Once you've set up your fabulous profile and uploaded your best 'come hither' photo for online dating, chances are that your inbox might see more action than ever before.

And, spoilt for choice, you are sure to reply to more than just one or two emails of interested males and you are bound to start chatting online with quite a few cute guys.

Juggling a few guys online is your prerogative. But remember the more you juggle, the better your memory should be, and that could get quite complicated when chatting online.

Keep a record of what you said by not deleting your Sent Items or by saving your IM conversations.

It could help to keep notes of the things he told you. This way you'll remember that it's Adam who is a soldier, and John who is an anti-war campaigner, and avoid any subsequent embarrassment by mixing the two up.

Don't cut and paste a generic email and send it to everyone. A personal message has a much better chance of getting a response, especially if you mention exactly what it was that made you contact him.

Saying "I found your profile interesting" is not enough - why not try: "I also like Foo Fighters and went to their concert in London last year." However, don't make something like that up only to get a reply.

Be reasonable - if you email someone and they don't respond, wait a while before considering a follow-up message.

If you still don't get a response, simply move on. There may be many good reasons for him not replying (like a new email address or that he's found a girlfriend in the mean time), but it's unnecessary to spend time and effort on someone that is hard to stay in touch with.

And besides, your inbox is probably overflowing with better chatting prospects anyway!