If you’re not, it’s not too late to start today. Do you know how to get someone to respond to your email?

1. Keep it Simple: Use light-hearted emails with an upbeat tone to attract dates online. A 40ish woman told me, “Make your responses simple and use easy questions in your emails if you want to flirt with me.” There is no need for long emails either. A guy recently told me, “I can tell if I am interested in 3-4 sentences.”

2. Make humor your friend: A guy from Missouri told me, “I look at the woman’s profile and ad and then I can tell what kind of humor to put in my reply. If she’s baring her breasts in her photo or she’s got a sexy ad, then my humor is subltly sexy. If she’s got a vanilla photo or ad, then I respond accordingly but I always put something funny in my mail. If I can make her laugh in my mail, I have a better chance at a reply. Humor is definitely sexy and so is confidence. When I write emails I KNOW I’m worth a reply. I think it shows through.”

3. Hand out Compliments: One of the easiest and best ways to flirt online is to extend a sincere compliment. One woman from Florida said, “I always try to say something simple, but sincere.” You might say to someone, “You look terrific in red.” She added, “Be sincere and don’t throw out phony crap, a guy can see that a mile away.” Same thing goes for men writing to women.

Need some ideas for initial emails?

1. Where did you get that fantastic smile?
2. What is your favorite ice cream?
3. What is one thing you like to do on a Sunday with a date for fun?
4. What would you do if we got stuck in a snow storm in the mountains?
5. If you were going to take me out for a romantic evening, what would we do?
6. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
7. What is your favorite romantic comedy movie?
8. How long have you been sailing? (ask about something in their profile).
9. Wow, is that your golden retriever, he’s really cute? (compliment something in their photograph).
10. When are we going to meet to find out whether we would ever want to kiss each other? (Depending on the person, you can sound cute using this one)

Pulse racing and knees shaking. Hands trembling and eyes twinkling. Do these signs sound familiar? I bet they are! You don’t have to own a secret decoder ring or be a rocket scientist to recognize the different types of lusty, flirty signals. And yes, before you open your mouth to ask, there really is such a thing.

To begin our adventure in the glorious world of flirting, imagine this. There are like a hundred people in the room but you lock eyes with a certain someone. So you stop and stare. In an instant, your eyes are locked in a game of endless gazing If you lock eyes with someone for more than once, then it’s not just an accident anymore. When someone meets your eyes for two or three times, that person is most definitely trying to get your attention. This is among the basic types of flirting signals. Of course, this is all done in subtlety. You have to somehow keep your cool and composure. Otherwise, it just might be a person who thinks you’re a familiar face.

Many types of flirting signals have something to do with where the eyes land. For example, when a person keeps looking at your lips, you either have some spinach hanging from them or that person wants to kiss you. So you better think fast and figure out what that gaze means AND decide if you want to be kissed by this person. I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to decide that question for yourself!

If you’re feeling a bit bold tonight, why not go out and test these signals out? After all, it never hurts to strike while the iron is hot. Go out and let the inner flirt in you shine.

Men. All men. Including you over there. Let’s talk.

In a world full of women who think of little else but sex, have you given any regard to how you sit? I can’t go anywhere and find a man who isn’t sitting with his legs wide open. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the ball game, the movies, sitting on a park bench or at the library – the legs are wide open. Imagine how difficult it is for us women to concentrate when you’re flashing the goods this way? I nearly tripped on the way to the ladies room the other day when I was gazing at a crotch instead of watching where I was going and nearly whacked myself into a pole.

Now when we’re about to do what God intended men and women to do – show me all you’ve got but if we’re only playing gin rummy, I would prefer that you help me keep my concentration. It’s possible that if I had a penis I’d want to show it off that way too, so I’m not complaining. That position probably keeps the goolies cool and keeps Mr. Thomas from getting a double bend.

Maybe you sit like that as a territorial grab – this is my space, keep the fuck out but I’m pretty convinced you do it so we women can preview the goods before buying.

“Hey, you over there, look at me, see how big my GIGANTIC PENIS is?” Frankly it’s just not a good look.

The thing is, sometimes it’s awkward for a woman because we have no idea where to look. As a woman with rather large boobage I get pissed off that men can’t find my eyes. Imagine if I walked around with the love bubbles nearly hanging out all the time. You wouldn’t get anything done all day!

I will admit to being a closet crotch watcher (remember I nearly walked into the pole the other night). I’m not so interested in the size, although big ones do stand out more (pun intended). Not having a penis myself, looking at a man all spreadeagled makes me wonder.. “does he dress to the right or to the left?” “Does he have tight balls or are they the long and droopy ones?” See? I get nothing done! I look without even wanting to look.

Another problem is when I’m gazing at a man’s crotch doing all my surmising, does he notice? If he notices does he think I fancy a shag with him? The answer is no! (well, probably no)

So, in closing, have a thought for us women and the difficulties we have gazing at your crotches and save us from ourselves by sitting with your legs together.

