I had the same reaction you probably do. Online dating is for people that can't find a date. I mean, isn't turning to the internet just another way of saying "I give up"?

But a few friends of mine tried it out and ended up dating some very attractive women. And not only were they attractive ... they were smart, funny and independent as well. And while they went out on date after date, I kept trolling the bars.

I'll give you one guess as to who was having more fun.

Now I'm not saying that every date they had was a winner. On the contrary, they swung and missed there fair share of times.

But they were getting plenty of dates, and I wasn't.

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Not wanting to be the last single man on earth, I decided to give it a shot.

Sure, I was skeptical at first. Even a little negative. But after my first date, I realized that my dating life would never be the same again.

She wasnt "the one". Truth be told,I had to try for months before I found her. But she made me realize that online daters are normal people just like you and I. People that are either too fed up with the bar scene and games or too busy to get out and meet people.

We also had a conversation that made that lightbulb pop up over my head.

She asked me, "when you go out to the bars, do you know which girls want to be 'picked up' at that minute, and which don't?"

"Not really," I replied sheepishly, thinking about all the times I didn't go up and talk to a woman at a bar because I wasn't sure if the guy in her group was a friend or a boyfriend.

"Of course you don't," she said, "and even if we do, we still may turn you down depending on our mood, the crowd we are with, or fifty other reasons."

Great, I figured. I'm going to be single the rest of my life.

"But just about every woman that is an online dating site is there because she wants to go on dates," she continued. "The first obstacle is removed. You already know they are looking. Plus, they can 'review your request' whenever they are in the right mood to do so."

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Eureka! I was sold. And the more sites I tried, the more I realized how many single woman I never would have met without the internet.

I started by just signing up for the free service, but quickly realized the best way to play the game is to become a member. (Most sites are around $25 per month to become a member and send emails. That sounded like a lot to me at first, but after realizing that was the price of a round of drinks plus tip, I decided it was a steal.)

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Incidentally, my friends always ask me what I learned from my experiences. So for you, and for them, here are three tips:

1) Just do it. Start filling out profiles on a few sites today. Its easy to procrastinate, but the sooner you get started the sooner you'll start to see the payoff.

2) Try more than one site. You used to go to more than one bar over the course of a month right? Why? Because you realized that different women went to different bars. Same thing here ... so try a few sites to maximize your pool.

3) Become a member. Lots of people shy away from paying $25 a month to become a member. But without becoming a member on a lot of sites, you can't email potential dates or see who is checking you out. I didn't see good results until I started sending emails, and the $25 or so was definitely worth it to me.

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You can read about the sites I tried, and my thoughts on each, by visiting

http://www.guyadvice.net/Dating.

(Please note that the above article is copyright of the author, Mike Santoro, and may be reprinted with the signature bio, but not altered in any way.)