I don’t mean to scare you, but if you haven’t lined up your date for Valentine’s Day yet, time is running out. Scheduling a first date on Valentine’s Day is way too much pressure, so instead, you need to line up some coffee dates ASAP to figure out who will be worth your time on that coveted evening of February 14^th.

If you’re struggling to find decent prospects after the New Year’s online dating surge, don’t throw in the towel just yet — it may simply mean you’re in need of an urgent profile refresh. Many of my clients have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled their inbox with a few simple adjustments. Here are 7 profile changes to make if you want to line up a date for Valentine’s Day!

     1. BECOME A SHUTTERBUG

You know you’re posting pics on Instagram daily so the old, “I don’t have any pictures to use in my profile” excuse isn’t going to fly. Take the next three days and go on a photo spree. Snap solo shots of yourself using my patented “3Cs” –

• Color
• Context
• Character

Add more color, context and character to every pic and you’re bound to start turning heads online.

     2. SPELL IT OUT

The only thing worse than a bare profile is a profile that could double as a novel.  Thin out your text and make it more readable by starting each key part of your life with a headline or topic sentence — i.e. “The Road to Los Angeles” or “Me, Myself, and Idaho.”

     3. DITCH THE DEMANDS

Most of my clients come to me with a profile that talks more about what they don’t want than what they do want. Eliminate any demands about what your new partner must do or cannot do. Also cut out the rants about how you’re tired of getting emails from losers or how your ex spurned you.  You might be turning the good ones off along with the bad ones.

     4. LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY

Studies have shown that people are more likely to be messaged if their profile is a total turnoff to some, yet intriguing to others. If you have a safe, middle-of-the road profile that doesn’t say anything about who you truly are, you may be missing out. Don’t be afraid to show off your quirky, nerdy, or goofy side. That could be just the thing that makes someone sit up and take notice of you.

     5. EASE UP ON YOUR CRITERIA

A couple of pounds, inches, or years of age really don’t matter in the long-run. By broadening your criteria, you stay open in your search so that you can later decide if someone is worth pursuing once their response email comes in. Also, by being proactive and doing a search at least THREE times per week (if not daily) for expanded specifications, you will likely see more hotties rolling in. If my husband didn’t ignore the age criteria I had listed on my profile, we may never have met!

     6. PHOTOSHOP IT

Photo editing is only controversial if you’re changing the way you look. Otherwise it’s commonplace to adjust lighting, exposure, sharpness, or contrast to improve your photo quality. One simple trick to stand out amongst the rest is to crop out anyone else in the photo. If you edit photos yourself, you can control where the eye goes and make sure it doesn’t wander to your very attractive friend standing next to you.

     7. DON’T CONTRADICT YOURSELF

“I’m just as comfortable in a pair of sweats as I am in a pair of high heels” just doesn’t sound authentic. And yet the majority of profiles read this way. Be more specific and honest about who you are and what you enjoy in order to attract a potential match. By all means, don’t lie about liking an activity just because you think it will make you more popular with the opposite sex.

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