Online profiles can be important for love and business.

For some couples, Valentine’s Day will honor the spark that brought them together.

I will probably take my wife to the Dave and Busters restaurant at the Ontario Mills Mall. Not the most romantic place with its noisy entertainment attractions and video games, but it was the site of our first date. Nearly 24 months after that night, we were married. We met on the Web site called eharmony. Our profiles gave us enough to make that move where we would initially set eyes on each other in person.

As a small business owner, I have a profile on various Web sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Craig’s List. I meet potential clients online and then we may move it to a local Starbucks or Coffee Bean coffee house. Again, our profiles push me and my clients to get face to face.

Do you see the pattern here? Profiles are known for helping people take that next step in love or business.

Not a new concept, but the Internet helps people enter relationships that they otherwise may not.

Online profiles are competitive. Everyone seems to making them. If a person doesn’t have a profile somewhere on the Worldwide Web, he’s resting alone in a dark house where he doesn’t join the neighborhood block in putting up Christmas lights as the rest of the world shines as bright as the stars.

There are thousands of social media Web sites that can generate interest in business-oriented individuals’ goods and services. Here are some tips for both business and love adventures:

Target first

Before one begins to contemplate a profile, he must consider the people in which he will conduct business. Are they the upper class movers and shakers; the start-up business owners; or those poor artists, musicians, and actors with little or no money?

Whoever the audience, that information must be considered first and conveyed on the profile. In romance, it’s said that opposites attract. Just ask the divorce attorneys. Joking aside, in business, opposites do not attract, but like minds do.

Profile picture

If one is a white-collar professional then he should upload a picture of himself in business attire. If he is a white-collar professional representing blue-collar or Advertisement

[ Chatton and Associates ] lower income workers, he should consider uploading a picture of himself in business attire as well. Represent the profession before representing the clientele. If a person is a cook, they wear a chef’s outfit. A police officer should wear a uniform and so forth.

Pose with a hand-shaking smile. This is welcoming. Look right into the camera, stand straight up, and display confidence. The field-of-view for most pictures should be from shoulder length and up. Look good because a person never know who is checking out his profile. While it’s not necessary to have professional quality photos, it is recommend, and the secret to good profile picture is good lighting. A dark picture turns people off. Women who show more skin will attract a crowd that wants more skin. Finally, do not post a picture from the past.

In romance, this is misrepresentative and will cost the love-seeker a second date, maybe even the second minute. In the business world, when one lies about his picture, this will reflect his business honesty.

Bio rules

Keep the bio short and to the point. For business, write more about the product then personal life. Three paragraphs may suffice. If the person is the product, the first two paragraphs should highlight his career.

Here’s me: I have been in Web design and the internet marketing field since 1996. In that time, I have produced over 400 Web sites and over 90 percent of my clients are on the first page of the Google search engine. Visit my Web site at www.crystaldi.com.

If I may go further, since I am offering this advice in the first place, my company successfully employs 20 people. In 2002, it won an award for outstanding achievement for a children’s Web site for www.gotfossils.com.

I specialize in all Web sites, e-commerce, database, and SEO.

Then finally, the last paragraph should list extracurricular involvement and education, so as long as it involves business. I am a self-taught Web designer, and hold a degree in the liberal arts area that I received from Arizona State University. I am an ambassador for my local chamber of commerce. I also enjoy teaching students the art of Web design.

For additional information, e-mail me at jimhague@hotmail.com.