Whether you’ll admit it or not, you’ve probably had a peek or two at the dating personals in your local paper or even online. It’s okay, because not only is there nothing wrong with being curious but there’s also no shame in turning to the personals in hopes of finding someone who tickles your fancy or any other part of you for that matter! And when you consider how busy we are these days and dare I say it—how crappy the economy is—we can’t really spare the time or the money these days to go bar hopping in hopes of maybe meeting someone. Given all that, I’d say that the dating personals are pretty much the greatest creation ever.
If you really, truly have never snuck a peek at the dating personals, then here’s the run down on how they work; singles create a brief ad of what they’re looking for in a partner…or playmate…for placement in either newspaper personals or these days online. It’s not exactly like using a dating site but you definitely hope for the same results. That’s basically it! Easy, no?
If you’re feelin’ the idea of trying to find someone this way, then you need to first figure out where you’re going to place your ad and then what to say. Newspaper dating personal aren’t quite as meaty as they were before the days of the internet but they are definitely still out there. If you’re looking for something that might be considered racy or out of the ordinary, then your local alternative/independent paper might be a good place to start. Aside from that, online personals seem to be the easiest and depending where you place it, possibly even free! Most dating web rings or directories will lead you to places where you can place or browse dating personals.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s go over a few pointers for placing your personals ad. First, you’ll need a catchy tag line since it’s the first thing that people notice. Keep it short and simple but not too boring since you don’t really want your ad to fall between two others that also say ‘Seeking Nice Man/Woman’. As for the actual ad; be precise and to the point about what you’re looking for and be honest. Yes, honest. You don’t really stand to gain anything if you lie in your ad, so don’t bother. Always throw in a little about yourself and do so in a way that manages to give a glimpse into your personality. That’s it as far as placing the ad goes. Simple.
With the ad placed, all you have left to do is wait for the responses to start coming in. The best thing that you can do is to keep an open mind and not automatically delete every reply that doesn’t fit the ideal that you may have created in your mind. Don’t lower your standards by any means, but definitely go into this willing to try new things and see ALL of the possibilities. You may be surprised at what you find when you open yourself up a little!
