Is this the day your Soulmate shows up in your inbox? Guest Post

By Kate Houston – Guest Blogger

If you want your inbox to go from empty to full of promise, treat your dating profile like an ad and you’ll stand out from the competition.

Target, target, target.

Don’t cast a wide net and try to attract everyone. Instead, craft your profile to attract precisely the kind of mate you want. Make who you are and what you want very clear. Targeting is a technique used by all good advertisers concerned with efficiency and results.

Look appealing to your target.

Want to attract a partner who loves the outdoors? Post a photo of yourself taken in a beautiful spot outside. Enjoy the finer things? Then dress up and take a picture with poise. It might not catch the eye of someone who likes hot dogs and ball games but it will catch the eye of someone who also likes the good life. Good ads have visual clues to attract the desired target.

Write a compelling headline.

All great ads have attention-grabbing headlines. This doesn’t mean you have to be clever but do say something that gives your target reason to read on. It can be topical. It can put forth your best feature. It can play on the name of the dating site. Whatever it is, make it engaging.

Craft a real message.

All advertising – including your own – needs substance. You can be clever and charming all you want but be sure every word speaks volumes about you. I read a profile by a woman who compared her life to the summer breaks she had as a kid. The metaphor was clever. It also spoke volumes about her happiness and creativity. It had substance.

Promote your benefits.

Brands passionately and persuasively advertise what makes them better than the competition. Your profile, like a good ad, has to do the same. What makes you special? How would someone’s life improve with you in it? What sets you apart?  Promote yourself freely.

Stay fresh.

A good brand stays contemporary and never looks tired. This too is important in online dating. It’s smart to stay on a site for months at time until you find the right one. It’s even a good to post your profile on several sites. But, stay fresh and change your photo and profile regularly. A profile on a site, like a product on a shelf, needs to be dusted off every once in awhile.

Proofread

Most ads are checked for spelling and grammar. Your profile should be too. Spelling mistakes are like walking out with a stain on your clothes. No one notices the clothes, just the stain. So make sure your profile is not marred by typos and poor grammar.

Apply these advertising tips and, in no time, you could go from being one of many to being the one.

Kate Houston is President and Founder of trysweettalk.com, which specializes in ad writing for online dating profiles.