If you're busy sending emails to potential dates online and are frustrated with the lack of response, our friends at online dating site Zoosk have come up with some simple suggestions on how to move the process along in their "7-Step Guide to Landing a Date."
Here's a recap, along with a cool infographic at the bottom of this post to help ramp up your dating life.
1. Add a date activity to show someone you really do want to go on a date.
In a recent survey of 3000 of their members, Zoosk found that mentioning movies as a favorite activity in you profile and even suggesting a movie date increases your response rate to your email messages by 91 percent. Yes, that's a big number and one worth viewing film trailers for. Other keywords included the beach (59 percent) and a park (39 percent).
2. Send emails in the morning if you're a man; in the evening if you're a woman.
Guys will increase their chances of a response by 10 percent if they send emails between 9 am and 10 am, while the best time for women to send email messages is between 10 pm and 11 pm. So ladies, send that flirty email and go to sleep with a smile on your face and avoid sending an email from 2 pm - 3 pm.
3. Respond within 24 hours.
As for when you should respond to an email, 94 percent of those surveyed said within 24 hours. I have to agree with this one. Remember when someone is emailing you, they're sending emails to many others at the same time. Often the squeaky wheel gets the love deal, so playing too hard to get will likely backfire.
4. Focus on what makes you unique.
If you want to stand out in a crowded digital playground, talk about your date's hair, their gorgeous eyes, fun or geeky glasses and even their tattoo. Remember to be fun and flirty. Stay away from the sexual comments, which received a digital thumbs down from Zooskers.
One of the biggest challenges I see singles struggling with is what to write in their first email. First impressions do really matter and your email should be more than, "hey." Here are a few interesting tidbits.
5. Character count matters.
Guys didn't seem to care how long the first message was from a woman, but 40 percent of the women did indeed want to see a message that was longer than a full-length tweet of 140 characters.
6. Expect to send five emails.
Finally, how long will it take to get to the first date? About half of the singles polled said they send five email exchanges before putting his or her name on their date card.
7. Put that first date on the calendar.
Follow these steps and you should be adding dates to your calendar and taking your relationship offline.
Are you using any of these tips while looking for love online?