I see a lot of women in the subreddit but I think there could be more practical advice, so I'm going to be posting some based on some of the books that I've read in the past.

This one is extracted from Shannon Boodram's The Game of Desire.
by Meredith Davis CMO of The League

Photos

Wardrobe: Wear white or solid bright colours.

Expression: Smile, leave the duckface for Instagram.

Communication: Make sure your pictures aren’t just about looking good. They need to tell your story.

Picture 1: a great head shot with eye contact (think of magazine covers)
Picture 2: travel/you doing something out of the ordinary (full body if possible)
Picture 3: you doing something normal that you love (eating, hanging with friends, painting, reading, etc. . . .)
Picture 4: a group shot, because it communicates a lot about who you are, including your height.
Picture 5: your choice (you with an animal, you at a wedding, a professional pic of you, etc.)
Picture 6: Your weed-out photo. If there is something that is an intrinsic part of you that is going to be a make-or-break for others, put it here to save yourself time. (Do you smoke? Are you heavy into politics?)

After you have selected your six photos ask yourself: Can someone come up with three questions per photo? If so, move on to your “about me.”

About me

This is a place to give someone a taste of you. This is not your biography, so keep it short (fewer than two hundred words) but not too short because that shows low investment. Your “about me” should be regarded as a conversation starter. Here are some rules of thumb:

Do

  • Make statements that invite people to start a discussion with you (I was born in Cali and know where to get the absolute best carnitas).
  • Invite people to ask a question (Ask me about my second photo . . .).
  • Show your favourite thing about your personality.

Do not

  • List your criteria (must be tall, university educated and love animals).
  • List your weed-out criteria (Looking for a hookup? Don’t waste my time!). First, sleazy people don’t read on dating apps so you’re wasting your time and second, when we tell people what we don’t want, we indicate what we’ve already had and we tend to come across as bitter.
  • Just put a link to your Instagram. If you’re too lazy to write something, what makes you think people won’t be too lazy to open an entirely different app to get to know you?

Crafting the First Message

(I know this isn't strictly FDS, but is worth knowing for the few of us that liked making the first move, myself included)

Make it meaningful

Look at a profile and comment on something specific that you like or have a question about. Saying “hey” in a first message is almost equivalent to saying nothing—in fact, the vast majority of “hey” messages never get a response at all.

Make your first message brief, but not short

Messages with the best chance of a reply are between 40 and 100 characters long (again, saying “hey” twenty times isn’t going to cut it). Something like, “I see you went to Paris, what was your favourite café?” should suffice.