What are you looking for?

One of the great things about the internet is its variety. If you want to meet someone on the internet, first decide who or what you are looking for. Do you want a date, a sexual encounter, a cyber-affair? Are you looking for a gorgeous model with little intelligence or a deep thinking philosophy major? Every type you could possibly think of is out there. You need to decide what type of site you are going to visit so you can prepare yourself for the type of responses you will get.

Set up your profile

Once you have found the right site, the next thing you need to do is set up an attractive profile to get noticed. Remember to add a photo of yourself. Studies have shown that profiles with photos get at least five times more responses than those without photos. You should fill in all your basic information like height, eye coulour, hobbies etc. as this gives a potential mate an idea of who you are. I believe that when you fill in a write up about yourself though, you shouldn't give away everything about yourself. You need to create a bit of mystery to capture someones interest.

Conduct a search

Once you are happy with your profile, its time to start searching for someone to contact. Most dating sites have powerful searching functions with many options. I prefer not being too specific as you want to keep your options open. Try to find profiles which seem honest and realistic. A lot of people set up false profiles with false information about themselves and even false pics of themselves. After a while, you will learn to tell the honest from the dishonest profiles. Also be aware of scams. A lot of scammers set up profiles to lure you into getting money out of you.

Contact someone

By now, you have run a search and found someone you think is worth contacting. The first step is to break the ice. You don't want to give someone your whole life story and you also don't want to be too forward or come across as desperate. A lot of dating sites have short instant messages you can send. This is an automated message that just says something along the lines of "hi, I think you're cute, want to chat?" These are a graeat idea as the person you're contacting can look at your profile at their leisure and decide whether to contact you or not. Once you have broken the ice, send someone another mail with a bit more info about yourself and slowly establish trust and you're on your way.

Things to remember

People all respond to a sense of humour. Never be too serious to start with. It's a good idea to be a little cocky sometimes as people like a challenge. Try and keep someone guessing. A mysterious person is a lot more interesting than someone who lays out their whole life story before a prospective mate.