Ideal Mate
- Damage: An inappropriate expectation of a woman’s body is a turn off.
- Very few men know how much women really weigh. They might hear an arbitrary number of what a popular actress weighs and think this is a good guideline to place in their ad. Or, they may state they only want women who “take care of themselves” are “fit as a fiddle” or “slim, slender, or sleek.” To make matters worse, one of the mistakes women make is in thinking they are heavier than they actually are. So a woman may be “average” but she’ll say she needs to lose a few pounds because this is her own personal ideal. The two of these problems together mean ignored emails and lack of responses to a man’s ad. To remedy this, keep search criteria open to include various body types. View the pictures a woman has on her profile to determine her body size or wait until you meet her in person. Most of all, take a realistic inventory of your own body before judging someone else’s.
Faux Pas: Sex Talk
- Damage: Sends women running.
- Fantasies and talk of intimacy is perfectly fine when you are dating someone seriously. But remember when you post a profile you haven’t even met someone yet, so talking about sex, lingerie, or teddies is completely inappropriate and will actually turn most women off. They’ll laugh at your profile rather than respond to it.
Faux Pas: Mentioning the Ex
- Damage: Makes women believe you’re not over your previous relationship.
- Bringing up an old flame or even an ex-spouse in a profile is a big no-no. Women want to know you’re past all your old relationship issues, so if you mention your ex-wife or girlfriend, she’ll think you haven’t moved on to the point where you’ll give a new relationship the attention it deserves.
The copyright of the article Profile Mistakes Guys Make in Online Dating is owned by Cherie Burbach. Permission to republish Profile Mistakes Guys Make in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
