What is it that truly makes online dating a success? Some people might say it's all about having attractive pictures of yourself. Some might think that only women have the ability to attract dates. Some think that it is simply a numbers game. Though some of these thoughts may have some minor truth to them, most people are neglecting the one major, most mega, super duper important aspect to attracting people online - your complete online dating profile!

Here's the thing, most people who sign up for an online dating service will usually skip through the dating profile creation process too quickly in an attempt to immediately begin their search for the perfect mate. It's understandable, as most of us are online to find dates, not dilly dally with trying to write about who we think we are. However, here in lies the problem, our online dating profiles are what everyone will look at first whether you contact them or not. And though your first message may be your initial first impression, your profile is what will give your prospective date the "Go" or "No Go" decision.

With this in mind, it is in all our best interests to hold of on the hunting, or fishing depending on which dating sites you use and put in the time and effort to create a really great profile for your online dating purposes.

Wait, what's that? You mean you didn't want to put any work in? You thought this online dating stuff was all about ease and efficiency? Well, I'm sorry kidos, but just like anything else in this world, there are no free rides. Online dating is simply a tool for meeting people, it's not a magic lamp that will gift wrap and deliver your perfect Match, that is up to you.

Most people, particularly men, will usually tell you that an online dating profile is all about the pictures. Usually, this is because pictures are proabably the first thing a guy will look at when viewing a female profile for the first time. This makes sense as men are mostly visual creatures, not to say that the personality doesn't count. However, the same is generally true for females as well and even though "looks" may not be a top priority for them, lets not fool ourselves here. Both men and women are going check out and judge your pictures. There is no escaping this... at all!

So if I have an ugly ass mug, what the hell do you do??? Easy, don't make the focus of the profile solely on pictures, but certainly do NOT neglect this area. You'll want approximately three good pictures:

• A head shot with you looking into the camera with a pleasant smile and relaxed look on your face. Regardless of your looks, most people can pull of a decent head shot if they take some time and have a friend (preferably one who knows a little something about photography) take the pictures. This will be your main profile picture. In surveys, this particular shot has always polled the highest and most attractive type of picture, even more than the shirtless tough guy pose:)
  
• One full body shot, dressed fashionably, whatever your style is with you standing and either looking in the direction of the camera or doing something in the background.
  
• A Prop Picture. This involves adding some sort of social proof to the situation. Usually this is a vacation photo where you are standing in front of a famous monument or an action shot like you surfing, skydiving, bull fighting, whatever... The point here is to show off your personality with all of the cool interesting stuff you do. You are interesting, right?
  

Do NOT:

• Have a shirtless picture guys... seriously, even if you're from Long Island, no one wants to see how obsessed you are with your roided out body covered in fake tanning lotion. Save the gun show tickets for another venue.
• Do not put up pictures where you are clearly wasted. Chances are you looked dumb at the time and you probably do in the picture. And ladies, please spare us your puckered lips/fish face look, it's not as HOT as you think.
  

Hopefully, by now you've gone through a hundred or so pictures, or had some good one taken that you have at least 2 or 3 solid pics. Now we can move on to Profile Writing 101.

Yea, I know, it's difficult trying to write a few paragraphs about yourself and everyone hates it but you have to suck it up and write. Then you have to go back and edit it. And yet again, you still have to go back and edit, correct grammar and spelling just to make doubly sure that you don't sound like an idiot.

Here's a few important things to keep in mind for the written portion of your online dating profile:

• Try write about unique things about yourself and leave out things that are obvious.
  
• Don't list things that you are not looking for, stay positive. For instance, a lot of women will put things like "not looking for games" or "not looking for players"... really? This simply shows that you have fallen for jerks/players in the past and that you are terrible at screening them out of your life. How about instead of saying "no players" just ignore them through a rigorous screening process.
• Don't explain in your profile why you are doing this online dating thing. You don't have to justify yourself, everyone is there for the same thing - to find dates!
• Not too long and not too short. There's no need to write five pages worth of your life story and there is also no need to only write two sentences. Keep it to two paragraphs and throw in positive interesting things about you and then what you are looking for.
• Don't do the dreaded "list" profile.  This usually involves listing out your likes and dislikes and then listing out the qualities you are looking for.  Come on people, lets get creative here!  How about instead of listing qualities we write compelling sentences and paragraphs that paint a picture of our personality instead?  Trust me, it's the way to go.

So there you have it folks.  Let me know if you have any other helpful tips or suggestions for creating a magnetic online dating profile.