My BFFs and I are all poking around the world of online dating (to varying degrees). And, we are not alone - with meeting people on the outside becoming increasingly hard, everyone is dating online - except a lot of us don’t know how to do it best.

My friends at Zoosk.com emailed recently with some great tips, I figured they were worth considering and chatting about!

1. Show what you are all about.

The idea is to put yourself in the best light, but also to show your true personality. List your favorite songs instead of saying something like “I like alternative rock.”

2. Use spell check!

Don’t type lyk u spended teh laste 10 yeers uv ur lyfe doin IM. Your computer has spell check. Use it. A sloppy profile reflects poorly on you as a person. It implies that you don’t care or are not putting much effort into finding a date. We know that is not true because why else would you maintain an online dating profile?

3. Keep your profile updated.

I have a tendency to get lazy in my own dating profile, and that’s dumb. Sure, you have created a profile and uploaded a picture, but that ain’t gonna cut it. On a weekly basis, make updates to your profile. Add new pictures and new information about your interests. If you can’t commit to your dating profile, how will you to dating???

Image: Sxc.hu

Etan Patz was only 6 when he disappeared from a New York street corner on his way to school. The year was 1979. Etan’s father, a professional photographer, circulated his photo nationwide. He was never found.

Each year in America a staggering 800,000 children are reported missing – more than 2,000 children each day. Some are taken by family members; others by strangers. Some are exploited for sexual purposes; some are murdered or held for ransom. Some are never found. 

Etan Patz

In 1983, in an effort to reduce those horrifying statistics, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25th as National Missing Children’s Day. A year later, Congress established the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a n onprofit organization dealing with the issues of missing and sexually exploited children. Since then, NCMEC has played a role in the recovery of more than 138,500 children. Today, more children come home safely than ever before.

According to an analysis conducted by NCMEC, in 88 percent of attempted abduction cases the child escaped his would-be abductor through his own actions – yelling, kicking, pulling away, running away or attracting attention.

This Memorial Day weekend, in recognition of National Mission Children’s Day, take 25 minutes and teach your child NCMEC’s tips for staying safe:

At Home
1. Teach your children their full names, address, and home telephone number. Make sure they know your full name.
2. Make sure your children know how to reach you at work or on your cell phone.
3. Teach your children how and when to use 911 and make sure your children have a trusted adult to call if they’re scared or have an emergency.
4. Instruct children to keep the door locked and not to open the door to talk to anyone when they are home alone. Set rules with your children about having visitors over when you’re not home and how to answer the telephone.
5. Choose babysitters with care. Obtain references from family, friends, and neighbors. Once you have chosen the caregiver, drop in unexpectedly to see how your children are doing. Ask children how the experience with the caregiver was and listen carefully to their responses.

On the Net
6. Learn about the Internet. The more you know about how the Web works, the better prepared you will be to teach your children about potential risks. Visit www.NetSmartz.org for more information about Internet safety.
7. Place the family computer in a common area, rather than a child’s bedroom. Also, monitor their time spent online and the Web sites they’ve visited and establish rules for Internet use.
8. Know what other access your child may have to the Internet at school, libraries, or friends’ homes.
9. Use privacy settings on social networking sites to limit contact with unknown users and make sure screen names don’t reveal too much about your children.
10. Encourage your children to tell you if anything they encounter online makes them feel sad, scared, or confused.
11. Caution children not to post revealing information or inappropriate photos of themselves or their friends online.

Going to and from School
12. Walk the route to and from school with your children, pointing out landmarks and safe places to go if they’re being followed or need help. If your children ride a bus, visit the bus stop with them to make sure they know which bus to take.
13. Remind kids to take a friend whenever they walk or bike to school. Remind them to stay with a group if they’re waiting at the bus stop.
14. Caution children never to accept a ride from anyone unless you have told them it is OK to do so in each instance.

