As you have no doubt noticed, we are writing more and more blogs for our members.

We’d love to know what you think and for you to get more involved.  Blogs are a discussion forum so please do take a minute to comment on anything you might find interesting.

If you have anything you’d like us to write about then please let us know.

We’d especially like to help you with any dating problems or questions that you have.  Remember we are dating experts and always happy to help!

Also, if you would like to get your own writing featured then please send it to us directly at   info@singlesolution.com

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

In order to make sure the first date leads to a second, it needs to be something fun and memorable which also offers the best chance to get to know each other.

Luckily, London offers more dating opportunities that anywhere else in the world.  There are so many fantastic places to go and activities to take part in that you never need to be short of ideas.

Here are five great date ideas that you might like to try:

1) Cookery Class.  Find out in advance what food they like – dating profiles often say this if you do a little research.  The rather than taking them out for a meal, book a couple of places at one of London’s many cookery schools. There are places that offer cupcake classes, sushi making. chocolate workshops or even pizza lessons. You’ll bond quickly and learn a new skill at the same time. After you’ve made something delicious together you can then enjoy it afterwards with a glass or wine or two.

2) London Zoo.  This is a wonderful for date for many reasons. It will evoke happy childhood memories and you’ll never be at a loss for something to talk about.  Take a picnic and watch your favourite animals at play.

3) Movies with a Twist.  Everyone loves a good film, but it doesn’t have to be in the company of spotty teenagers flicking popcorn at each other.  Mordern cinemas offer comfy leather armchairs with footstools,  drinks and fine food served while you watch.  Try the Electric Cinema on the Portobello Road and make sure you book a two seater sofa!

4) Afternoon Tea.  If you want to impress, why not take afternoon tea at one of London’s finest hotels?  Nothing says stylish more than drinking champagne or fine tea.  For extra kudos take them to the Ritz!

5) Bowling.  This is a traditional dating idea that has recently had somewhat of a makeover. There are now several ultra cool bowling alleys in London that offer cocktails while you bowl.  Bowling alleys like the All Star Lanes in Bloomsbury even have private rooms you can book if you want to keep things just to yourselves.

Happy Dating!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.asiansinglesolution.com

I’ve already had a fantastic response to my earlier blog today, when I talked about meeting new people each day.

ChitChatBingo have sent me the results of a survey which confirms this:

Brits find romance, friends and even business partners in queues

People say we’re cold and reserved, but in fact most Brits are happy to make small talk with strangers, with around half of us indulging our chat-habit twice a week at least (49%) according to national research by ChitChat Bingo.

So friendly are we that 16 per cent of Brits have even found romance through small talk, with a third making new friends and 3 per cent even identified a business partner.

Queues were far and away the most popular place to strike up a conversation for 35 per cent of us – even more than the quarter of us who like a good natter at work.  Bars might be popular for men, 14 per cent of whom say this is the best spot to chat to strangers; but their chances of chatting up a woman are slim as only 5 per cent of them admit to chatting with strangers in bars.  The worst place to try out your lines on a stranger is a lift, which appears to be a no-go area for all but 2 per cent of us.

The research shows that young people are most likely to engage in an impromptu chat with a stranger (92% will chat up strangers at least once a week) whereas 50 per cent of the older generation love to chat in a queue.

1.    It brightens my day     56%
2.    I’ve made friends    33%
3.    None, I loathe it    17%
4.    I found romance    11%
5.    I married someone    5%
6.    I found a business partner     3%
7.    I won money!    1%

Lee Knott, head of marketing services, said “Chat is one of the great pleasures of life, but who’d have thought it was so beneficial?  It seems that the grouchy 17% who say they ‘loathe small talk’ are missing a lot.”

Research was conducted with 1,000 adults by YourSayPays and ChitChat Bingo.

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Many people will tell me that they just don’t meet any decent single people.
The truth is that you are passing 100s of them every single day!

Each time you get on a train, walk down a road or enter a shop you will be crossing paths with a huge amount of eligible singles.

But instead of waiting for them to say hello, most people will avoid eye contact and get on with their daily lives.  They’ll say they didn’t get the chance to initiate a conversation.

Don’t wait for an opportunity – create one!

