It's a fact; Salsa dancing is growing in popularity every day. And as more and more people emerge onto the scene, many websites have been quick to respond by offering their readers partner searches. A great idea -- these online services are perfect for anyone who wants to improve their dancing and meet new people. But before you start going out of your way in hopes of finding your dancing soulmate, a few precautions should be taken. The main thing is to make sure your safety comes before anything else. This will become apparent why as you continue reading. There are other things of course you should remember as well: mind your manners, stay positive, have fun. Making the right connection may take awhile, but if you keep these simple directives in mind, you should be able to make a few friends along the way and still have a good time. The below list is by no means exhaustive, but it's good place to start if you've never done a partner search before and need a bit of advice.

1. Start off on the right foot and get yourself a free e-mail account. Yahoo, Hotmail, whatever. Just keep it anonymous. Use it to weed out the 'non-dancers' interested in dating or harassing you rather than dancing Salsa.

2. Interview your potential partners a bit first before meeting them. The name of their dog is not important, but skill level, motivation and time spent dancing on average per week are key bits to determining if you've got a good match. Use your best judgment. Social dancing is based in part on trust, so keep this in mind. If something sounds odd, ask about it. If the answer doesn't satisfy you, cut ties and start talking to your next potential partner. Don't take unnecessary chances.

3. Leave little to chance by setting the ground rules upfront. No matter how careful you are about screening, there is a big difference between e-mailing someone and actually spending time with them. An individual's personality can be very different from what you expect when you finally do meet them face-to-face.

4. Keep your first meeting short and at a dance club you are familiar with. Agree to dance for only a couple of songs and a brief chat. This way you get to spend the balance of the evening dancing with friends and less pressure is put on the both of you to spend too much time together too soon.

5. Be specific about where you are going to meet, what you look like and what you will be wearing. No one likes to spend their entire evening wondering if the person next to them is 'Juan' or 'Tracy' because they didn't get enough information about appearance upfront.

6. If you make a date to meet, keep it. Don't stand people up. It's bad manners and the word will get put out pretty quickly that you're just wasting everyone's time. If you can't make it, call far enough in advance to make your apologies and see if you can reschedule.

7. Don't let your potential partner pressure you into dancing with them if you don't feel that the two of you are compatible. This should be a mutually beneficial dancing relationship. Just because you may be good for them, doesn't mean they will be good for you.

8. Leave the classroom at home on your first time out together. You don't know this person well enough yet to start telling them how they should be doing doubles. Dance only to see if you have good dance chemistry and a basic set of common skills. The technical stuff can come later. Enjoy your initial time together before you go all hardcore on them and start talking about weekend trips to whatever Salsa congress is coming up!

9. Give partner searching a fair shake. You may have to meet quite a few people before you find someone who is right for you, but your efforts will be well worth it in the end. You may even wind up making more friends than you ever thought possible.

10. Be gracious and upbeat. Remember to thank your potential partners for meeting you. They are probably just as nervous as you are so good manners and a positive attitude will help ease any tension, but most of all… be yourself and have fun with it!