Crafting your online persona can be daunting, so think of your profile as your resume. Beth Roberts, co-author of Find Your Mate Online: No Fear, No Embarrassment, Just Love, says that online dating should be taken as seriously as applying for a job. "Spend some time putting it together," she says.

Not everybody, of course, likes talking about themselves (although some people like it too much). If you're feeling too modest to promote all your good qualities, make a separate list of all the things you like about yourself, then be sure that each item appears somewhere on your profile. It helps to get a friend or two to read it over before posting; the franker the friends, the better. Very often they can point out typos or suggest things you never even thought of including. And you'll want their very candid assessment of your photo.

Aim for creativity and humor, but not at the expense of honesty. Since the point is to actually MEET people, your date will soon find out in person if you're not as tall/young/old/rich/handsome as you say you are.