As a dating consultant, my clients who have the highest degree of success are those who actively CHOOSE their dates, rather than being chosen. If you are new to online dating or a seasoned pro, you know when you first hop on a new dating site/app, you have a barrage of likes, hearts, messages, etc.. How do you get through all those?

1. You don’t! My #1 bit of advice for my single clients is to ignore those initially (you will come back to these eventually). YOU know what you are looking for, so you need to put a little time in as it will reap rewards!

2. How? Whether you are on Bumble, Hinge, Match or any of the other 1400 dating apps out there (OMG), they generally have a search function. And that is exactly what you need to do! You have spent your valuable time (or used me!) to populate the sites with your interests, profession etc. now it’s time to put the search engine to work. This goes back to you choosing the dates. For example, Match allows you three diverse ways to search that are highly effective.

3. Geographic Area. Do not make dating hard on yourself! Begin using search functions to find singles in your area that fit the parameters you are looking for. For example, if you are in New York City, start within 5 miles. It’s such a densely populated area that most likely hundreds of potential dates will pop up that have similar interests. Then again, one of my clients in upstate New York uses a radius of 50 miles as people are spread out. But first try search with the smallest distance—it makes the first dates so much easier to set up! My clients in Los Angeles use a 10-mile span---the traffic is a barrier to dating!

4. Of course, when choosing your dates, you’ll first look at the photo. If there are only 1-2 photos, skip them. Next you’ll read their profile. Remember you don’t have to have identical interests. You may be a runner---they may be a cyclist. That’s the spice of life---trying new things! Plus, you are both active, just in different ways!

5. Ok, now that you’ve engaged with the search functions, had a few dates, it’s time to go back to those people who initially liked you. If they just sent a heart or like, delete them. Hey, they couldn’t even string a few sentences together to try to grab your attention. Time wasters. Next will be those who just messaged something like “Hi, I love your photos” or “Hey, what are you up to” or “I’d love to hear from you.” These are copy and pasters. They are lazy. Or burnt out. Delete them.

I tell my clients to keep the dating/app site clean by deleting or blocking people whom you are not interested. Don’t worry; it’s not hurtful to others and it helps keep new people popping up instead of the ones you have no interest in!

Want to do online dating the right way? I am a pro at this and 60% of my clients are in relationships.

1. Go online today and sign up for my Premium or Ultimate Package: Online Dating Profile Prices and Plans | 33000Dates

2. I will send you a Client Form to fill out.

3. Monday or Tuesday we will have a one hour Zoom call.

4. I will then write your dating profile; help select your photos and choose 1-2 dating sites to begin with.

5. If you choose the Ultimate Program (for busy people with no time) I will do all their work populating your site and begin messaging potential dates. This will be done within 3 days so by Thursday you will be ready to start setting up dates!

Ready to dates this week? Let’s go! Dating is an adventure---and I cannot wait for you to begin!

Andrea McGinty has been a dating professional since 1991 when she started the iconic It’s Just Lunch matchmaking service in Chicago and grew it to 110 locations worldwide. She then sold the company to pursue her love of helping people find love online with 33000Dates.com. She has had over 5,000 marriages and been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, People, Oprah, Today Show and many more. She loves what she does!