Online Dating for Senior Citizens: Your Personal Profile

In other words, it's great if you've got the biggest collection of Star Wars memorabilia in the entire state, and you should mention it to see what kind of response you get, but then move it along so your date can continue to learn what else makes you tick.

Having an unusual hobby is great but remember to mention more "popular" things like movies, reading, and your favorites like food, music, movies, etc. These are the things that you'll likely do with a date and those that most people will want to share.

State what your objectives are. In your profile, put something in the headline that will shout to everyone what you really are and why do people need to check you out. Be informative and catchy.

Tell something about you and your objectives in a very appealing and enticing tone. An ordinary profile might not carry it, but when finding a love mate, you can use a metaphor as a sales tool. For example, you might want to use as headline "Mature gentleman ripe for picking!" rather than "Decrepit old man wanting to get hitched".

Be descriptive when you're writing your profile. You don't have to be a great writer; you just need to include details about you and what you like. Do this in a casual, conversational style as if you were talking to another person.

Be as specific as you can. It's one thing to say you play sports to keep active, and another thing entirely to say you like walking 18 holes every day not only to hone your game, but also to appreciate the scenery and companionship of a golf match. Write a profile that describes the things you like to do so a potential date can picture being with you and all the fun you'll have together.

Don't reveal too much personal information. It's best to be general - even vague when describing yourself. For example, if you're the proud grandma of 3 - write exactly that. Don't tell people your grandkids names and where they live. It's OK to reveal the name of the town you live in, but don't give your address. If you work, simply state the category of your job. Instead of "Administrative Assistant at (company name)" write "Office Professional".

Just as you did when you answered the questions about yourself, don't provide false information in your personal profile. You want people to be honest with you; you should give them the same courtesy.

As other members read through your profile, they should be able to get a good idea of who you are. This is the way they can judge whether or not they want to talk to you and meet you.

Sometimes, though, a person will not put much personal information into their profile and as a result, may not get the reaction or attention that they anticipate from other members. If there is not a lot of information in a person's profile, chances are that's the way they will communicate so keep this in mind both for yourself and for others.

You'll need to update your profile from time to time. We all find new things that interest us as we are introduced to them. You don't need to rewrite your entire profile each week, but go ahead and change a few key items like the last movie you saw or book you read. In doing this, you will also continually move up to the top of the search list for new online daters new to the system.

It's a good idea to compose your personal profile in a word processing program and then cut and paste it into the sites space. By doing this, when you update, all you'll have to do is change a couple of places and avoid having to retype everything.

Update and add new photos as well. You should always be looking to improve on any aspect of your online profile. Show pictures of you having fun and doing different things. As a general rule, however, don't post pictures of your family and loved ones - especially children.

You may want to also include some information about your ideal mate. Tell that potential suitor what you'd like to see in him or her. You'll have better luck finding a match as well with this more specific information.

You will probably want to also set up an alternate email address for communication through the website. We don't generally advocate giving out your primary address due to the possible spamming that can result.

Many places offer a free e-mail box. We prefer yahoo.com or hotmail.com. To make things easier for you, you may want to use the same nickname and password you use for the dating site on here. It's less to remember! So what happens next? You get prepared to meet lots and lots of new people!