In our fast-paced world of swipe and go convenience, it’s easy to approach finding a Love partner in the same manner. But is online dating really like shopping? How can you be successful without wasting your time, and ensure you’re fully invested in the love journey in a personal, fulfilling way? Choosing a date (or a life partner) takes much more forethought and vulnerability than the online Shopping experience can ever give you.

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Invest Yourself in the Process

Searching and browsing for potential love matches can sometimes seem endless. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t fully invest your feelings with the people you are meeting. Even if a person that you meet through the online dating sites doesn’t lead to long-term love (or whatever arrangement you’re seeking), you could meet some cool people along the way and possibly make some friends.

Investing yourself in the matchmaking process means that you are authentic and open; without providing too much specific information about yourself, such as your home address, your specific employer, or information about your kids. While the online dating sites that we recommend are trusted sites with a team making sure that all accounts are genuine, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t predators still lurking from time to time.

Swiping With Purpose

Many of the features of an online dating site do match the interface of a shopping experience – you swipe, you read about the person, which is the product being shown off in their profile; and you make lots of decisions on who to flirt with based on these superficial details and maybe a few profile photos. While the efficiency of shopping is a benefit to the matchmaking process, you’ll always want to keep your focus on swiping with purpose.

Know what kind of love match you’re looking for before you ever sign up for one of the free trial accounts. Actually sit down (or in your mobile device’s notepad) and make a list of your top preferred qualities – and the dealbreakers that you’re unwilling to compromise on too. What kind of interests must a possible love match share with you? Remember that any single that you meet will never have 100% of your desired preferences.

Shopping Specials – Just Like Premium Highlights

Realize that many of the online dating sites offer special highlight features to premium subscribing members, so this is one aspect of shopping that is retained in online matchmaking. Being a premium member means that your profile is typically highlighted, listed at the top of all searches conducted, and you can add many more photos than the free trial member accounts. These premium highlights draw other singles to your profile like a bug to a light – it’s simply human nature to look at these possible matches first.

Start with a free trial account to test out the community and the features offered on each site. You might want to sign up for several communities – eHarmony, Elite Singles, Christian Mingle, to name a few. Then upgrade to a premium account so that your account is the highlighted profile in other singles’ searches.

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