Matchmaking and Online Dating Advice for Today's Single Professionals

Online dating for the single professional can seem like a lot of frog-kissing, time wasted, and dead ends. But remember: everyone has to do it at some point, and some of your most horrid and endless dates can be, at the very least, amusing fodder for the cocktail conversations and party rhetoric of your coupled future. Dating, in essence, is a series of good and bad experiences, in which you can fine-tune what you expect and don't expect in a companion. Whether you are looking for a new friend, casual dates, serial daters, or a long-term true love; there are some key tips and advice for entrance into and survival in the world of dating.

Meeting someone can be one of the most challenging and fearsome things you'll ever do, but if you don't, the chances of meeting someone interesting and compatible to spend your time with are slim to none. Sooner or later, our loneliness sets in and forces us to act; whether you opt for online dating, bar-hopping, or the infamous blind-dating set-ups of your friends. Whichever path you find most convenient and least intimidating for you, here are some general and invaluable tips on how to approach and survive dating successfully.

• Sign up for an account online or through a matchmaking service...

  find one that free to sign up/use or sparks your interest, has a wide network, and offers the types of relationships that suit your interests. Use the account based on your relationship goals.

• Know exactly what you're goals are for a potential friend or mate.

  Make a list of certain characteristics, hobbies, interests, and lifestyles that are important to you, including the correct age group. It'll make the search and weeding out process a lot easier and less time-consuming even if you're using the online dating or matchmaking services.

• Give your self-confidence a boost

  by getting a personal coach, new haircut, buying some new clothes, or getting a gym membership, and use it. You'd be amazed how much better you'll feel and look in the mirror, and this confidence, in turn, will make you increasingly more attractive to your prospective dates.

• Always plan on meeting for short and informal dates in the beginning.

  This takes a great deal of pressure off the date, and helps you get used to each other in a more casual environment.

• Remember that conversations are a give and take scenario, just like a relationship...

  so make sure to not only provide info about yourself, but ask open ended questions of your date. Everyone likes to talk about themselves, and above all ?LISTEN?. This will help you avoid awkward silences, but also determine if you have similar interests.

• Most importantly, remember casual daters, serial daters, and relationship minded daters all have different goals.

  Depending on your goals, you may find your true love, you may find a friend, or you may crash and burn. Ultimately, remember the odds, and go into the situation the mindset to meet someone new, have some conversation, and learn. If this potential person does not have your same goals, there will always be another.