A Little Nudge: Online Dating Experts Provide Personalized Help With Your Profile, Communication & Matchmaking

The Short Version: Whether you’re stuck on what to say in your profile, are nervous about being single again after a breakup, or want help planning the all-important first date — A Little Nudge is here to give you the extra push you need to get over any online dating speed bump. Utilizing her expertise in online dating and finance, Founder Erika Ettin takes a relatable and mathematical approach — ensuring you’re receiving plenty of compatible matches, getting enough responses, turning messages into dates, and finding dating success.

For some people, online dating just comes naturally to them and they’re good at every aspect of it. For others, online dating can sometimes feel like work. Maybe you’re not the best writer, so your profile is what’s giving you trouble. Or maybe you struggle with getting to the second date.

Whatever the case is, every now and then you need someone with an outside perspective who can get you over that one hurdle, and for online dating that someone is Erika Ettin, Founder of A Little Nudge.

Through targeted services like profile writing, photo selection, and even date planning, Erika and her team of experts at A Little Nudge help you put your best foot forward and become a better dater overall.

Erika was kind enough to let us in on the inner workings of A Little Nudge — including its customizable services, the folks who bring their expertise to the table, how she’s reaching the masses with her insightful book, and the role her finance background plays in it all.

With over a decade of online dating experience, Erika has identified two major obstacles for singles:

1. It’s hard to write about yourself in a way that sounds genuine.

2. Online dating can be time consuming and overwhelming for some people.

Not only does Erika offer three packages that specifically address these obstacles and help daters get past them, but she also crafted them in a way that they can meet a variety of needs no matter which one you choose.

Package 1 “A Little Nudge” — Strictly Focus On Your Online Dating Profile

For singles who aren’t wordsmiths, Erika’s first package works with you to get your dating profile in tip-top shape and includes:

• A 1-hour meeting (in person or by phone) to learn about your unique characteristics and what you want in a partner.
• Dating site recommendations and expert online dating advice throughout the sign-up process.
• A new online dating profile and username to reflect the real you.
• Profile photo analysis (with the option to have professional photos taken).
• A follow-up call to get feedback from you and make adjustments if needed.
• A 1-hour phone session to go over the skills you’ve learned and the strategies that will work best for you moving forward.

Package 2 “A Little Nudge Plus” — Save Time on Emails & Finding Matches

With work, family, and general life commitments, everyone is busier than ever, so A Little Nudge Plus is a great choice for singles who have trouble finding enough time for dating. This package offers:

• Everything from the first package plus…
• 6-8 matches given to you every week.
• 5 personalized emails sent to matches a week.

Package 3 “The Platinum Nudge” — Experts Will Help You Manage Online Dating

The Platinum Nudge is a favorite among Erika’s clients because her team handles every aspect of online dating. All you have to do is show up to the date. With this package, you’ll gain access to numerous concierge services, including:

• Everything from the first package as well as…
• A photo session with a professional photographer in your area.
• Consultation with a professional stylist.
• 3 months of dating site management on two sites
• Pre-date communication.
• Date concierge services where everything is arranged for you, such as the time, location, and reservations.
• Consistent phone sessions to go over discuss feedback and progress.

Erika even offers additional services that you can purchase separately like six-session coaching and/or matchmaking programs and an App-titude Package that’s just for dating apps — as well as free features such as an active blog with advice articles like “How to Win the Dating Game.”

With every component of the company, Erika makes her clients the #1 priority and walks them through every step of the online dating process to make sure they find exactly what they’re looking for.

“That’s what we excel at here at A Little Nudge… we don’t drop the ball. If we’re communicating with someone, it will turn into a date,” she said.

The clientele at A Little Nudge is about 60% women and 40% men, ranging in ages from 22 all the way up to 72. And that diverse client base comes with diverse online dating issues Erika has to address, so she’s surrounded herself with hardworking people who are experts in a variety of related fields.

The team includes Associate Writer Emily Pickett, who excels at helping clients craft the perfect profile and emails, and experienced stylists and photographers, who are great at bringing out clients’ best physical qualities. Erika works closely with all of them to make the most out of their talents and make sure the experience is fulfilling for every dater.

“For example, I talk to my photographers about doing pictures outside or in a natural setting, no studio photography. We talk through what makes an online dating photo approachable, friendly, attractive. I give them all pointers on that, and then I let them do their thing,” she said.

“I am still with my girlfriend. It has been 10 months now. I am extremely happy. You did a great job of getting me to my last first date!” — Jason, Alexandria Virginia

Not only has this attention to detail made A Little Nudge a well-respected and booming company, but it’s given singles a place to turn to where they know their dating dilemmas will be acknowledged, heard, and solved.

“I’m here to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I love my job because it’s extremely rewarding,” Erika said.

Whether it’s in person, on the phone, or via email, Erika is understanding, friendly, and, most importantly, accessible, and she even got those qualities to shine through in her popular 2014 book “Love At First Site.”

In this fun — not to mention simple — online dating guide, Erika shows you how to increase your online dating odds by teaching you ways to highlight your best characteristics in your profile, write engaging messages that get responses, and more. She also included helpful and relatable Q&As from former clients who’ve found love thanks to her.

“I always like to say that the book takes you from first click to first date, so it takes you from signing up for an online dating site to that first date and any follow-up that happens after,” Erika said.

And with her expertise all in one place, Erika is able to disseminate a lot of valuable information to a larger number of people at one time.

Before creating A Little Nudge in 2011, Erika was in the finance industry for over seven years, receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cornell University and an MBA from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

During this time, she was also an early adopter of online dating, having joined her first dating site in 2001. When she wasn’t seeing the results she wanted, Erika decided to look at things with an analytical mind.

“The spreadsheet geek that I was, I thought, ‘Let’s see how well I can do at online dating. Let’s check my results in a spreadsheet,’” she said.

To Erika, the math had to work: If she could market herself better to singles, she would get more responses. If she got more responses, she’d get more dates. If she got more dates, the more likely one of those dates would turn into a relationship.

After tracking how many messages she sent, how many got a reply, and how many turned into a date — and adapting her process based on those results — Erika quickly got her response rate to over 60%, with a 50% conversion rate.

Erika started letting her friends in on her secrets and became inspired to leave the finance world and take the leap as a full-time online dating coach.

She’s now worked with hundreds and hundreds of clients and has been responsible for numerous dates, relationships, and marriages. Not to mention Erika is also known as “the new voice of online dating,” is JDate’s leading expert, and has been featured in popular media outlets like NPR, The Washington Post, and AskMen.

Thanks to the thorough services and dedicated team, A Little Nudge has done a fantastic job of giving singles the helping hand they’ve always needed to transform their online and offline dating lives. And we look forward to seeing what Erika and everyone will do next.