Embarking on a free singles search can lead you to the Promised Land of true love. Of course, it can just as easily lead you to renounce your quest for available men or women and permanently sour you on love, dating, romance, and sex. But one thing's for certain: either way, the online dating ritual will never leave you wanting for excitement.

A free singles search helps show you the lay of the land in your own backyard. If there are attractive, intelligent, quirky, lovable single men and women in your ZIP code, a cursory web search through an online dating service can turn them up immediately. Some people are all too horrified to discover that the neighborhood they'd written off as a barren romance wasteland is actually coursing with eligible singles.

Take Advantage of Your Free Singles Search

If you're one of the aforementioned horrified serial daters, turn your shock and disgust into fuel for a fruitful search. So you were wrong about your 'hood--big deal. Now that you've been given a second shot, don't squander it by spending your weekends at trendy, noisy clubs and dull parties. Obviously, that's not where the people you want to meet are hanging out.

Instead, spend some time looking over the profiles of those in your community. You'll find everything from teachers and web technicians to doctors and dietitians. You'll see that there are single men looking for single women, but also men in search of men, women in search of women, couples in search of other couples, and a few folks who are amenable to anyone who comes their way.