Is it Time to Update Your Dating Profile?

A new site uses ad techniques to “sell” your online profile.

-Carrie Seim

Woman using laptop

Do you like piña coladas? Getting caught in the rain? Are you not into yoga? Do you have half a brain?

Ahh – remember when taking out an ad for “your own lovely lady” in the Sunday paper was easy? These days, online daters are so savvy that deciding what to include in your profile is one of the most nail-biting aspects of courtship.

A new website, TrySweetTalk.com, promises to do the dirty work for you. Founded by veteran ad writer Kate Houston, the site will rewrite your dating profile using tried-and-true advertising techniques to “sell” you to potential soul mates.

Read Can A Girl Find Passion AND Stability?

Kate (her online pen name) spent years writing award-winning ads for companies like Proctor & Gamble and Pfizer, but recently discovered a knack for writing successful dating profiles.

“The first one I wrote for myself was an eye-opener,” she tells BettyConfidential. “It received a lot of replies and I realized it was because I wrote it using my marketing savvy…. I noticed men would refer to some of the quirkier bits of information that I put in my profile. Those little nuggets gave them a starting point to approach me.”

Soon, Kate was rewriting profiles for her friends, and improving their online love lives. Now she’s turned her magnetic romantic marketing into a business.

Cyber daters looking for their own Cyrano de Bergerac can fill out TrySweetTalk’s eight-step questionnaire, detailing specific interests and achievements. For $80, you’ll receive a custom profile within three days.

A pretty penny, indeed. Depending on your own marketing skills, this could be a silly extravagance or a true love-saver. In the age of Mad Men, it seems we’ve all gone mad for advertising everything about ourselves. Still, I know I’d jump at the chance to have Don Draper write my dating profile!

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7 comment(s) on this article...

#1. zerenazerena on 01/04/2010 - 6:13 pm (EST)

This is really a great service and it is obvious that Kate puts a lot of thought and skill into what she writes. The quantity and (more importantly) quality of matches improved dramatically. Although the $80 may sound steep - it is a great investment and worth every penny of a professional's time. I have spent hours pouring over poorly written personal ads looking for love. There is so much junk out there. The medium is the message... if an ad is poorly written, then I think like many, I can't help but just click on. And even though I am fairly articulate, Kate's service really helped me to create something that was unique, interesting and not so freakishly long. Go for it!!

#2. silk soul on 01/04/2010 - 11:26 pm (EST)

I think this service fills a much needed purpose esp with online dating becoming more common. SO far it has turned out to be a totally positive and successful experience for myself. It's worth way more than a simple $80. Well done Kate, expect to be invited to alot of Weddings!!!

#3. itsEA on 01/05/2010 - 9:00 am (EST)

I used Sweet Talk and actually think she should charge more. A nice even cost of $80 is nothing compared to of all the money I've wasted on credits and dates that went nowhere!!

#4. mamajudy73 on 01/05/2010 - 1:14 pm (EST)

What a fabulous idea!!! So many of us need help expressing what we are truly trying to communicate. Good luck to all of the lovers out there.

#5. Roberta S on 01/06/2010 - 7:29 pm (EST)

I've had so many disappointments with online dating but maybe it's just me as I must admit I don't have a way with words. I'll Give this a whirl and will keep you all updated as to my results after all what's 80 dollars in the grand scheme of things?

#6. marg on 01/11/2010 - 8:18 pm (EST)

First - I love your site! Second, I rarely write in about things but had to about this. Kate Houston is awesome! She did my profile just the other day. Her questionnaire was so easy to fill out that I had no idea how what I wrote would turn into such a great profile - and it sounded like me. It was almost weird! ANyway, it gave me a lot of confidence and she really nice to deal with

#7. docel on 01/15/2010 - 2:05 pm (EST)

To be honest, I'm not into on-line dating at all, but I do know Kate personally. She's great at what she does!

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