Now that you have a set of attention grabbing photos, you need to intrigue them with your profile.
With most apps these days, all you need to write (and all you have space for) is a few sentences, which seems easy. Yet, for anyone who has spent some time on the dating apps, you know that most profile blurbs are quite blah, if they exist at all.
Here at GetSetDate, we are strong advocates for putting the time and thought into crafting a good profile. From our interviews and research, it’s clear that if you are serious about finding a high-quality match, this is a step not to be skipped.
SHOW DON’T TELL
Remember your middle school English teacher’s number one rule for writing? It’s still true.
The majority of profiles fall into two boring categories: a list of interests or a list of adjectives.
“I love to have fun and laugh, everything outdoors, food, wine, travel, and hanging with my friends”....right, you and everyone else. If you like to cook - what’s your signature dish? If you like to travel - what’s your favorite place or experience? If you like to read, who are your favorite authors? As much as you can paint a picture with words, do so.
“I’m funny, adventurous, and ambitious”...let someone else be the judge of that. If you’re funny, make a joke (not stolen from the internet). If you’re adventurous, describe an adventure. If you’re ambitious, what are you goals?
DON’T SHY AWAY FROM STATING DEALBREAKERS
While it’s tempting to try and appeal to everyone, at the end of the day, when you try to appeal to everyone, you’re appealing to no one. And do you really want to go on a ton of mediocre dates or a smaller number of dates with people who are really excited to meet you?
Are you looking for something serious? Is religion very important? Are you vegan for moral reasons? Put that in your profile. It’s ok to be a little polarizing. Sure, saying those things will discourage many people, but those are the people you probably want to filter anyway, and the ones who are on the same page as you will be that much more interested in you. Just be thoughtful of how you word it, keep it tactful and positive.
HAVE AN EASY HOOK
While this probably won’t end all the “Hey.” and “Hi.” messages you get, it should reduce it by a good amount. If you’ve followed our advice above for writing a profile (and our photo selection advice here, you should already have a profile that invites more interesting conversation starters than “Hi”, but just in case...it doesn’t hurt to ask a question or ask for a recommendation.
As a bonus, questions like “What’s your favorite place in the city / activity / restaurant?” can organically lead to planning that first date.
GET A SECOND OR THIRD OPINION
Find someone whose opinion you trust, and ask for feedback. It never hurts to sanity check with someone to make sure your profile comes across the way you intended (they’ll also spot your typos). Feel free to contact us as well, we’d be happy to review your profile and give some pointers.