What Women Want
Marshal Rosenthal

One of the greatest challenges in dating is making a good first impression. That’s why online dating sounds so much easier, you first send them email messages. What could be easier, right? Don’t kid yourself. You may know what a great guy you are, but trying to condense your personality into a few genuinely appealing sentences is really tough. That’s because what you think women should know and what they actually want to know are two different things. And it doesn’t get any easier just because you’re using a keyboard rather than a telephone. Here’s the trick The trick to presenting yourself successfully hinges on highlighting who you really are. 1. Be honest. Now you may think that being short, out of shape, bald, or even having a habit like smoking is something that can be dealt with later - after you’ve met and impressed her. But giving a false impression will only hurt you in the end.

Faking it can really mess things up because if a woman is looking for a Schwartzenegger, she ain’t going to be impressed when Woody Allen comes along. Not only does dishonesty almost guarantee a door slammed in your face, you’ll have wasted time that could have been spent meeting someone else who prefers the real you.

2. Be proud of your interests. There’s nothing wrong with liking sports, video games, car racing and action movies. Pretending you like ballet or flower shows when you don’t inevitably will come back to bite you. Of course you want to put your best foot forward, but the only way you can impress her is by being yourself - not what you think she wants you to be. Sure, this means a lot of times you’ll be rejected, but it also means that when you’re not, it’ll be so much better than if you had been faking it.

3. Be smart. Remember that the written word has different “rules” than when speaking to someone in person. So what might be a good joke on the phone can become an insult when read, and what you think makes you sound charming can instead come off as obnoxious. Emails have a way of being taken literally, and once they’ve been sent, they can’t be retracted. Take your time, and don’t be in a hurry. Read your message carefully before you press “Send” and make sure it isn’t open to misinterpretation. There’s no guarantees when meeting someone online, but there are some obvious roadblocks that will get in your way - and which you avoid. By following these few simple rules, you’ll at least improve your chances of finding that special someone.

This article as been bought to Mens-Network in association with Match.com