Online Dating Newsletter
Volume 2, Number 16 - December 16, 2005
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Table of Contents
1. From the Editor
2. Creative Date Ideas: Create a Winter Wonderland
3. Online Dating Tips: Protect Your Identity
4. Relationship Tips: Be Picky Who You Ask for Advice
5. Relationship Quote of the Week
6. Inspirational Quote of the Week
7. Romantic Ideas: Secret Signals
8. News: DateGifts.com Opens
9. Feature Link: Jennifer's Gems
10. Online Dating Newsletter Updates

From the Editor

I have some big news in regards to the Online Dating Newsletter. For several months we have been working on some changes to the newsletter that will be unveiled on January 5, 2006.

The newsletter name is being changed from the "Online Dating Newsletter" to "Relationship Views". It will be complete with its own Website, new look, and new columns.

We decided to change the newsletter name and slightly alter the focus in order to reach a larger audience. For example, a married person getting great relationship advice from the Online Dating Newsletter may raise suspicion because he is subscribed to the "online dating" newsletter, when the reach of the newsletter goes beyond online dating. By changing the name to Relationship Views, the newsletter more appropriately targets both daters and those in committed relationships. Here's a look at the new columns for Relationship Views:

Welcome, Relationship Tip, Dating Tip, Better Life Tip, Relationship Quote, Reader Tip, Review, and Karma.

As you can see, there are three big additions to the newsletter - the Better Life Tip, Review, and Karma. The Better Life tip presents stories and research on things that improve your life. A person with good balance in their life has better relationships. The Review will take a closer look at a book, DVD, or CD series about relationships. Karma follows the adage that the way you treat others is the way you'll be treated. Each issue has specific tips to build good karma and eliminate bad.

The Relationship Views newsletter will be delivered on the fifth and 20th of each month. The first issue is being delivered January 5, 2006. So keep an eye out for Relationship Views then!

Wishing you great experiences,

Joe Tracy, editor
Online Dating Newsletter

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Creative Date Ideas: Create a Winter Wonderland
As the leaves fall off the trees and the temperature reaches freezing temperatures, many people may start to feel the winter blues. Don't let the blues affect your relationship. Create a winter wonderland for you and your date to enjoy together.

Start by making a list of all of the positive things about the winter season... the ability to cuddle in front of a fire together, the holiday decorations, the warmth and sweetness of hot chocolate, playing in the snow, etc. Once your list is compiled, start designing a winter wonderland right in your own home that incorporates all the positive aspects of winter.

Decorate your living room with sparkly festive holiday decorations and lights, hang up fake snowflakes in the windows, build a roaring fire in the fireplace, and brew some hot chocolate on the stove. When your date arrives, cue up the famous holiday song "Winter Wonderland" and welcome your date to his or her very own winter wonderland. Bundle up in front of the fire together in warm blankets, enjoy your hot chocolate, and reminisce about past winters that were particularly memorable. If you want to get out, take a tour of your town/city and judge which house has the best lights. You and your partner can fight off the winter blues together and create a memory to keep you warm and happy on those chilly days.
(SOURCE: Online Dating Newsletter - www.onlinedatingnewsletter.com)

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Online Dating Tips: Protect Your Identity
Online dating is so widely accepted now that many people let down their guard when it comes to communicating and meeting others. Don't let this happen to you. Here are four ways to protect your identity and be safer until the time is right:

1) Use an anonymous email account and make sure your full name isn't in the FROM area of emails (edit your account and change the name so that your name doesnt show on emails you send). This should be an account you created and use only for online dating.

2) There are several companies, like MyPrivateLine, that give you a temporary phone number that can't be traced. Home phone numbers can easily be traced to an address using Google and cell phone numbers can be easily traced to an address using a paid service.

3) Meet for the first time in a public place. Make sure a friend knows where you are at and who you are with.

4) Once you get to know someone better, consider doing a background check ($50+) on the person just for your own piece of mind.

Pledge to always stay safe and never let your guard down. Listen to your gut instincts. Online dating is an awesome way to meet new, fun, and exciting people. Keeping safe will help keep you away from the few that try and give online dating a bad name. (SOURCE: Online Dating Newsletter - www.onlinedatingnewsletter.com)

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Relationship Tips: Be Picky Who You Ask for Advice
When couples are experiencing a difficult time during a relationship, many often turn to their friends for advice and support. While there is nothing wrong with crying on your best friend's shoulder when you have had a fight with your girlfriend or boyfriend, it might not always be the best idea to seek advice about serious relationship issues from that friend. Based on relationship research, there are two types of friends that may not provide the best advice - guy friends and friends already in established relationships.

