When I was a girl, I found my sister’s wig and soaked it in red dye. My goal was to wear it while gliding around and doing mime in some misguided attempt to be the next David Bowie (he studied mime). As I write this, I see that, perhaps, I had a lapse in logic or was undergoing some biochemical malfunction. Still, at the time, I thought my plan was solid and my rise to fame was certain. My sister, however, felt differently. Through my long and earnest explanation as to why I ruined her wig, she kept giving me the “What were you thinking!” look. We’ve all seen it. We have all seen it, right?
“What were you thinking” is a concept that has resonated with me quite frequently since beginning this online dating profile writing service. Because I like to keep in the loop about who and what my clients are up against, I’m constantly scanning dating sites and reading online dating profiles. I’m also constantly perplexed by some of the decisions singles make when putting together said profiles.
In today’s blog, I’m going to share some of these with you. For every observation I list, feel free to lift your eyebrows, drop your mouth, slump back in your chair and utter the words “What were you thinking” along with me.
Here goes:
I saw the profile of a man who not only called himself loving, but VERY loving – just in case there was any confusion. Why would there be confusion, you ask? Because this VERY loving man had a profile photo of himself looking straight at the camera, arms up, fists clenched, ready to punch. I had to wonder:
What were you thinking?
Over the past several months, I’ve also seen photos of people kissing various pets on the mouth. However, when I recently saw the profile picture of a man kissing a horse’s ass, I couldn’t help but wonder:
What were you thinking?
I’ve seen photos of men wiping food off their mouths. I’ve seen shirtless men in shorts surrounded by beer bottles. I even saw a man half-lying on the floor in some incomprehensible pose. None ever confused me as much as seeing the online dating profile picture of a man shaving. Again, I had to wonder:
What were you thinking?
When I saw that a woman had posted a photo of herself wearing a towel and nothing else, my head went straight to the words (if you say them with me we can pretend we’re at a concert hall together):
What were you thinking?
When I read profiles from women that are filled with the words “If you’re this…move on. If you’re that..move on”, not only do I think “What were you thinking”, I also can’t help but think that writing a profile while you’re PMS, or having a psychotic breakdown, is not ideal. So, if that’s what you did, then:
What were you thinking?
When I saw the profile picture of a woman dressed in lingerie who included the caption, “I’m the woman you’re Mama would hate”, but whose first words on her profile were “if you’re a player, get the F out of here”, I had to ponder:
What were you thinking?
When I saw the profile of a woman who said that she doesn’t want drama, but is happy to be there for your drama because she understands drama. I can’t help but ask:
What were you thinking?
The operative word throughout this entire blog is “thinking”. Before you post anything up online, think about how it will be interpreted by strangers. In fact, rather than post right away, I strongly suggest that you write your profile and then wait until the next day to post it. Copywriters do this all the time. We write the copy and, if time permits, we read it over again with fresh eyes before actually sending it to be published.
So, think. Think who your audience is and think about how they might perceive what you’re saying. Also think about what kind of response you want from them.
Better still, don’t put any thought into your profile. Instead, let me. I’m trained to find out what your best traits are; where to place them in the copy; how to give you a strong opening line; how to get attention; and, finally, how to keep it. Anyone who reads your profile will think nothing but the best!
Check out the online dating samples of my work. Better still, go straight to the personality quiz. It costs nothing to do, but will help you uncover some of your unique traits, which is the first step in writing an online dating profile that’s remarkable (in a good way!).
If you like the blogs, then I think you’ll like the tweets. Would love to see you on Facebook too.
