1. Use the same photo on every website.

Every social network, dating site, social application, etc. attracts a different type of user.  I talk more about this in the guide, but you should not use the same picture everywhere. You need to tailor your profile for who you are trying to attract.

2. Not leveraging their existing networks

Once again, a common mistake.  Once you make friends on one site why not get the ball rolling by adding those people on the next site?  You can’t have a bare profile with no friends and try to pickup women online.  You’ll look like a pervert.  So add as many of your friends to all your profiles.

3. Waiting too long

Another common thread that many guys miss out on.  Waiting will have you left with nothing every time.  If you see someone you want to chat with to talk to, send a message. It only takes a few seconds.  Waiting or trying to find her later almost never works.

4. Telling all your business

There is a rule you must adhere to in your internet game (and life in general) and that is, “never tell anyone everything you know.”  You cannot go around bragging to your buddies about your online exploits.  Many times that causes unknown envy and resentment.  Just go along your business with them as usual and meet women online without your friends’ involvement.

These are just 4 quick things you should keep in mind as you continue your journey online.  Follow these and you’ll no doubt avoid some common mistakes that many of men have made in the past!

The other day I was leaving my neighborhood to go see Salt (great film, BTW) and I noticed an interesting dynamic that is taking place with today’s high school generation.

You see, in my neighborhood there is this kid that is always outside. I mean like… always. He is a throwback to my generation where we stayed outside literally until someone called the police to come and find us.  I believe we were the last generation to really play outside like that, but that is besides the point.  The point is that this kid is friendly and always walking around looking for something to do instead of playing PS3, Wii, Xbox, or chatting online.

So the other day when I go to see Salt I passed him in my car and something interesting happened.  On the other side of the street was a young woman his age on a bicycle chatting on a cellphone.

The boy waved at her and tried to get her attention.  When she finally noticed him she gave him that look and sped off. He was a little defeated.

If this was the year 2000 when I was in high school he would be out the game.  But right now in 2010 THAT KID STILL HAS A SHOT.

He has the luxury of being able to find her on Myspace, Facebook, or even Twitter since he knows where she lives.  I’m not saying  he should e-stalk her here… but he still has a SHOT to get his “foot in the door” through a Facebook message, a IM, or whatever else.

Just a few years ago all hope would have been lost.  We now live in a generation where if you want to contact someone… there is likely more than 6 ways you can!! Insane.  There are no barriers to communication up anymore.  If you want to say Hi to a female, no matter who she is you likely can, and she’ll probably reply back.

We are living in a great time.  Our grand parents and parents did not have these opportunities. If you aren’t using social networks to leverage your random interactions with women you’d like to meet, I don’t know what you are doing.

There are thousands of on line dating sites all over the world.  Obviously finding a date online wouldn’t be of any value if you could never find anyone who you can actually meet up with, and so all internet dating services offer some kind of localized search function, usually by zip code.

Not all of the top dating sites in the world will be of value to your specific area since many offer searches that are restricted to a particular country. For example, many of the top sites only offer local dating searches in the U.S.  Of course, there are also many worldwide dating sites that are technically local dating sites since they have a complete country, state and city search function.

When it comes to working out which of the top tier online dating services also act as local dating sites, all you can do is experiment by using their search function for your local area.

There are pros and cons between using larger sites and more local oriented sites. Some people prefer to use the larger on line dating services because they feel that they offer a little more anonymity amongst the crowd.  Some people trust the larger sites more than smaller, local dating sites. You may find there are many profiles from your local area on the larger dating sites for these are similar reasons.

Naturally local dating sites that are actually specific to your area will only have profiles of people in that area.  Your profile will stand out more readily in a local dating site that caters only to your immediate area as will the profiles of others in your local area.  The benefit may be that you are able to find someone closer to you more readily.  It is however impossible to make a blanket statement regarding this since there are literally thousands of on line dating sites and there may be more than one that cater to your area.

If you’re looking for a local dating site that caters only to your specific local area, then you will need to search for it online.  Be aware that many of the larger online dating sites will also cater to your area and so if you search for a broad term such as “local dating sites” your initial search results will probably be comprised of larger online dating sites that cater to a local area somewhere.  For this reason you will need to narrow your search criteria.

Decide what you’re looking for from a local dating site and narrow your search terms to match your goals. For example, searching for “local dating sites” will deliver broad results, whilst searching for “Santa Barbara single women” will be more likely to locate search results from websites that list profiles of single women in the Santa Barbara area.  If you’re looking only to date a person with a specific religious faith, a search term such as “Santa Barbara single Christian women” may help you to find a local dating site more suitable to your needs.

Fortunately the online dating world is very competitive and for this reason it won’t take you long to find either a local dating site that has many members or a broader, larger site that caters to your local area that also has many members.  There are many single people out there and online dating is the preferred method for meeting people these days.  With a little searching, you’ll find the local dating site that works for you.