Title: Singles Alert: Online Dating Strategies You Want To Know Word Count: 604 Summary: Thanks to the Internet, singles have more choices when it comes to dating that they can shake the proverbial stick at. And all those online dating choices are just waiting for singles with the online dating savvy to take advantage of them. And you have that savvy. Don’t think so? Of course you do! You’re here, aren’t you? Now all you need are a few online dating strategies to get and keep you going. The mistake most singles make when using an online dating service is that ... Keywords: online dating , personals, relationships, dating, online dating service Article Body: Thanks to the Internet, singles have more choices when it comes to dating that they can shake the proverbial stick at. And all those online dating choices are just waiting for singles with the online dating savvy to take advantage of them. And you have that savvy. Don’t think so? Of course you do! You’re here, aren’t you? Now all you need are a few online dating strategies to get and keep you going. The mistake most singles make when using an online dating service is that they think that all they have to do is join a site, post a profile along with a picture, maybe, and PRESTO, their email box will fill up with all the dating offers they could ever want. While this may be true for some lucky online dating singles, it isn’t true for most of us. We need to take care when writing our personals ads and profiles. Then we have to wait . . . and wait . . . and... The waiting, though, is a good indication that we need to make adjustments in our profiles. Or maybe we need to switch to a different singles category. Getting your profile just right so that it gets noticed can take awhile, so don’t get discouraged. Just visit your profile weekly and make changes to it as needed until you start seeing results. When your email box does start filling up with profiles of other singles, there are a few things you want to keep in mind for your online dating strategy. • Don’t rush into anything. In other words, don’t take the first offer that comes along. There will be more, so be patient. • Read the profiles thoroughly. Don’t always go for the fab face. Fab faces are, well, fab, but consider the close-to-fab faces too because they may have a lot more in common with you and just be nicer overall. So read those profiles! • Forget obsessing. I know, that’s like telling a dog to forget his, er, bone. Still, getting fixated on one person will certainly cause you a lot of frustration and even hurt. Your mama always told you there is more than one fish in the sea, and she was right (Isn’t she always! Just don’t ever tell her so!). If one potential date doesn’t work out, look for one—or more—who will. • Be wary of being too sexual in your wording. Lots of singles try to be sexually clever in their emails because they think it’s cute. Don’t make this mistake. Other singles will more likely think you’re a pervert or are just interested in one thing (and while this may be true and perfectly fine, most people want you to at least appear to be interested in them as people too, okay?). So use your words carefully. • Take care not to give out too much personal information such as your address, home and/or work email address and phone number. Sad to say, but you can’t trust everybody, so be careful. Keep your personal information personal until you have met someone face to face, usually in a neutral location. Better safe than sorry (Mom was right again, darn it)! • Always be honest. Sure, there’s a tendency among online singles to stretch the truth a bit, and it’s even expected. Telling outrageous lies, though, will get you busted when, and if, you ever actually get to meet the could-be date of your dreams. And that’s a good way to end a potentially great relationship before it even gets started!