This dating profile was tested on an online dating agency, and achieved a 40% response rate from the girls viewing the profile. A photograph was not included in the profile. A 40% rate of response from your profile really is incredible when you're dealing with online dating agencies, and especially where a photograph has not been submitted! In my opinion, you need knowledge to create a profile that works and gives you responses, which can come from experience, as in my case, or from getting tips from articles such as this. It's worth the time and the effort to create a good profile, because otherwise you are wasting your time, and possibly your money, on online dating sites!

The dating profile is as follows:

The tag line: "Isn't it time you found a man of mystery?"

The description: "With interests in martial arts, dancing, clarinet playing and flying, you could do worse than to get to know this software engineer! Cool, suave and sophisticated are the watch words. Dubbed as the next Johnny English, er... James Bond by his friends, you're sure not to go far wrong by clicking through lots of ads to send him a message! Be quick, because he's sure to be snapped up soon by the millions of women here!"

Let's analyse the profile in detail:

1. The tag line is the first thing people see on this particular dating site. You want to get them to click through and view your profile. There are probably more successful tag lines than this one, but you do want yours to tie in well with your profile if possible. It's a little like search engines. If you are searching for information, and click through to a page that didn't contain useful information for you, what did you do? You headed straight for the back button on your browser! This is what you don't want your profile readers to do, if you can help it.

2. Note that I have not used the word "I" in the dating profile. Instead, I talk about myself in the third person, and I've used the word "you" a great deal more than will be seen in your average profile. Who is the one person you're most interested in? It's you. If you can factor the word "you" into your profile, it will help. The reader is asking the question, "What's in it for me?" This also makes the profile more unusual.

3. The dating profile is short, snappy, and to-the-point. Nobody's going to read an essay, however interesting you think you are! However, if you can make your profile compelling reading, it's OK to make it longer. There are differences of opinion here, but my personal belief is that you should not reveal too much about yourself in your profile. If your profile contains all there is to know about you, what would be the point in somebody sending you a message to learn more?

4. I have listed some interests that girls would especially find interesting. With regards martial arts, the attraction is obvious. Girls like to know their man can take care of himself! Secondly, dancing. Plenty of girls really enjoy to dance, but it's a skill that many men won't pluck up the courage to try, or even admit to. I actually play a wide variety of musical instruments, including the keyboard, saxophone and drums, but I think the clarinet has the most romantic and warmest sound of all these instruments. Lots of people in my position may have chosen to write about the saxophone at this point. Finally, what girl could resist a date with a pilot? I haven't actually stated that I am a pilot, although in actual fact, I am a trainee pilot, but I could equally well be someone who enjoys travelling a lot, which would also be very attractive.

5. Many girls are not interested in geeky software engineers, but I've written about my hobbies that show I'm a well-rounded person who has other interests besides programming. Also, software engineers do pull in a respectable amount of money. Girls are partly looking for someone who is financially secure, and this goes some way to showing that this is the case. Finally, by writing about something that may not appeal to girls that much, I've given some credence to the dating profile, and have essentially suggested that I'm telling the truth in it.

6. I have added some humour to the dating profile. In case you don't know, Johnny English is a James Bond spoof film, where the main character, played by Rowan Atkinson, is a complete idiot! The part about clicking through lots of ads is specific to a UK dating agency where you can choose not to pay for the service if, instead, you view advertising emails that they send you, and visit the advertised websites. You earn credits by doing this, and once you have enough credits, you can send someone a message. Probably the most requested trait in personal ads is a good sense of humour.

7. I am lucky to be a skilled writer. There are no spelling mistakes or problems with grammar that I am aware of in the above dating profile. If you are not very good at writing, you can quite easily check for these by writing your profile in Word for Windows, and checking spelling and grammar. Even better would be to have someone who is good at writing look over your profile for you!

You have to think like an advertiser, but you also have to try to paint an honest picture of yourself, and your profile should be a mixture of these two elements. Think what makes you attractive; perhaps ask your friends; and then write about it! Put in some of the elements that I've used, such as humour, and you're sure to get results!