Part 3 - Making contactI have to say, the readership deteriorated massively after the first week. Perhaps I simply didn't make it interesting enough.
Ah well, here's hoping that this week I'm back on form, because I'm tackling the most exciting part of online dating: making contact with another
Human being. This term is used loosely, of course, but let's assume for now that we know how to spot auto-generated e-mails and weed out the genuine ones.
This week, I've been e-mailing literally hundreds of site members. This means, by the way, that I have indeed parted with my cash and signed up as a full member. They've got me for 3 months - just long enough to write my research, so let's hope I make it worth reading! As posted above, I've been sending out two different styles of e-mail. After a few revisions, however, my "standard e-mail" reads like this:-
Title - Wanted: A girl who...
[Main body]...can deliver an awesome medium-rare steak whilst I watch the football, and who doesn't mind sharing my attention with "boy's toys". Must like cats and cars. Good sense of humour essential, as my jokes are crap. Experienced candidate preferred. Stick-thin Barbie dolls need not apply.
Mail me. x
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If this did not elicit a response within a few days, I then followed up with a second e-mail as follows:-
Hi,
I know you've had my e-mail in your inbox for a few days, wondering "Should I or shouldn't I e-mail him back?" Well, you probably should. Did something put you off? Was it the steak? OK, we'll compromise on that... you get to do what you like the rest of the week, so long as we agree that Sunday is steak day. I'll even make you something with chocolate in it for dessert. Sound fair?
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Like I said above, I've been using two similar profiles and sending two different types of e-mail this week. I must have mailed about a hundred girls, some of them whom would have received both e-mails but on different days. My results are as follows:-
Standard mail 1: (Wishy-washy neutral 'nice' mail)
0 replies. That's right - absolutely nothing.
Standard mail 2: ('Personal ad'-style, above)
15 replies.
Follow-up e-mail: (When SM2 did not elicit a response) A further
3 replies.
So out of approximately 100 girls, 18 mailed me back - which I will round to call a success rate of 1-in-5. I've no idea how this compares to other peoples' experience of online dating, but I reckon it's pretty damn good.
I will update again in about half an hour, letting you know what happened next. It's been an interesting week!
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