How To Date On Craigslist

I'm a reporter who tries to fight the good fight on an everyday basis. I believe the power of human kindness changes the world. I'm somewhat intelligent, somewhat attractive, and recently single... Looking for my own personal hero—you know, some one I can respect and love as my counterpart, who'll recharge my batteries and my soul. Are you out there? If so, please put "Superman" in your subject line and tell me about you.

Pay dirt! 46 Supermen responded. I started to interview them by email and was soon overwhelmed. It was exhausting, but in that feeling-like-a-hot-rock-star kind of way. In writing the "tall, blonde" advertisement, I had finally realized what I should have known all along: The headline needed to draw guys in. It had to be written especially for men, and men, as you well know, are visual.

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After interviewing a few of the 46, I told my single girlfriends about my new hobby. They giggled, but felt shy about trying it themselves. They said they were tired of facing rejection. So I started interviewing them about their ideal men, and posting the ads with anonymous email addresses I had created. Then I'd watch the inbox grow. When their customized ads would hit more than ten responses, I'd let my friends know—giving them their new email address and the password to check in on their new suitors.

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I'd like to say that all the men who responded fit the wish lists perfectly, but many of them were serial-responders and couldn't remember much of the ads that they responded to. Yet sometimes the responses were just personal enough to let you know that you weren't alone in single-hood. I learned (among other things) to be more direct about what I want. For example, I now put "must be financially secure" into the profile, and "must live by the Golden Rule" and "lead by example." There's nothing wrong with the asking, and many online flirters have liked the direct language in what I wrote.