Common Dating Profile Mistakes

Let me start by saying this article is geared toward men's profiles, because those are the profiles I have experience reading. That being said, I'm sure, that most women could take most of these points into consideration and apply them to their own profiles as well. While I've done several articles on online dating mistakes in the past, this one is mostly related to the questionnaires dating sites ask you to fill in before your profile is completed. Sadly, what ought to be pretty straight forward seems not to be, for some men.

Writing Too Little

It always amazes me when I come across a profile which has fewer words than the alphabet has letters. You are advertising yourselves, men. Would you buy a new brand of beer if the commercial was nothing more than a photo of the bottle and the name of the supermarket it could be purchased from? Yeah, I thought not.

Writing Too Much

On the other hand, you shouldn't be drafting a copy of War and Peace, either. You want to write enough to make yourself sound interesting, but not so much that the women reading start to get a headache.

Spelling Errors

Spellcheckers are free! Use them! Even if you're a brilliant speller, typos can still make you look like you'd come in last during a spelling bee. Do you want your potential date thinking you're less intelligent than you are, just because you didn't bother spellchecking? And while I'm on it... "intelligent" is one of the words I often see misspelled!

Using Old Images

Are you 40? Cool, nothing wrong with that. Unless your pics are 10 years old. If you really need to show us how long your hair was in 1985, go ahead and upload the pic. But make sure it's clear that it's an old pic that no longer resembles you. And make sure you have a recent one uploaded as well.

Using Images With Old Girlfriends

This one always makes me shake my head. What makes you guys think women want to see these pics? Don't you know how catty we are? We're born jealous; please, no pics of potential rivals in your profile.

Lying about your income

Firstly, let me say that there is nothing wrong with choosing not to disclose your income. In fact, I kind of think it's better if you don't -- it's no one's business but yours at that stage. But don't be one of those guys who selects $200,000 to attract women. And don't be the guy who selects $10,000 a year to weed out gold-diggers -- lying is lying. If you don't want to show your income, don't.