Ten Online Dating Mistakes Men Often Make

Is your adventure in online dating not going as smoothly as you'd like? Do all the women you contact seem to disappear abruptly for reasons you don't understand? Do you initiate contact with several women but never get a response? Well listen up, men! You might be making one of these ten online dating mistakes.

1. Having a boring profile: You may be a laid back guy who doesn't want to make himself seem better than he is, but you're competing with all the other guys on the site for a mate. You need to sell yourself, and a headline like "just a guy looking for a girl" isn't going to cut it! Try to win her over with humor, wit, a sense of mystery or anything else that makes you stand out, but in a good way, not an overly weird way.

2. Being boring in correspondence: Okay, so your profile is great, but all you talk about is your daily routine (which is pretty average), about your favorite Facebook games and television shows, or about how bored you are hoping she'll say something that will make the conversation easier. Well, she may try to help you to talk to her, but more likely she'll move on to someone who already has the conversation skills down.

Instead of being boring, read her profile and ask her questions about it. If you see similarities in interests, bring those up. If you run out of stuff to talk about, ask her questions about things not listed in her profile (but nothing that may be private). If you can keep the conversation on her, instead of constantly talking about yourself, then it's all the better. It shows interest in her life, and that stands out.

3. Desperation: Whether in correspondence or on your profile, desperation is always a bummer. Who wants to talk to someone who actively tells the virtual world they will take anyone with a pulse to avoid loneliness? No one wants to be with a person because they feel sorry for them. If that's the angle you're trying to play, you better rethink your game plan!

Stalking is also included in this. Don't email her several times a day; don't constantly comment on her photos or profile; don't send a million winks; don't STALK. It's desperate and scary.

4. Arrogance: This is for you guys who think your status, good looks, wealth or job alone should tell every female you're a good catch. There are definitely some women who would consider those characteristics to be the most important (*cough* shallow *cough*), but most girls want a man with more substance and heart. If you feel you don't even need to make an effort because the ladies will automatically flock to your greatness, you will probably find yourself ignored.

5. Meanness: If you're already bad mouthing your exes, threatening to kick so-and-so's ass, insulting women (even jokingly), poking fun at the woman's interests, job or anything else (even jokingly), you're being too mean. You may find your teasing funny or think a bad boy persona will attract her, but remember if she's on a dating site, she's probably an adult looking for a partner for life, not a teenager looking for a bad boy fling. Grow up and be polite!

6. Telling her too much too soon: Sometimes it's easier to open up over the Internet than it is face-to-face. However, you need to be cautious about over sharing. Yes, you want to be honest and get to know each other, but some things, like your tendency to fart in bed, should be reserved for when things get more serious.

7. Being aggressively sexual: Okay, guys, seriously. Stop sending penis pictures; stop talking about its size; stop asking for NSA fun; stop with the over perversion! It's NOT working the majority of the time and is just leaving us grossed out! Sure, you may think your bedroom skills would be attractive, but shockingly enough, women like to discover that stuff by getting to know you better. Yes, you think that's weird, but that's the way it is. If you want to attract us, play by our rules and keep it in your pants.

8. No picture: You may want your mate to be attracted to your mind and not your body, but not having a picture is a sure way to get passed by. A lot of dating sites even have a filter that allows women to search only profiles with pictures. As I said before, this is a competition and you have to sell yourself. If she can't put a face with the profile, she will probably just go on to one with a picture instead of trying to imagine based on a description.

9. Being too picky: I understand wanting to find someone compatible, but not settling for anything less than an intelligent super model who cooks, cleans, will give birth to your 7 sons, work, entertain your sexual fantasies, walk your dog, take your mom out, garden, and learn to dance the tango while wearing roller skates and balancing a 6 pack of beer on her head may be asking a bit much. Be realistic or you'll be lonely.

10. Typn lyke dis:c how dum dis iz? I can't even bring myself to continue doing it! The Internet may not be an English class, and a typo here and there won't hurt. Still, you want to sound reasonably intelligent or at least seem polite enough to type out entire words instead of some quick shorthand. If you honestly have difficulty with spelling and grammar, try typing your messages first in Microsoft Word or a similar program, run spell and grammar check, copy the letter and paste it in the message box. It may be a little more effort on your part, but love is work, pal.

Hopefully by now you see what you're doing wrong and will make an effort to fix it. This isn't a sure way to get women throwing themselves at you, but it will definitely increase your chances of meeting your special someone. Good luck out there, guys!