So you’re dating online.

And you put up a picture of you and your girlfriends in Hawaii or Mexico.

In the picture, you’re all in your bikinis, you all have cocktails, and you all look like you’re having a really, really, good time.

It’s an innocent moment in your life, but the guy that’s checking out your profile right now has an idea of you that will be hard to erase.

Party girl.

He looks at that picture of you and doesn’t see someone that he can settle down with; you’re not relationship material—he’s thinking that you’re booty call material.

He’ll probably even send you some type of sexual e-mail of some kind.

If you two go out, he’s going to take you straight to some dive bar and attempt to get as many Long Island Iced Teas in you as humanly possible.

He wants sex, and rightly so.

Ladies, here’s the deal: when you put a picture up of yourself drinking with your friends, you immediately trigger images in a male’s mind. He’s now thinking that all he’s got to do is get a few drinks in you and you’ll be rolling around the sack with him.

I know it’s tough to hear but it’s true.

When it comes to online dating, you never ever want a picture of you and your friends with alcohol in your hands toasting.

Never.

All the images on your online dating profile tell a story to each man that views them. Have you really thought about what story your pictures are telling him?

If you want to meet real men, then you have to appeal to real men. If your profile is nothing but party images then you’re going to attract men that like to party. (And you may want that.)

But just know that the button-down, Oxford-educated man is not going to be sending you messages anytime soon. He’s going to send messages to the sexy woman reading a book on the beach, or cute woman in overalls painting on a giant canvas.

If you’re looking for a solid relationship with a man––not a man-boy––then you have to understand the difference between what appeals to men, and what appeals to boys.

And you can start by adjusting your online profile.