It’s hard enough to flirt with someone you’re interested in offline; how the heck do you flirt when you’re dating online? Lots of people can do it, and so can you. It’s pretty simple – you put the other person at ease and you make them feel good. It’s not rocket science. We keep telling people to send complimentary comments to every person that interests them. We say it because we’ve seen it work time and time again.

Don’t wait til you meet in person to test out your flirting ability with someone. Try it out online. Meeting someone new can be lots of fun and doesn’t have to be stressful, especially if you’ve flirted beforehand. It boosts your confidence for the real thing.

Compliments. They do two things — they let the other person know you’re interested and they show that you’ve been paying attention to their photo, their blog, their forum posts – whatever it was that caught your eye. Unless you paste the same comment to person after person like, “gee you’re hot”, your comments will be well received. Everyone likes to be noticed.

Keep it simple. Just as you wouldn’t jabber on and on when you met someone in real life, don’t type too much early on. Most people won’t read a long drawn out email from a stranger. They read the first line or maybe two and then hanging the washing seems really important right that minute. It’s much better to keep those first communications witty, short and sweet. I wouldn’t suggest asking who someone is supporting in the next election in the first email or second.

Spell check. Can I say that one again? Spell checking is really simple to use. We provide the tools every time you type so you won’t look goofy to someone you’re trying to impress. Saying you’re shit speller is no excuse when everyone knows you can spell check your mail. Little is more attractive than someone with a brain so don’t spoil your chances at finding the love of your life because you were too lazy to proofread.

No text speak. A “LOL” here and there is okay, but you’ll get much farther with most people if you use the entire word that you’d say if you were in person having a normal conversation. A reply with 5 emoticons won’t get you as far as answering the question asked and then asking one of your own.

Sense of humor. Most every person when asked what qualities they’re looking for is a good sense of humor. For goodness sake don’t tell someone you have a good sense of humor. Show them. If you really DO have a good sense of humor it won’t be difficult, especially since you have time to craft a good reply.. The more charming and funny you are, the better your luck will be. (Don’t write to me and tell me you’re a loser because you’re a grumpy old fart. Only you can fix grumpy.)

Your nickname. What’s it saying about you? Anyone looking through the personal ads will notice not only your photo, but your nickname. It says a lot about you and how you approach this online dating stuff. If you have a very explicit nickname are you telling people that sex is all you’re interested in and it’s wham bam and you’re out the door? Whether they realize it or not, your nickname has an effect on how people view you. Keep your name simple and creative and perhaps even mysterious… don’t make it sexually suggestive unless that’s ALL you’re interested in.

Beware of the flat screen. It’s really easy to misunderstand someone when a sentence can be read two different ways. Remember, the other person is always going to read it the wrong way. There’s no body language and they won’t be able to tell if you’re trying to be funny or sarcastic. If there’s a way to take it the wrong way, they will. So read what you write before you send it.

Meet. Once you’ve successfully flirted online, make a date to meet. Set up something simple like coffee at a cafe for 30 minutes only. That gives you both a chance to flirt in person and see how receptive the other one is to your efforts. Don’t arrive with unrealistic expectations. This is coffee with a stranger – it could be fun.

If you’re honest, you’ll probably admit that beauty is a sight more important than just skin deep when it comes to a relationship. The question then is, how much more important? Will we quit looking for someone new if we can’t find perfection? Our experience shows that’s not the case. I would guess that at least 80% of people would prefer someone who’s fun and sexy and ordinary every day looking over someone who’s not so much fun but physically top of the line attractive.

For those who seek a trophy husband or wife to make themselves seem really desirable – looks are everything. For the majority of people our genetic makeup determines who we’re attracted to and looks are a small part of that. While looks are still generate a certain chemistry between people – we’re all attracted to someone different so beauty is sort of “out there” unless we’re talking magazine or TV models. Most men and women are seeking inner beauty over external appearance. It’s all well and good to have a gorgeous partner but if they have a shit personality who needs it? Who can find happiness with a bitch or a bastard? (Apart from those who get off on it. ) I’m not saying for one moment that all gorgeous people have a shit personality. That’s no more true than saying every fat person is jolly or every ugly person is grumpy.

I want someone who thinks I’m terrific and goes out of his way to show me he believes that every day. While he’s attractive to me, I don’t think either of us will grace the cover of a magazine anytime soon. What is important to me is that he’s funny, clever, hard working, compassionate, respectful AND sexy. Would I want to be with him if he looked like an old muddy fence? I fell for his insides over the net, so I would have to say yes but with one proviso. He would still have to have great legs cause legs do it for me. Oh and he would have to be sexy.Never again will I live with a man who didn’t like sex.

Are looks at the top of your must-have list? How about sexuality?