Valentine’s Day Countdown – How to Land a Date

1. Ramp up Your Online Search

Let’s face it, everyone seems to be online theses days, so if you’re not logging on twice EVERY day, checking your matches and responding quickly to his or her emails, some other girl or guy just might get their attention faster. I always say the squeaky wheel gets the digital love deal. If you can carve out time to go to the gym, you should be able to schedule time to log on daily. Make sure you’ve signed up for push and email notifications of when someone has emailed you, liked you, flirted with your or made yo their favorite. Check out their profile and thank them for the compliment. Ditch the old waiting game rules. This is how the digital dating world words.

2. Download New Mobile Dating Apps

If you’re not on Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Happn, or are using the mobile dating apps from your favorite online dating site, make more of an effort to download these apps now! January is the busiest month for NEW online and mobile dating log ons. The numbers are HUGE, so we want you to jump right in to meet someone special.

3. Start Swiping Right

Being proactive on mobile dating apps is the only way to fill your date card. Open your apps and swipe right to your matches if they are at least 50% of what you’re looking for. Now is not the time to be swiping left. It’s really a numbers game. Unless your match is advertising for a hookup or looks like an a total freak, then swipe right and take a moment to say hello. A guy will be flattered to see the notification that you’re digging him digitally. Remember to take your relationship from online to offline so you can meet IRL. This means a few chats back-and-forth and then a MANDATORY phone date. Keep the date to 20 minutes with the goal of getting a second date on the calendar.

4. Attend Singles Events

The one thing about singles events is, everyone is in the same boat. They’re single and are hoping to connect with someone. Check out Match.com’s Stir events in your city with happy hours and fun games, RSVP to a MeetUp for a subject you’re passionate about, and attend business networking events that seem to ramp up the after the first of the year. The more you’re out there in the public, the more opportunities you have to flirt with a potential date. Remember not to be too coy. Be bold and smile.

Dr. Pat Allen, my mentor and author of”Getting to ‘I Do’,” suggests the five-second stare. It may feel like an eternity, but it may bring you closer to that cute guy across the room. P.S. Remember to wear red! It’s the color of love and romance and is backed up by tons of research studies to be known to attract men.

5. Text an Ex

Did you know that 20% of singles do text an ex on or around Valentine’s Day? So if both of you are single, why not get together and go down memory lane. Just make sure you’re BOTH on the same page and just enjoy the evening. You may not be rekindling that old romance, but the familiarity might just make it a fun evening rather than flying solo. Or, you might rekindle the romance and realize that the other people you dated while apart just didn’t match up to your ex.

Read: Holiday Dating: 5 Tips on Getting Back with an Ex

6. Lighten up on the Pressure and do Something Fun

From going to an amusement park to ride the Ferris Wheel to taking a cooking class or going ice skating, make Valentine’s Day a no-pressure experience if you’re in a new relationship and aren’t exclusive yet. There’s no need to break the bank.

Being single on Valentine’s isn’t the end of the world. Sure you go into stores and see nothing but boxes of red candy and roses throughout the grocery stores, but a new survey from U.K. online dating site Smooch.com shows that only 10% of the 2000 singles polled actually love Valentine’s Day. Are the other 90% pretending to go along with the program?

Grab your BFF’s, dress in pink or red, and head to the movies or a concert together. Valentine’s Day isn’t always about love. It’s about spending quality time with someone you really like.

Whatever you do, DON’T GHOST your date leading up to Valentine’s Day. It’s just uncool, period.

Read: 10 Fun Valentine’s Date Ideas

Are you a fan or foe of Valentine’s Day?

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Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and Mobile Dating Expert. She was an early adopter of online dating and creates Irresistible Profiles for singles on the dating scene. For more online dating advice like us at Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert, on Instagram and Twitter, and sign up for the Free Weekly Flirt newsletter.