Researchers for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology measured the relationship status of 74 couples and gathered information from interviews with their friends about whether or not the friends thought they would still be together in 6 months. The friends of the female relationship partner or friends of both partners were reliable in predicting the couple's future status. The friends of just the male partner, however, were not typically good predictors. Based on this research, it is probably not a good idea to seek relationship advice from your guy friends if you are male.

Also, according to an article in Psychology Today, friends who are in long-term relationships themselves are not good at understanding how other couples truly feel about each other. In a research study by an Oregon State University psychologist, college students watched video of 45 couples and were then asked their thoughts on how in love the partners were with each other. It turns out that the college students that were in relationships or married were not effective at predicting how other couples felt about each other, even though those college students thought they were making accurate predictions. When examining the reasons behind this, the psychologist heading the research, Frank Bernieri, believed that it is because those in strong relationships develop certain ideas about what love is and how it should be expressed and are blinded to other ways of expressing love.

Remember, every relationship is different. Just because your friend thinks he or she knows about love, doesn't mean they know what works for you. Only you know the true and complete story of your relationship, but if you need to ask a friend, maybe a single female friend that knows your relationship well would be the best choice. Trust your instinct and keep your friends as a source of support and comfort, don't look to them to be relationship experts. (SOURCE: Online Dating Newsletter - www.onlinedatingnewsletter.com)

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Relationship Quote of the Week
"Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they're trying to find someone who's going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take." ~ Anthony Robbins

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Inspirational Quote of the Week
"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning." ~ Gloria Steinem

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Romantic Ideas: Secret Signals
One of the great things about being in a relationship is the romantic secrets you and your partner can share with each other. As the holidays approach, you and your partner may be invited to some holiday gatherings. Take the opportunity to add a little romance to your relationship by coming up with a few secret signals that you and your partner can share between the two of you when you are out at these gatherings. It will give you a romantic little secret that no one else knows about.

Come up with a secret hand squeeze that translates to "I love you" and squeeze your partner's hand while chatting with friends at a party, or choose a code word that has special meaning to you both and use it during your conversations in social situations. Sweet secrets between partners can help keep you connected and in tune with each other even while your attention is divided between friends and family.
(SOURCE: Online Dating Newsletter - www.onlinedatingnewsletter.com)

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News: The Perfect Gift to Dazzle Your Date
(December 16, 2005 - onlinedatingnewsletter.com) Ever have problems finding a gift for someone you like? Predicting what they might like is hard enough, but add to that the hundreds of thousands of ecommerce sites that sell products and the task becomes overwhelming.

While finding the perfect gift for a date or relationship partner may seem daunting, gift giving is an important aspect of many relationships. Recognizing the problem many people face, Online Dating Magazine has developed a solution to help those in relationships find the perfect gift for their perfect date through the launch of a site that helps people find great gifts - DateGifts.com. The new site connects visitors with specific gifts and stores that are perfect for that dating or romantic situation.

DateGifts.com has compiled a list of gifts from reputable online sources in date-focused categories like "Jewelry, Flowers, Sweets, Gadgets, Cuddly, and Decorative". Each category has the sub categories "For Him, For Her, Creative, Just Friends, and Romantic". There are over 200 perfect date and romantic gifts listed.

Because DateGifts.com is targeted towards those in relationships, whether new or well-established, visitors to DateGifts.com are also able to peruse through dozens of date ideas, love quotes, relationship tips, and romance ideas as they look for the perfect gift.

Visit the site at http://www.dategifts.com.

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Feature Link: Jennifer's Gems
In the newest Jennifer's Gems column, Jennifer discusses 15 ways to be a cut above the rest. She relates a story of when she was recently teaching a course and one guy didn't have any money with him to pay for the course. He said he'd bring it next week. Luckily, that wasn't necessary because another guy stepped in and paid for the man. She then goes on to show 15 ways people can be "a cut above the rest."

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Online Dating Newsletter Updates
This is the final issue of the Online Dating Newsletter. But it's not going away. It is transforming into the Relationship Views newsletter (same staff). Volume 1, Issue 1 will be delivered on January 5, 2006. If you're not subscribed to the Online Dating Newsletter, subscribe now to receive the official first issue of Relationship Views.

The Online Dating Newsletter is emailed free of charge to those subscribed every Tuesday. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Joe Tracy (jtracy@onlinedatingmagazine.com)
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