Here are some examples:

1) Bookstore.  If you see someone you like, take a look at the section of books they are looking at.  Walk up to a shelf near them, pick up an interesting
looking book, study it for a few seconds and ask them if they know much about it.  It really doesn’t matter what the book is about as it’s just a conversation starter.
They will automatically assume this “mutual interest” is something you both have in common and will be in rapport with you.

2) Cafe.    These are my favourite place to meet new people as you know they aren’t in a hurry to go anywhere.    Offer to buy them another drink and if they accept you’ve got an instant date!

3) Shop.   Now this is really easy.  Pretend that you have to buy a present for someone of the opposite sex – perhaps a brother, sister-in-law of friend. Once you have
located a person you like the look of then go up to them and ask for their opinion on what gift you should get.

4) Fitness Class.  If you are male, sign up for a Pilates or Yoga Class as these are usually 90% female.  If you are female then try a more male-orientated class like kickboxing or circuit training. Attend classes after work, not during the day as daytime classes are more popular with retired people or students.

5) Anywhere! There’s one thing you should carry round with you at all times – a map!  Approach anyone you like and ask for directions. They will subconciously have to respond or they will come across as rude – something us Brits would hate!

Happy Dating!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

We’ve put together this blog to help those people who were wondering why they should attend our events rather than a regular bar.

1. We run friendly, hosted events. The hosts can facilitate the night and to help look after you if you are on your own – normal bars have no hosts and are a nightmare if you are alone.

2. Ice breakers and speed dating. Normal bars dont have any mechanism to encourage interaction.

3. Everyone is in the same boat, single, professional, and in a reasonably narrow age range – this makes it easy to relate to everyone and therefore easy to talk to anyone.
Normal bars are full of couples, and youngsters that could be your kids age. You have no way to know who is single or going to be rude to you if you try to speak to them.

4. Profiles on the site and post event messaging. Normal bars dont have any of this.

5. Low music volume making it easy to chat – normal bars usually have loud music

6. Entertainment. – we often provide things like magicians and bands to help ice break and entertain

7. Small niche events such as theatre trips, wine tasting and casino nights

8. New clients but also regulars so the events can become lovely social places where you can catch up with people as you get to know them better.

9. Carefully controlled male:female ratio – normal bars could be any ratio

10. Cheap entry price – most clubs in the west end would charge £15 to £20 entry.

11. Full membership allows you to round up your friends and bring them all along at half price.

12. We are dating experts and can offer you dating coaching, advice and help with online dating.

We hope that’s made things a little clear. Now you can round and up your friends and join us at one of our upcoming singles parties.

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Friends parties, networking events, or singles nights can be great fun with lots of new people to meet.    However, every now and then you might find yourself cornered by someone you find a bit dull.

So what do you do?

Firstly be assured that you can talk to anyone you want to. Remember, what you find boring, someone else might find fascinating, and therefore the other person could benefit from finding someone else too.

Of course, you have the option of changing the subject. You may have to be blunt. e.g. “I’m not really following you”, or “This is going a bit over my head.” Tell me ….. ” What do you do in your spare time”, or “have you seen the [film]” etc. If this fails to find a common ground, then move on.

All you need to do is say, “It’s been lovely to chat but there’s somebody over there I’ve promised I’d catch up with,”   If they don’t take the hint, you’ll need to be firm and tell them that you are there to meet as many people as possible and you’ll see them again later in the evening. If you don’t feel like being that honest, the old one’s work too. e.g. “I’m just going to the bar, or bathroom etc.”

This isn’t specific to dating and these tips apply to all social situations.

Happy Dating!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

We love to answer people’s dating questions and dilemmas, but quite often we hear the same ones time and time again.

So today I’m going to give you five of the most common ones to save you the trouble of asking them.

1) I’ve been on the site and nobody is contacting me!  What’s going on?

We’ve answered this one many times but it’s still THE question we get asked the most.  It’s not up to people to contact you, but for you to contact them!

Not proactively sending 5 to 10 new messages per week is like joining a gym and not going – Even members who get loads of messages still need to be proactive to target the people they want, rather than the members who happen to send the messages.

We have hundreds of new members joining each month, so you should easily find 10 to 20 people you like, to message/wink/add to favourites each month. Oh and have some great photos and log in regularly too to boost your chances.

