How to tune up your personals listing to get more guys responding to your ad!
by Robin Forbes
I was cruising around the net reading personals ads and decided it was time for some more tips on creating better listings that will increase the likelihood of them getting read by guys that are looking for someone like you.
You've probably heard the old adage or variations of it that say, "Your first impression is the most important and lasting impression". Online, first impressions are formed by what you've written in the personals ad.
If your personals ad hasn't been drawing too much attention or the right kind of attention, then it's time for a tune up.
Let's take a look at 4 ways to tune up your personals ad.
1. Your Headline Must Grab The Guys Attention!
There are two things that guys surfing the personals sites use to make split second judgments on whether or not to read the full listing or details of any ad. One of those items is the headline.
If your personals ad headline isn't interesting, or doesn't seem applicable to the guy scanning the headlines you won't get a further read.
Even if you're cruising for sex you'll find that if you use a teaser that is more imaginative than a headline with your penis size or whether you're a top or bottom, you'll get more and better responses to your ad.
Grab a pen and pad of paper and jot down half-a-dozen to a dozen things about yourself. What's interesting about you? What are your interests? What's odd about you? What's funny about you? Keep the ideas short -- two or three word phrases.
Then jot down half-a-dozen to a dozen things that you're looking for in the way of a guy. Do the same, keep the ideas short.
You now have twelve to twenty-four ideas to draw from to create an interesting headline. Heck, depending on how you jot down those ideas they may even be good enough to be your teaser headline. Now, you won't have too much space to write your headline so try and keep it at about 40 characters; that's about five or six words.
At some dating sites, your headline is actually your user name. If that's the case at the sites you're going to be using then try and pick something real catchy, so that you don't get saddled with "some_username300000000".
2. Guys with photos get looked at first.
If you've been trying online personals sites and you haven't been having any luck and you don't have any photos of yourself posted; start snapping some photos of yourself and get them posted.
Photos are the other thing that guys notice when they're scanning or searching personal ad sites. Even if you only have one picture of yourself, it can mean the difference between guys responding or not.
Even if you're shy about posting photos you should at least have some at the ready so that you can share them when you're ready.
3. Additional Information about Yourself Is Needed
In addition to your vital statistics and the area that asks you what type of a guy or relationship you're looking for, you're usually given a chance to write a little about yourself or give additional information that you want guys to know about you.
If you've left that area blank or said something like, "I don't know what I'm really looking for", then you need to sit down and have a good think about who you are and what type of a guy you're looking for and then fill that area in.
Your additional information should avoid being negative, and it shouldn't be the story of your life; there usually just isn't enough room for a novel anyway. *grin*
Some guys use the additional information space to write about what they're looking for in the way of a guy, when there isn't any other space provided to write about that. That's a good idea, as it focuses more on the other guy and helps to narrow the field a bit.
4. Upgrade Your Membership
Free members are always limited, whereas paid members get access to all the tools and features. There's no limits placed on how many guys you can contact, you get to upload more photos usually, and you also get full access to all of the boards, chat rooms and any restricted areas.
There's also another really good reason to upgrade your membership… Paid members are always featured first. They're the first batch of guys that will come up in any search or browsing session. You have a better chance of being found and responded to, if you're a paid member.
Personal ads do work but sometimes they need a little tune up or even an overhaul to start generating interest from the types of guys you want to meet.
Wishing you joy and online dating success!
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