If you’ve looked for love online, you know that it’s easy to make a few mistakes that could cause a potential romance to fizzle quickly. Don’t let online dating turn into a dangerous minefield; use common sense to find someone who will make you happy.

Do Proofread

In the age of text messages and emails, poor spelling and improper grammar is common. Surprise the women reading your profile by proofreading your words before you update your profile. You might impress a potential date with your excellent command of the English language.

Don’t Waste Your Time

Don’t feel obliged to respond to every single inquiry you receive. If you don’t see a potential connection or feel any interest towards a particular reply, let go and move on.

Do Embrace Your Interests

Using websites to find romance gives you a chance to instantly connect with people who share your interests. Be upfront about your interests, even if your love of “My Little Pony” seems silly.

Don’t Use the Internet to Stalk

Although a quick search online can usually yield plenty of information about a prospective match, don’t abuse this power. You may run across incorrect information and potentially ruin a relationship before it even starts.

Do Use Humor

Your online profiles should not resemble a boring advertisement for a car. Inject your personality and humor to make your profile stand out among the rest.

Don’t Lie

Although you may feel tempted to stretch the truth about your job status or wealth, lying can come back to haunt you. Even small untruths may be uncovered in the future.

Do Choose a Good Picture

A picture of your attempt to mimic Arnold Schwarzenegger may not win over any women browsing your profile. Instead, choose a picture that shows off your sincere smile.

Don’t Share Your Life Story

Don’t start providing the details of your life’s history in your initial emails with a potential match. Feel free to share some information, but be sure to ask her to talk about herself as well.

Do Take Some Breaks

If you’re not having luck with online dating, take a brief break. A break will give you the chance to rest and review your strategy.

Don’t Pursue Too Many Options

If you strike up too many conversations with prospective matches, you may feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Instead, hold back and cultivate only a few profiles on dating websites.

Finding romance online may seem like a daunting task with no possibility of a positive outcome. However, online dating isn’t an advanced science. Be yourself and avoid common mistakes and you may end up finding the right match for you. For more advice about navigating the online dating world, as well as other practical & effective dating tips, visit our friends over at the ArtofCharm.com.

If you’re new to the dating game, or have just recently been reintroduced, there’s no doubt about it; dating can be one of the more awkward and trying things in all of manhood. Trying to figure out what a woman wants and giving her that while being yourself can be tricky. They want you sensitive but firm, consistent but spontaneous, talkative but attentive, yada, yada, yada, pretty much any two juxtaposing ideals you can think of. But dating really doesn’t have to be all that hard. With these five easy tips and ideas, dating can actually be an enjoyable experience.

- Give Online Sites a Try

Oftentimes the hardest part about dating is just getting a date. While there still seems to be a lingering stigma for some surrounding dating via the web, it really does work, and it can take a lot of the random guesswork out of the equation. There are sites for all types of guys, even those who fit the sugar daddy definition. Giving these sites a try can really make your life a lot easier. Remember: don’t knock it ‘till you try it.

- Go Some Place You Know

Now that you have a date, taking her to a restaurant or any other destination that you’re familiar with instantly increases your comfort level. It can also give you some great conversational topics if you know certain things about the place or the surrounding area.

- Be Ready

It’s wise to have a couple different conversation topics or points stored in the memory bank, just in case you find yourself in one of those awkwardly long silences where neither of you can think of anything to say. In this same vein, while it’s important to be prepared, over-planning or overthinking things can be a huge turnoff for women, who somehow seem to have a sixth sense for these sort of things.

- No One’s Perfect

If you’ve ever seen the movie Good Will Hunting, you’ll probably recall this fitting quote from Robin Williams’ character: “You’re not perfect, sport. And let me save you the suspense… this girl… she isn’t either.” Don’t expect perfection on a first date, or any date for that matter. Things will probably get awkward once or twice, but that’s all part of the game. Just knowing and expecting that can be the difference between success and failure.

- She’s No.1

Women aren’t the only sex that likes to talk about themselves, but when it comes to dates, you should make it as much about her as possible. Ask her questions, compliment her hair and outfit, and let her know that you’re generally interested in her as a person, not just a potential mate.

Well, that’s pretty much it boys. With these simple tips you’ve really got all the tools you need to be a regular Cassanova. Now go out there and get her.

If you’re in a relationship, you’re probably aware that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Regardless of your feelings about this holiday, you can’t ignore it.

We updated our Valentine’s Day Gift Guide last week, and now we’re reminding all the procrastinators out there who always wait till the last minute. Fortunately, you can still benefit from Shelly’s advice in the guide.

Whatever you do, it is going to send a signal. You may not know that you are sending it but your gift will be scrutinized like the post mortem victim of a violent crime; not only by your girl but, believe me, by every one of her friends and co-workers, family and potentially, that ex who may be waiting for a second chance!

And the media/marketing machine doesn’t help, either. It seems as though every year; this pseudo-holiday gets bigger and the expectations are raised to insurmountable heights. Whatever it is that you give her will set the tone for your relationship for the rest of the year. This gift you will give to your little Sherlock Holmes offers the clues she needs to define your feelings for her; whether or not you are serious; see her as wife material; think she is fat; aren’t that into her, and on and on in ways which you could never imagine.

Check it out and you’ll get some good ideas. This isn’t rocket science – you just need to put a little thought into it, and we’re here to help.

Now, for those of you who aren’t in a relationship, you don’t have to worry about all this stuff, but this is also an ideal time to get out there and connect with a woman who’s available. Naturally, most women hate being alone on Valentine’s Day, so you’ll find that many of them will be more open to a guy’s advances during this time of year. So, it’s time to brush up on your game and get out there! Check out our dating tips page for great advice from David DeAngelo, and check out the sites listed on our online dating page for websites you can start using. Happy hunting!