Out and About
15. Take your children on a walking tour of the neighborhood and tell them whose homes they may visit without you.
16. Remind your children it’s OK to say NO to anything that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused and teach your children to tell you if anything or anyone makes them feel this way.
17. Teach your children to ask permission before leaving home.
18. Remind your children not to walk or play alone outside.
19. Teach your children to never approach a vehicle, occupied or not, unless they know the owner and are accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult.
20. Practice “what if” situations and ask your children how they would respond. “What if you fell off your bike and you needed help? Who would you ask?”
21. Teach your children to check in with you if there is a change of plans.
22. During family outings, establish a central, easy-to-locate spot to meet for check-ins or should you get separated.
23. Teach your children how to locate help at theme parks, sports stadiums, shopping malls, and other public places. Also, identify those people who they can ask for help, such as uniformed law enforcement, security guards and store clerks with nametags.
24. Help your children learn to recognize and avoid potential risks, so that they can deal with them if they happen.
25. Teach your children that if anyone tries to grab them, they should make a scene and make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming, and resisting.

Video & screenshot, YouTube, CaptainRock

As women, it’s easy for us to think that it’s way less complicated to be a guy.

The truth is, it’s not. What does it mean to be a man today? What can a man do to improve his relationships?

Recently, Elliot Katz, author of Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants, was posed this question during a television interview - the answer sparked great insight. We share some his thoughts here!

Show leadership
One of women’s biggest complaints is that men don’t show their share of leadership in the relationship. When a man sees a situation that needs to be dealt with, he should step forward and handle it. People admire those who step forward to handle difficult situations – and don’t wait for others to solve the problem.

Make decisions
To avoid accusations of being controlling, a lot of men have gone to the other extreme – they leave most decisions to their wives. A man needs to make his share of decisions and take responsibility for the outcome. To many women, a man who avoids decisions is shirking his responsibilities. One of the meanings of the word “manly” is being decisive.

Take responsibility
Take responsibility for improving the situation. Don’t blame others. There is little sympathy for a man who blames a woman – even when he thinks she pushed him into it. People will say, “You’re the man. Why did you let it go on?” One of the meanings of the word “husband” is someone who skillfully manages his household. Managers take responsibility.

Image: Amazon

Want to live a longer, healthier life? Who doesn’t, right?

A new article on MSN has six simple hints for living longer. A couple items on the list truly surprised me. I knew, for example, that eating a healthy diet was key to longer live, but what about eating less altogether? Eating less means pushing yourself away from the table when you’re 80% full.

This act alone can lower “production of T3, a thyroid hormone that slows metabolism.” It is also believed to help with longer life.

Image from Morguefile.

I just finished reading, Internet Dating is Not Like Ordering a Pizza, by Cherie Burbach.

Cherie shares advice on all aspects of setting up your online profile, including your pictures, your essay, your intro, and your search wording.  She talks about the next steps - making contact, dating, etc.

She writes in a conversational manner that is easy and entertaining to read. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction books, because my work is nonfiction and I’m immersed in facts and theories and products all day. I found Cherie’s book to be fun and I’m using her ideas to tweak my profile.

She gives great advice on that initial email, for example, keep it simple, direct, and to the point. Make a standard opener and go with it.  I’m not good at the initial email - I let them come to me and I think it’s time to change that approach. With Cherie’s tips I’m going to come up with something succinct and reach out to more men.  (Reach out to more men? That came out oddly…….)  In addition, I have to be less afraid of rejection, because the more people I talk to, the more chances I have to find someone great.  Burbach, herself, went on 60 dates in 6 months before finding her Mr. Right online - and then she married him.

In addition to writing books on dating and poetry, Cherie Burbach blogs here at b5media. You can find her at Career and Kids and the entertainment blog, JLo Stalker, among others.

Cherie is allowing me the opportunity to giveaway one of her books here at Dating Dames. If you’d like to enter the Internet Dating is Not Like Ordering a Pizza giveaway, please leave a comment that has something to do with internet dating - either a tip or a story.  I will be announcing the winner of the book later in the week.

Image credit: Barnes and Noble.com