Always be honest when describing yourself and your past, but do not unnecessarily bias potential readers against you. Serious mistakes in your past will come to light eventually, and its better to let readers know if you have, for instance, a criminal history. If you’re less than forthright, you might find yourself making an awkward confession later and be forced to explain why you didn’t mention it up front.
Show, don’t tell, your personality with descriptive info. Instead of describing yourself as generous and a lover of animals, say “I donated $100 to Greenpeace this year” or “I volunteer regularly at the local animal shelter. ”[5] X Research source Avoid giving too much information. You want the reader to be interested in learning more about you. Being honest will save you hurt and humiliation. You don’t need to mention your serious shortcomings (“I’m impatient and easily frustrated”), but including a few flaws can be humanizing and demonstrate you’re honest with yourself. Mentioning, for instance, you get cranky if you do not get enough sleep is a good way to pull back the proverbial curtain on your personal ad. Be specific and truthful about what’s important to you. If you have a passion, then include it when composing personal advertisements. Whether it’s camping, bowling, or traveling, you should always mention the things that you love to do. Common ground is a crucial ingredient of a good relationship, so attracting someone who shares at least some of your interests is a must.
Designate which things are deal breakers and which are not. If you’re too specific, and demand that only individuals who meet every one of your requirements answer your ad, you’ll have a more difficult time locating someone who meets some or most of them (a far more realistic expectation). It is also acceptable to designate the types of people you do not want replying to your ad. For instance, you might say you are not interested in dating unemployed individuals, or individuals without a college education. These qualifications will save you and potential suitors a lot of time when they browse and decide to reply to your ad.
Think about your interests and your personality to discover how you can make your prose original, inspired, and specific to you. When writing your ad, imagine what kind of person you want to meet and think about what they might search for when browsing the personals. Key terms or interests like “punk rock,” “petite,” and “creative” should be present.
A good move is to write your ad on a word processing program first, then copy and paste the text into the online submission form later. The word processing program should have a spellchecker built into it, and many offer limited grammatical correction as well. [9] X Research source
Only use clear, crisp images of a reasonably high resolution. Do not post blurry or low quality images. Do not include more than three photos. Nobody likes a narcissist. Use one full-body shot and one close-up of your smiling face. Do not use photos of you with other people; the friends or family members in the photo with you might cause confusion as to who posted the personal. Only use recent photos. Do not use photos of yourself when you were 5 years younger and/or 50 pounds lighter than you currently are. Unless the personal does not allow photos, readers may think you have something to hide if you do not include a photo. Smile in your photo. A recent poll found that personals with smiling pictures of the individual who wrote the ad were more popular than those with a sexy image. [11] X Research source
