How It Works

For those of you looking for a down-and-dirty version of online dating, here's the general idea...

There are literally THOUSANDS of profiles of folks available within 50 miles of your current location, provided you reside in a city or suburb.  The people are looking for all manner of relationships, from friends to future spouses, from fuck-buddies to activity partners.

In addition to a profile and pictures, the websites usually have some sort of questionaire.  Responses will provide a way for the website to predict compatability with any prospective dates.

So while JaneDoe369 may be hot as the blazes of Hell, she may also love cats. (This is how you know this isn't a real profile- usually there is an inverse correlation between a woman's love of cats and her physical attractiveness)  While I really love beautiful women, I am incredibly allergic to cats.  Pass.

Things get interesting once you find someone that appeals to you.  Oddly enough, some gender conventions have carried over into the online world.  The man is still expected to approach the woman.   In the online world, this means sending them a message.

Messages are private, and they appear in a personal inbox, just like an email.

I quickly learned that the online dating game needs to be played like running a web-based business.  These messages are direct-marketing.  The profile is advertising.  I am the product, the director of sales, and the creative marketing director. 

Getting a date is a numbers game.  Out of every 5 messages I write, I get maybe 2 responders.  For every 2 responders, I tend to carry on a conversation with 1.  The other is either not interested in me, or I'm not interested in them after the first couple emails.  Finally, out of every 5 conversations, usually one ends up in a real "date".  So really, I have to send out messages to 25 people to get a date.

I'm sure I'll revisit this piece of online dating to go over it in more detail, but for now, this should suffice.  Now the really interesting stuff happens AFTER you get a date.  At this point, I believe the dating stories should make up the majority of this blog.