2) Can  I come to younger events, I really don’t look my age?

We probably get asked this every single day.  In fact, it’s quite amusing as the the two statements almost always come together.

It’s funny how everyone tells us how “people think they are ten years younger.”    What they are forgetting is that this isn’t the point.   It’s irrelevant how you look – our members are paying to meet people in the correct age catergories.

We have to have age limits in place for the good of everyone.  Guests needs to be within a certain age range to make sure they only meet suitable people.

Having said that, we can sometimes be a little flexible on age limits.   If the average age of the guests if higher than average then we might be able to let a few people in.

3) Can’t I just pay for one message?

No, for many reasons!  This is a bit like going into a supermarket and asking to buy an egg.   It costs a lot of money to develop and run the site and as such we have to charge for it.  If we allowed people to buy just one credit or reply to one message then it would simply have to cost about the same as a one month membership.  The second reason is that we absolutely want you to have dating success.  This means you needs to take control and message a lot of people.  The more effort you put into it then the more results you will have.

4) Why are men’s tickets cheaper than women’s tickets?

Generally speaking they aren’t – the prices are the same.  It’s just that the earlier you book then the cheaper the tickets. As women buy earlier than men then tickets go up in price quicker so it just appears.

However, for some events it’s supply and demand and we have to take action to ensure even ratios.  It’s always worth remembering that we always charge more for last minute tickets if they are available so booking early is always the best police.

5)  What’s your success rate?

This can be very high and we get success stories every day.  People who are the right calibre and proactive will meet someone quickly.  Just remember to keep positive, realistic and make sure you are the best “you” possible.

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

While the UK is gripped with Election Fever, we thought it might be fun to think what we’d do if we ran the country.

Here, for your entertainment, is the Single Solution Party Manifesto:

“A country is at its best when the bonds between people are strong and when we love each other. Today the challenges facing Singles in Britain are immense. Our society is overwhelmed by nauseating lovey dovey couples, single supplements and nagging parents. But these problems can be overcome if we pull together and work together. If we remember that we are all in this together.

Some politicians say: ‘give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems’. We say: We can help you get more dates. More dates means more fun and more adventure.

Yes, this is ambitious. Yes, it is optimistic. But in the end everything is just politicians’ words without you and your involvement.

How will we expect to find love unless we understand that we are all in this together? How will you get more matches unless every single adult spreads the word about our website ? How will we revitalise the dating world unless people stop asking “When will Mr or Miss Right come to me” and start asking ‘What can I do to find them?’ Britain will change for the better when we all elect to take part, to take responsibility for our own dating lives – if we all come together. Collective strength will overpower our problems.

Only together can we can we have bigger, better singles parties. Only together can we grow the Single Solution Database. Only Together can we teach people the secrets of what men and women really ought to know about each other. Together we can make dating work . And if we can do that, we can do anything. Yes, together we can do anything.

We promise to bring down the costs of Dating by giving every Single professional £1000 tax breaks. We promise to end Single Supplements on holidays. We promise to keep thinking up new ideas for our Singles Parties and to constantly innovate our Online Dating Site. We promise to help you find a partner…..

So our invitation today is this: join us, to form a new kind of government for Britain.

Join us – the Single Solution Party. ”

The Single Solution ran a very special event last night – a Medieval Banquet in Tower Hill.

Set in the atmospheric candle lit cellars  in St Katherine’s docks, our guests were invited to step back in time.

We were welcomed by jugglers, lute players and a Beefeater who made sure we were kept entertained.

Dressing up in historical costume was encouraged and a couple of our guests took this opportunity. The Single Solution’s Paul was transformed into “Sir Paul of Osbourne” with a rather fetching Royal Robe.

Endless flaggons of ale and  wine were brought to the table by serving wenches, which were enjoyed by all the guests.

The banquet itself was a feast to the eyes with such delights as cold meats, roast chicken, freshly baked bread and the finest fruit tarts.

Much fun was had while we ate and drank, including dancers, singers, sword fighters and a visit from King Henry 8th himself.

Afterwards, the cellars were transformed into a disco so everyone had the opportunity to dance and work off some of the amazing food and drink.

We always try to provide new events experiences to shake up the dating world, so keep an eye on the website to see what we have in store for you next!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com