“But I do not have nice pictures of myself!” That’s the common issue most of us guys think we have. It is a valid issue as most guys don’t take pictures of themselves, and our selfies come out looking pretty weird. And not to mention that we are generally not the photogenic gender anyway. Of course we don’t take pictures of ourselves often. In fact, most pictures of ourselves are taken by others while we are in a group of people due to being at some event or celebration!
And as guys, we have more pictures of our cars, pets or computers than pictures of ourselves. It is obvious as we care for these things more than we care about our looks. And of course we care little about our looks, considering that it is not the main factor that gets us attention in a public setting, respect or adoration. It is always what we have achieved or our wealth that matters to others.
Despite all these reasons, now that we do have to have a nice picture of ourselves and we do need to look good on dating apps, maybe it is time to get a couple? Fret not, as in this article we will help explain which kinds of pictures are the most bang-for-your-buck and generate the most results in dating apps.
Do keep in mind that our profile has to be subject-worthy to hold a conversation, and not put together in 5 minutes just so that we are on the platform for the sake of ‘talking to chicks’. The effortless profiles are easily picked up by both men and women and are the least swiped.
But before we speak about the pictures, it is important to know how these images or pictures are to be perceived from the other party.
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Firstly, we have to note that the main picture is the most important as that is the first that is seen. This part is the most obvious, but the less-obvious factor that we generally don’t think about much would be that the main picture is the picture that is the one that would be appearing next to our name after a match has happened. Each time a woman opens up the chat menu from the app, she would be able to see the names as well as THAT picture. So do put in ample importance in picking the main profile picture. You want it to stand out to a certain degree.
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Second, women are more likely to scroll through your other images AND YOUR BIO than men! So don’t think that just because you do not do so means that the women out there are not going to do so as well. But just like writing a sales email, each component’s objective is to lead the reader lean into the next segment. For example, the title of the email should entice the reader to open the email, the first paragraph should be captivating enough for the reader to read the next paragraph and so on. Which leads the reader to keep reading the following paragraph and finally into the closing paragraph at the end of the email which is the ‘call to action’.
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Thirdly, and most importantly, the objective of the pictures are to entice her to have a conversation with you. I repeat, the objective is TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOU. This objective is different from ‘showing your best angles or how good looking you are’. Unlike men, women are more focused on the personality and trustworthiness of their partners more so than their physical appearance. So women are seeking to find out about the ‘type of guy’ you are rather than how good looking you are. Of course good looks does help, but a woman can tell if the man is good looking and still not trustworthy.
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The fourth point is that the pictures that are put up on your profile MUST be able for her to easily spark conversation and intrigue in you. What I mean by that is that your pictures have to be more than ‘just a pretty face’, there must be some character to them. And fortunately, we at CGull have found the right ‘types’ of pictures to be used in your dating profile.
We’re assuming that most guys are not fitness models or famous. These pictures can be used by anyone and can be easily obtained. You would just need a little bit of effort and a friend whom you trust. There are a total of 4 such pictures, and I urge anyone reading this article to get all 4 of them. Because they can be used over and over again in all your dating apps as well as your social media and your whatsapp display pictures.
ANIMAL PICTURE
Have a picture of you with an animal or pet. The animal can be a dog, a cat, a hamster or a bird. The idea here is to hint that you are an animal-oriented person or that you own a pet. It doesn’t matter if you do not have a dog or cat at home, you can always visit a friend who does and take a picture with their pet!
Remember, what is the fundamental purpose of the picture? Yes, it is to spark conversation! Therefore, the picture of an animal would easily spark the question of ‘Is that dog yours?’, or ‘do you own birds?’. You can always go on to answer if you do have a dog or it’s your friend’s dog. And if she is an animal lover as well!
ACTIVITY PICTURE (FULL BODY)
Everyone has a hobby or pastime. And I do not mean playing world of warcraft all day. You can be a gamer who sits in front of a computer all day, but that’s not what we have in mind for this segment. Have a picture of you doing some sort of physical activity (doesn’t really have to be physical), it can be skateboarding, playing badminton, bowling or even archery. If you do not do any forms of physical activity on a recreational basis, then just do it ONCE.
The easiest way is to get one or two friends out for badminton, then have them take a picture of you midway hitting the shuttlecock. It can even be you in a ready-pose waiting to serve the ball. In fact, maybe you don’t know how to skateboard, but you have a friend who does. Take a picture of you ‘acting’ with the skateboard and use that picture!
Remember! The idea is to make it easy for her to spark conversation with you. If she asks you about the skateboard, you can mention you tried it once and suck at it and never did it ever again! The picture is to give her an easy way to have a conversation with you as well as show some personality to your profile. Who knows, you might have tried skateboarding before and broke your arm. Then when she asks you about the skateboarding picture, you can always bring up the story on how you broke your arm!
PROFESSIONAL PICTURE
There’s a saying that every man should own a tailored suit. Maybe it might not apply so much in our asian context, but a smart-looking man would do better than a sloppy-looking man any day. And women do take note of the dressing of a man. This could be an indication of your professional career or just a picture taken at a formal event that you had gone to. This picture can be taken at a friend’s wedding dinner when you were all dress-ed up in a good looking suit.
The idea here is to show that you know class and are ready to present it when the time calls for it. And I don’t mean having one of those insurance head-shot pictures either. It has to be a picture of you in a normal setting instead of being in a studio. I mean, nobody would swipe on a picture in hopes of having their insurance policies evaluated by a stranger – NOBODY!
GROUP PICTURE
One of the key points that has to be properly conveyed is that you are trustable and not a creep. The best way to send this message across is to be pre-approved by the women around you. There is nothing more disarming than seeing you with other women who are comfortable around you. And for more information on this, you can refer to the article –‘The Wingman, Or Wingwoman’.
The big mistake is to have only guys with you in the picture, which sends the message that you are not pre-approved by women. Then if you have a group picture of you with only women, that sends the message that you might be a player. The idea here is to have a picture of yourself interacting in a mixed group. Which signals that you are a person with friends and comfortable in social settings. Basically to show that both men and women trust you to be with them.
This might be the easiest of the lot if you already have a picture like this somewhere on your phone. But if not, it might be hard to set up a gathering with this number of people and take a picture with all of them. The people in the picture have to be people around your age group too! Imagine being the only grown man in the picture with a mixed group of 6-8 year old kids! Yeah, that kind of sends a different message – that you are good with kids!
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