Five Mistakes Men Make Online

Let's be honest, men: dating is hard work, women are confusing, and sometimes you just feel lost. There's a reason dating coaches and pickup companies are more popular now than ever before - it's hard to understand the rules and rituals of dating at any time, but the 21st century has made the dating game more difficult than ever. Even the most capable offline Cassanova can find himself out of his depth when he decides to experiment with online dating.

I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen to you, because you deserve to be a success with women anywhere and anytime you want, including the World Wide Web. To put you on the path towards online dating mastery, I've put together a list of 5 of the most common mistakes I see men making online. Check it out:

Automatic flirting.

If you think clicking a button that says "Wink" or "Smile" is going to make a woman fall for you, think again. Look at it this way: if you spot a woman you're interested in at your favorite bar and you wink at her from across the dancefloor, is she suddenly going to find you so interesting and irresistibly attractive that she can't imagine her life without you? No. If you're lucky, she'll smile at you. If you're like most men, she'll either roll her eyes at you or ignore you completely. Always initiate with a message, never with a universal icebreaker provided by the site.

Failing to keep your cool.

If a woman doesn't respond to your message right away, don't sweat it. Women on dating sites can receive hundreds of emails per day - imagine trying to keep up with that inbox! Harassing women with "It's been two days...why haven't you replied yet?!" messages is definitely not going to win them over. There are many traits that women find attractive in men, but "needy," "obsessive," and "lacking self-esteem" are definitely not on the list.

Sending cut and paste messages.

Every woman is unique, so every message you send should be unique too. I don't care that you spent hours crafting a charming and witty stock email, or that your schedule is packed and you think sending the same message over and over again is time efficient. Reading a woman's profile and sending a message tailored specifically to it will set you apart from the crowd and significantly increase your chances of receiving a response from her.

Being too romantic.

I realize that probably sounds strange, but trust me on this one. Telling a prospective date that you read her profile and you think that she's the most perfect woman on earth and that you're falling in love with her is not romantic - it's creepy and says that you have no social skills.

Giving up too soon.

This is one of the biggest mistakes you'll ever make. Most good things in life take persistence, and dating is no exception. If it's worth having, it's worth working for, so keep trying until you're getting the results you want.