Hey community! Just made a profile today. Online dating is sorta... not really my style, so I'm looking for advice on how to make a good first impression with this medium. Any advice anyone can offer me would be appreciated!

The dude only lasted 45 minutes here, lol.

Uh what?

I like it :) It feels positive and confident and reads pleasantly.

The only thing that I would change is this sentence: "Don't be shy, send me a message!"
But that could be me. I don't like the expectancy that you will just get messaged. I prefer a more proactive style that shows you are active yourself in your search to find the one.
So in that sense I'd prefer something like, "If you find me before I find you, by all means send me a message!"
Something along those lines. Feels more personal, more inviting and somehow intriguing. It suggests that the man is actively trying to find the right woman for him, which is possible me.
That would get me to send a message, your line wouldn't. That's more like a sales pitch that has gone stale because it is overused in dating.

In any case, good luck!

"So in that sense I'd prefer something like, "If you find me before I find you, by all means send me a message!""

oooh that's good SC! I'll think of a way to make that my own and update the profile. thanks for the help!

You're welcome. If you like that sentence as is feel free to copy & paste it and stick it in your profile :)
It's not copyrighted ya know, haha.

Heh, if I didn't put my own twist on it, I'd be letting myself down!

Looks good, Mark! Welcome to Mingle2.

I actually really liked your profile. It's way better written than most, and I loved the photos. The way you staged them to reflect the potential vantage point of the viewer (as though they were sitting across from you at the dinner table, or on the other side of the seesaw) was really clever. I hope you'll become a regular poster in the forums. We need you!

I wrote that because when I looked at your profile, it showed you were "deactivated". It was only about 30 minutes after you posted so maybe its because you were just setting it up, or a glitch, who knows? Regardless, welcome.

I suspect the photo verification process got ya... It had me upload a picture for some entity to review.

@Dramatic Muffin Thanks! To be fair, some where taken by me. They're actually stills of videos I made documenting my time out in the wilderness. The others were taken by Jazmine. I'm her legal guardian (long story), and she helped me out with the pics :D It was the intent though so good on ya for picking up on that!

Good luck Mark!! Great profile