Creating your profile

Ideal: Colour, close up, and in focus, without sunglasses or hair hiding your eyes, or shadows on your face.

• The image space is square, so a head-and-shoulders works best. If you upload a full-length body shot, your face will be further away and hard to see.
• Either take a selfie or get someone else to take a few photos in different locations.
• Keep it simple – people don’t need to see your gym equipment, the scenery behind you, or all your cats. Crop out the background clutter so you are the focus in that frame. This is about you!
• If you use an old photo and get a date, they won’t be impressed despite your apologies because they’ll feel misled (and they’d be right!). If you want someone to like you, don’t start by not being realistic about what you look like now.
• While we’re all adults, this isn’t a ‘hook-up’ site; sometimes ‘less flesh is more’ and most dates prefer personality and common interests rather than what physical attributes you have.
• Finally, we’ve all seen those awful profile photos where the ex-partner has obviously been cut out. They really don’t encourage future relationships!
• Profiles without photos do not attract interest. A blank space screams “I think I’m too unattractive for a photo”, or worse “I have something to hide”.

Top hint: Have a few up-to-date photos up your sleeve to rotate, changing every few months.

Photos we do not publish:

Cartoon charicatures, images including children, gang patches, alcohol brands, illegal activity, or subject matter that’s offensive or sexually explicit (body parts or suggestive poses).

Ideal: An honest identity may not attract everyone, but it’s more likely to attract the right one.

• Profiles with a clear photo and well-written information attract a lot more interest than half-finished profiles, so take the time to write something that shows you’ve put some effort into it.
• This is your chance to show people who you really are, what you want to achieve in life, and what kind of relationship you’re looking for. That will help weed out all the people you’re not interested in. It will also help us to match you with people who are the most compatible.
• Find the balance between telling people enough about you, while not telling them everything. Filling in the gaps will give you more to chat about later.
• Ask a friend or someone you trust to read over your profile and give you feedback. They know the real you, yet they offer an independent perspective that is not so emotionally involved.
• We all exaggerate when we’re trying to impress, but if you start off by pretending to be someone you are not, you will be chatting with people who think you are someone else. This is a waste of your time and money, and especially theirs. So if you’re married, or not the age you say you are, someone will find out, report you, and your profile may be deleted from MyKind.

Top hint: Be the real you, and look forward to being appreciated for the unique person you are!