Tracey Ferguson’s labour of love brings romantics up to date

Lifestyle – Judy Murphy meets Tracey Ferguson who helps singles to attract their dream partner

When Tracey Ferguson began using an online dating site on December 1 last year she immediately spotted a gap in the market where her talents could come into play.

Scrolling through the profiles of eligible and interesting men, the PR woman saw that most of these were pretty poorly written while the men’s photos were generally dire.

These men, many of them very attractive, were just not selling themselves well, she recalls.

As Tracey explored further she realised that this was also a problem for women using the site, so she came up with the bright idea of helping them.

The result is a new business, Datings Little Helper. For €50 Tracey will write or edit a person’s dating profile and advise on the best picture to accompany that profile. She will also advise those who are apprehensive about internet dating on the etiquette involved, what to do and how to avoid stalkers, or trolls.

Tracey’s own online romantic exploits have proven successful – she is now dating a professional man from Dublin. Their relationship is at an early stage, she says, but they are getting on well and most importantly they have that magic ingredient called chemistry.

Her enthusiasm, as we meet in the City’s House Hotel, on a busy Friday evening, is infectious. After of a couple of failed attempts to log onto the dating site, PlentyofFish, she succeeds – Friday evening is a particularly busy time for dating sites, she says.

PlentyofFish was the site Tracey chose last year when she eventually opted to try online dating after getting sick of more old-fashioned methods.

“It’s getting harder to put yourself out there,” she observes. “I’ve been at weddings where people were getting married who met online. There’s no shame in it anymore.”

Tracey had heard “lots of good things” about PlentyofFish, so she went online and created a profile, using her own photo but a different name – that’s normally what people do to ensure privacy, she explains. She immediately made 90 connections with different men and whittled those down to 10. Those were the ones she was happy to have phone conversations with. Out of the 10, she met five, all of them “lovely guys” she says, “but the spark was only there with one of them”.

That’s the amazing thing about online dating, she says. “Everyone is on there – all ages and sizes. I scanned the site with my girlfriends and all of us found different people attractive.”

But at the same time, it also dawned on Tracey that people needed help to market themselves.

“It’s like doing a CV, only this is your love CV. Sometimes people don’t what to say, and some of the photos were terrible.”

And, as with a job CV, first impressions matter, she says.

Some of the women on PlentyofFish who were separated or divorced and looking for new relationships were using their wedding photos as their profile pictures. That sounds difficult to believe, but as Tracey points out, these women wanted to post a photo where they looked good. Which is all very understandable, but if you are looking for a new partner, it’s better not to display a photo of you entering a failed marriage full of hope.

Meanwhile, some of the men had taken selfies in their bathroom or bedroom, where they were displaying naked torsos. Again, even with the best abs in the world, that’s not a good idea, she cautions. Similarly, for people who have children. It’s better not to include them in a profile pic. If you hit it off with somebody online, you can share all that information then, but for a profile, it’s over-sharing.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.