How to outperform 95% of men who place their personal ads for Russian women to respond

The beauty of international relationship is that you can eliminate lots of mind games from it, and just be yourself. Use it to your advantage!

(thanks to Elena Petrova author of this article, founder of Elenas Models

1. Make good professional photos of yourself (suit and tie, smiling). It is proven that photos in suit and tie receive 300% better response, and from a better quality women, than non-professional photos in shorts and T-shirts.

2. Decide what you will say in your ad: Check how much space/words you will have for the ad BEFORE composing it. The most important things should be said there. If you want children in your marriage, say about that. If you want a woman who is non-smoker, say about that. Everything that is of crucial importance to you, should be expressed in the ad.

3. Write the first introduction letter that you will be sending to women who responded to your ad, BEFORE placing the ad. Your letter should tell more about the things that you discuss in your ad, but in a greater detail. Nothing's worse as the first letter repeating the ad or the personal profile word to word. Your letter should be funny and pleasant to read - if you manage to make the woman smile, you are half way there!

4. Translate your introduction letter to Russian: This way you will outperform 95% of men who normally do not translate their first letters to women, and secure your letter will be read and understood by the woman, as you intended. Women are extremely susceptible of translated letters and consider them the best sign that the guy really cares for her. After Placing your ad you will still need an introduction letter ready to send to women answering your ad, and the best is to have it translated, too. A woman will seldom save your ad but she will save and often re-read your first introduction letter.

 

5. When writing to women, who answered your ad, make personalized "additions" to your introduction letter, basing on the particular woman's information (for example, "You say you enjoy picnics - me too! I also love longs walks on the sea shore"). Just a couple of sentences about what you see in common between you and her can increase the number of positive responses to your letter 2 to 3 times.

6. You can translate those "additions" yourself, since it will be much of a hassle for you to ask for a human translation every time. Use the free translation tool at http://www.translate.ru or Google Translate. Use only simple words that do not have double meaning. Once translated, run the translation backwards, from Russian to English, and see if it still makes sense. If it does, it is safe to add those lines to your letter. If the backward translation does not make sense, re-write your phrases. Add the phrases in the beginning of your translated letter, where you should mark a special spot for it in advance, before sending your introduction letter for translation.

7. Photos: You need to decide which photo you will be using for the ad (usually only 1 photo will be published with the ad) and which photos you will send women when they respond to your ad. It is also a good idea to send a new photo with your letters every time within first 3-4 letters. This way the woman, if she corresponds with a few men, won't have problems with remembering who you are. Make sure you like yourself on those photos VERY much, and that they are different (not a different pose of the same studio shooting but a different setting). 

8. The size of your photos should not exceed 20-30 Kb, or Russian women will have problems with downloading them using their low-speed Internet connection. At the same time, the actual size of the photos should not be too small, preferably just a little smaller than the computer screen. Use lower resolution (40-50% quality) and save the photos in JPEG format. You can change the size, resolution and format of the photos in any graphic editor. The best photo editor is PhotoShop, and if you have somebody who knows it, ask them for help. If not, you can use "Paint" graphic editor that is a part of standard Windows programs.

8. For your personal ad choose a formal photo in suit and tie. Period.

9. For sending with the first letter choose another variant of this photo (for example, choose a head and shoulders shot for the ad and full length for sending with the first letter) + another, less formal photo of you in some interesting setting (such as gym, tennis court, beach, etc). The photo for sending with the first letter should be very similar so the woman can still recognize you but not exactly the same shot, otherwise it feels boring.

10. Send one photo in some interesting setting with the second, third and forth letter. Explain about the photos in your letters, where and when they were taken. With third or forth letter you can send a photo of you with your family or/and friends, such photos are interesting for the women - but not until they get to know you, so do not send a family photo with your first or second letter.

11. It is also advisable to send her the photo of your home, where you live, and the neighborhood area. After all, this is the place where she will live one day, if things between you and her work out. The best is to send photos of your home in summer. If you live in a flat, send her pictures of the kitchen (and you in the kitchen); kitchen is always the place of interest for Russian women, for they all believe a woman should be able to cook, and live up to this belief. If the living room in your home is big and nice, you can also send her a picture of your living room (and you in the living room). Do not send the women pictures of your back yard (unless they show the house from an interesting angle). Do not send too many pictures of your house from all possible angles; 2-3 photos are enough. If you have a swimming pool at home, send a picture of you on the side of the swimming pool; they all LOVE swimming pools - they don't have those things in Russia, it's too cold. The best is not to just send pictures of your house but the picture of you in front of it: this way you are not sending her the photo of your house but YOUR photo - "This is me in front of my home" (no feeling that you try to "buy" her affection but at the same time satisfying her curiosity). If you are rich and would prefer not to let women know about it, send a pic of you inside your home, where it is impossible to see how big it is. If you are not rich and are afraid if the woman will be content with where you live, definitely send the photos of your home. It is better to find it out now, than when she comes to you on the fiancee visa and is shocked. Send the photo of your house after you have exchanged 4-5 letters and you feel the woman is really interested in you, and you in her.

12. If the woman did not respond to your letter, send another copy of the letter. If she still does not answer, send a letter from a different email account to make sure your address is not blocked by the woman's server (it happens!). It is confirmed that email messages often disappear, especially when sent to or from free Russian servers such as Mail.ru, Rambler.ru, Inbox.ru etc. Always have an alternative way of contacting the woman, such as phone or a different email address, in case there is a problem with her main email account. This is the biggest problem in correspondence between men and women: they both say, I received a few letters from this woman/this guy, then he/she disappeared without a notice. The reason most likely to be email-related. Do not wait forever for a woman to answer. Send her another letter and ask why she does not respond. If she decided to give up on you, such insistence can even make her change her mind!

13. Do not disappear without a notice. If you decided that some woman is not the right match for you, tell her about it, how difficult it may be.

14. Be open and honest with women, and they will do the same in return. Listen what women say. Answer their questions. Ask your own questions that are important for you in a relationship (except sexual questions; in Russia those are to be discussed only between lovers).