Online personals

are flooded with people seeking companionship, relationships and love. That is the good news. But the bad news is, with all of those postings, you need to find a way to make your profile stand out from the crowd. Many personal ads listings allow you to create a tagline or headline for your profile. This is generally at the top of your posting and is the first – and possibly the only – thing potential dates will read when reviewing your profile. So, it is critical to make it catch people’s attention, while speaking volumes about who you are. To do this, it is important to apply some basic marketing principles to the creation of your tagline.

Working through the following steps will help isolate the best information to include in your tagline.

Who are you?

Spend some time thinking about who you are and the image you would like to convey. Are you obsessed with your job or a hobby? Is there something that is so important to you that it says a lot about who you are?

Also consider the things that are unique about you. Saying you are a single female does not tell much to people reading your tagline. Half the people listed on the site are probably single females. Your marital status, your age, the color of your hair and other vital statistics are relevant facts for your profile, but not catchy enough to include in your tagline.

However, if you are a concert pianist, an avid sky-diver or a gourmet chef, mention these facts; they are interesting and will appeal to like-minded potential matches. Also consider elements of your personality that are appealing to other people. Are you outgoing and social? Are you ambitious? Charitable? Loving?

Create a list of all of the traits and personal areas of interest you feel will represent you best. Which of the things on this list are both most important, and represent you well. In other words, what are the most interesting and appealing things about you? Narrow your list to two or three of the most powerful items.

Who do you want to attract?

Now, consider your ideal mate. In addition to being the right sex, age and geographically desirable, what else is important to you in this person? When you close your eyes and picture the one you would like to be with who do you see? Must he or she share your love of exercise? Wine? Spelunking? Sanskrit?

Jot down the characteristics of your fantasy match. If you have created a long list, circle the three items you consider most important in your match.

Who do you not want to attract?

Spend a small amount of time thinking about anyone you really want to avoid. For example, if you are deathly allergic to cigarette smoke, your “preference” for a non-smoker might move a little higher on your list. Or, if you would not consider dating outside of your religion, it may be important to mention your spiritual conditions up front.

Putting it all together:

When you write your tagline, start with the lists you made when considering your traits, interests and the person you want to attract. Taglines are intended to be short and snappy. So, you probably only have room to convey one or two critical ideas. Hopefully, you will see some common themes between your list and the list about your dream date. These are the core content for your tagline.

If there are traits on your “avoid at all cost” list, look for a way to blend them into your tagline as a positive. In other words, instead of saying “Athletic outdoorsman shuns smokers”, you are better off indicating “Athletic non-smoking outdoorsman seeks healthy climbing partner”.

Now, you are ready to craft a statement that is confident and states something meaningful about you. Make sure you word your tagline is bold and the words hold conviction; nothing is less appealing than a wishy-washy slogan. Write your tagline to the person you wish were reading it, instead of just stating a fact about yourself. A tagline like “I like boating and flying” is much less appealing than “Explore the oceans and skies with me!”

Some sample taglines that make an impact:

“Adventurous outdoors, Snuggle Bunny at home”

“Surfer seeks Little Mermaid”

“Be my Princess Buttercup”

“I live to golf and love to live”

“Detective seeks partner in crime”

“I worship at the church of baseball.”

Remember, the goal of a tagline is to entice a potential partner to read more, to delve into your full profile and ultimately to get in touch.