(GuySpeak.com) -- Q. I'm trying online dating, but I'm only receiving messages from the trashy loser types. I know that I'm pretty, smart, funny, and nice, and there's nothing glaringly wrong with my profile that seems obvious. But the guys with my same qualities just aren't sending me messages or responding to mine. What's going on?

A. Welcome to the world of online dating. Actually, no, welcome to the world of any kind of dating.

What's going on is the same thing that goes on with everyone else who dates. Think of all the dating clichés you're heard: A good man is hard to find. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince. Dating is a marathon, not a sprint. Nothing worth having comes easily. All those and more apply here. There might be a lot of fish in the sea, but the majority of them are throwbacks. Unfortunately, sorting through them is a necessary evil and the only way to find a good match.

I have zero experience with online dating, but I would guess that the longer you do it, the better you get at attracting and spotting potential mates and avoiding undesirables. Still, there's no way around having to separate the wheat from the chaff. That's a good thing, though, because the exercise will hone your criteria for what you want and don't want in a mate.

All I can recommend for you is patience and diligence. There's nothing unusual about what you are experiencing, if that's your concern. But there's no short cut around it, either.

Guyspeak readers: if any of you who have tried online dating want to share your thoughts on this particular topic, we would love to hear them.

Thanks for the question, Nicki.

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