I'm kind of fortunate because my job get's me some periodic responses, but for the most part, you have to make the approach.
My favorite free dating site is OkCupid.com. I hope this isn't considered advertising, because I'm not trying to send a bunch of PUA's there. Don't want the competition...LOL.
Datehookup is ok, but PoF rates pretty low in my opinion. I only use dating sites when I'm bored though... I'd rather be out sarging.
As far as online dating goes... OkCupid has posted a bunch of their studies at blog.okcupid.com - check out their all posts section. Things that have been talked about here is this.
- Guys rate women by their pic's... Women rate men by their profiles and messages. Moral of the story, read a chicks profile and send them a message about something you found interesting in their profile. Also, I'm not sure that women care to be told how hot their pics are, they get that all of the time. They want to know that a guy finds them interesting, so do something a little different from the norm. Also, HB's already know their hot and need to be brought back to reality a little (read up on Mysteries neg theory). Average chicks are going to believe you and think that you are just trying to get down their pants and will probably not respond.
- Grammar. A lot of women are more interested in someone who can carry on a decent and intellectual conversation, so skip the U R a QT.
- Be creative and humorous. Chicks love a guy who can make them smile and laugh. Don't forget to ask open ended questions to give them a reason to respond... Hey wazzup? is not the open ended question that I'm talking about.
- Find something that you're passionate about and make your profile revolve around that. Even if the chick does not share your passion, the fact that your life has some sense of importance to you evokes a type of fascination in chicks. Since I'm a dance instructor, I always talk about teaching and performing. I can't tell you how many times I've told a chick how much I've learned about life through my understanding of dance.. Lead and follow, rhythms, patterns, ebb and flow, the dynamics and style of music, the symphony of life, connection with your partner, and general sensuality. It can be complete bullsh1t (which it's not in my case) and the ladies will still dig it. Fascination, Mystery, and intrigue. Dare to be different and have meaning in your life.
I guess that's about all that comes to mind. I have been known to use canned messages, and even if I'm caught... it doesn't matter because if they respond with 'are you using a templated message?' I've got the conversation started.
If you want to be successful with online dating, the biggest thing is just to stay active with it and sort out what isn't working from what is working, but I still suggest developing your real life sarging skills. It's much more fun!
Peace and Good Luck,