Woz - My tips on online dating:
1. Beware of chicks that don't have pictures or won't send you some immdiately. I'd say stay away entirely but my fiance dind't have a pic but in her first email to me (she contacted me), she said she had one and would send it.
2. Put some effort into your profile. It's not just a summary of who you are, it's an advertisement. Think of it that way and you'll have success with women contacting you (at least half my dates were with chicks that liked my profile and contacted me first). Be witty, be as honest as possible and be different
3. When you contact women do not use a form email. Like your profile, you need to be witty and different. These women (especially the hot ones) are getting dozens of emails per day. Why does yours stand out? Make sure you mention something about their profile or interests or they will assume you just liked the picture.
4. Slim and skinny are good. Athletic is mostly good. Average is sketchy territory as a woman's definition of average can vary wildly. Don't write it off entirely, but be wary.
5. Do not email for weeks before meeting. Meet as early as possible. Email chemistry does not equal face to face chemistry. Nothing is worse than emailing someone dozens of times only to find out there's nothing there when you're face to face. Also, women tend to develop a picture in their head when they email a guy for a while. They build him up to such a degree that it's hard to live up to the idea when you meet face to face.
6. Keep the first date simple - coffee, drinks, a walk in the park. Stay away from a planned dinner or a complex date. I once spent the day at the zoo with a girl that I had no attraction to whatsoever.
7. Be prepared to be rejected and be prepared to date a woman who is undoubtedly dating other guys at first. As mentioned, it's a numbers game - for both sides.
8. I know you're normally opposed to it, but there's nothing wrong with a casual fling to make sure the plumbing is working. Some of those will definitely come your way - go with the flow.
9. Change your profile occasionally. This will re-sort your profile in the searches. Both my fiance and I had been on for a few months but had never seen each other's profiles (hers mainly because she didn't have a picture up). One day, after I had changed mine, it finally came up in one of her searches.
10. Do the personality and physical compatibility profiles. They will turn up different searches than you would normally get.