By Phil Seyer

After you make a connection, how do you make love last? If you really like some one, perhaps even love them, how do you communicate that? How can you say "I Love You" or, if that is too much, "I really like You" so that the other person feels it.

Here are seven tips on how to do that. I suggest you use these tips as a starting point for your own creative way to say, "I Love You." Caution: avoid using these tips until you really do feel strongly that you'd like to move a relationship forward. Why? Because these tips can be very, very effective. It is important to be careful what you wish for — if you get my drift.

1. Dinner with Love Music. Arrange a dinner date at your place. Find an hour of great love songs and play them during dinner. Here is a list of tunes to get you started. Many of these can be downloaded from itunes.com, download.com, napster.com or other music services

Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Do the Walls Come Down
Every Breath You Take
Head Over Heels
I Am Waiting
I Fall to Pieces
I Will Always Love You
Nights in White Satin
When a Man Loves a Woman
Higher and Higher

Bonus tip: Always have a CD, tape or digital music player available for playing your favorite love tunes in your car!

Although music is a great way to show love. Putting your thoughts on paper is an age-old approach that can also work wonders.

2. Greeting Cards. Buy some traditional greeting cards as a start. Study these cards and perhaps give them to your potential mate along with a small gift. But then, and here is the kicker, follow up with some custom greeting cards. Check out what is available by Googling "print greeting card software."

Besides printing the usual greeting card, consider, printing a huge laminated poster! A good place to have that done is at OfficeMax (watch for specials) or at Kinkos. If you want to save a few bucks, have the greeting card (poster) printed on regular paper and then mount it yourself on poster board. You can purchase the poster board and a special glue in a convenient spray bottle for this purpose at OfficeMax.

The first two tips talked about tangible things you can do. This next tip is more Spirtiual in nature, but equally important.

3. Adopt a Attitude of "Goodwill." As you get to know someone, there is a tendency to become dissatisfied and to want to change the other person. Many self-help relationship books teach us to talk it out and communicate — to make sure that we are assertive and make sure that we are not taken advantage.

This is fine, but carried to extreme, there is something missing — that is, a spirit of good will. If we approach relationship problems with a spirit of good will, we can often ignore little things that bug us and focus on what is really important — the love we feel within. People who have tried focusing on a spirit of good will in their relationships often report a dramatic shift for good in how well they get along.

OK, suppose you've got a really hot date planned. Here's an important tip that can help. It's a "hygiene factor." That is, it won't make the date a success, but it will help you avoid making the date a disaster.

4. Avoid distractions. Totally, focus your attention on the person you are with. Make a list of things that you promise yourself you will NEVER do when you are "making out" or making love with your partner: Here's a list of suggestions to get you started.

1. NEVER leave your cell phone on.
2. NEVER answer the phone.
3. NEVER call your partner by the wrong name.
4. NEVER check the time.
5. NEVER interrupt yourselves for a pet that wants attention.
6. NEVER watch TV.
7. NEVER jump up afterwards and rush home.
8. NEVER fall asleep immediately afterwards.
9. NEVER think about someone else.

OK, that's what NOT to do. In the next few tips, you'll find some ideas on how to communicate a feeling of love.

5. Movie and a Song. Get a romantic movie that features a great love song that you like. Get the song and play it in the car and during dinner, Then invite your date to watch the movie with you. Suggestion: Get the song "I will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (if you are really up to that) and rent the movie The Body Guard.

6. Questions and Answers. Have a fun question and answer session with your partner. Done with a spirit of good will. Make up some interesting questions before hand. Invite your partner to review the list of questions and add to or modify them. Here are some questions to get started:

What do you want to be remembered for?
What are you looking forward to accomplishing in the next 10 years? 5 years? 1 year?
6 months? Next month? next week?
What did you want to be when grew up?
What was the most fun you ever had with your clothes off?
What was your most embarrassing moment?

The idea is that if you really care about someone you will be able to bare your soul. Another way to reveal yourself to your partner is with the Now is that True? game.

7. Now is that True? Play the "Now is that True?" game with your partner. It goes like this: you take turns telling stories about your past. Either tell the story straight in a true way, or deliberately change the story to make it false or untrue. At the end of the story, say, "Now, is that true?" The person listening to the story then guesses whether it is true or false. If the person guesses correctly, that person gets a point; otherwise, the teller of the story earns a point.

This is a great way to reveal your past to your partner and to learn more about him or her. If you win, be gracious and remember the purpose of the game: to show your love for your partner by revealing yourself to him or her.