Treat people as you’d like to be treated.

We know that, so why doesn’t everyone act like it?

Respect is key when it comes to dating.  I often hear grumbles about rude behaviour, so I’ve put a few tips and guidelines together to help.

1) If you get an email from a member and you aren’t interested, send them a quick thank you but no thank you message.  There’s no excuse not to as we even provide a few pre written messages that you can send back for free.

2)If someone approaches you at a singles party then it’s polite to talk to them for a few minutes.  It’s probably taken them a lot of guts to work up the courage to say hello.  You don’t have to speak for long if you aren’t interested.  It’s always a good idea to leave them feeling a little happier than before you chatted.

3) Always be on time for a date and don’t keep them waiting around. If you have to be a little late then call them to apologise. A  text won’t cut it. Make sure you buy the first drink to apologise and you’ll be forgiven quickly.

4) If you go on a date and don’t want to see them, then let them know in a respectful manner.  Thank them for there time and don’t keep them waiting around for ever.

5) If you accept a drink from someone then you must accept that you need to talk to them while you drink it.  I’ve seen girls take the drink and the walk off right away which is not acceptable behaviour.

Good luck!
James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Everyone seems to have their own matchmaking software nowadays

But how accurate are they really?

Matchmaking software aims to examine members’ core beliefs and characteristics to give them a reliable idea of the type of people they should be dating to get a long lasting relationship.   I was recently asked about my thoughts on this so I thought I’d share them here.

I believe that this sort of profiling might well be useful, but is most probably flawed due to two well know psychological effects.

Barnum Effect:  The problem with any form of test is that people are rarely honest about themselves.  The Barnum (or Forer effect) is the idea that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that they believe are specifically for them, but are in fact general enough to apply to a variety of different people.  Sof if you give someone the results of a personality profile then they’ll choose to accept the bit they likes or overlook the ones they don’t.

Placebo Effect:  If you tell someone that they have been matched with the very latest state of the art findings then they’ll subconsciously find themselves working hard to fill in the gaps.  This may or may not be a good thing. On one hand, they’ll put more of an effort into making a relationship work.  On the other it doesn’t really matter whether your matches are real not not.

I really don’t know how accurate these tests really are.  From my experience,  the secret of successful dating is all about chemistry.  There are obviously certain things that are vital when it comes to matching.  This could be religion, race, age etc.  However , most people have relatively open mind and will surprised by who they actually really do get on with.

Please do add a comment and let me know your own thoughts on this.  Have you tried it and how did it work out for you?

Happy dating,

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Our Halloween Spooktaculars are legendary.

So book this year’s party. It’ll be a scream.

Over the years, our Halloween parties have gained a great reputation for being fantastic events.  They attract large crowds and we always get lots of extras to help make the event really special.

This year we’ll be at our most popular venue  – The Abbey on Saturday 29th October.  As always, we’ll be decorating it to give it the full Halloween spooky makeover.

We’ve lined up some excellent entertainment for you including the returns of Tarot Reader Hayley and DJ Titch.  We’ve also got a brand new magician for you – Mark Oldham.  Mark comes highly recommended having worked alongside our other magicians Graeme and Terry.

Fancy dress is completely optional, but we find that if you make the effort you’ll have a so much more fun!  You don’t need to hire a full blown costume but a mask or wig can make all the difference.  So many shops now sell Halloween costumes that there’s not excuse for not brining something along.  We’ll have fantastic prizes for the best outfits.

Do book up now to make sure you get a ticket as this event always sells out.

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Is double dating twice the fun?

Or is it double the trouble?

Many singles find themselves in this situation at some stage in their dating lives.  You and a friend both have dates lined up and you think it might be a good idea to meet them at the same time.  Surely there’s more fun in a group isn’t there?

Of course, this type of scenario comes with it’s own set of problems that you wouldn’t get on a one to one night out.

What if one of your fancies your friend’s date instead?  Who decides where to go?

On the plus side, more people means more conversation and less chance of it drying up.

The reality is that it’s only ever going to work if you are all quite similar in personality. Otherwise one person will dominate the conversation or another might be too shy and let everyone else do the talking.

I would advise you to give it a go every once in a while, just to spice your dating life up a bit.   You can get feedback from your friend after the event and see how you think each other did. They are likely to give you an honest answer and you can discuss your next step.  You never know, you might even learn a thing or two.  Just make sure you pay attention to YOUR date and don’t flirt with the other person.

Double dating can work byt don’t make a habit of it as you won’t get to know someone properly if you aren’t on your own.   You don’t need anyone else to hold your hand!

If you’ve got a funny or interesting double date story then please email it to me at   info@singlesolution.com

Happy dating!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Men, would you like to increase your speed dating matches?

Here’s a quick little tip that might help.

When it comes to speed dating, women tend to be a lot fussier when it comes to working out who they connect with.  So the men come away liking more women than like them.

There was an interesting study recently carried about Psychology Today Magazine in the US.   It was all about speed dating and how women and men think about it differently.

Usually, the women are seated and the men move round every three or four minutes.  Women often have bags so it’s easier for the men to do the moving.

However, in the experiment they made the men stay put and the women walked around instead.  The results were astounding.  The women suddenly rated the men as being much more attractive.

Why did this happen?  It’s simple – it put the men in a position of power.  When the women have to do the approaching it makes them feel like they are doing the chasing.  Both men and women then respond accordingly and adapt to it, letting the man take control.  The women have to lean in and work harder to make a good first impression.  As they’ve put the effort in, they are then more likely to be open to a date.

We might test this out at a few of our upcoming singles parties.  If you take part then please let us know if you thought it worked better or not.

Happy dating!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

www.singlesolution.com

Companies are always thinking of ways to help you date.

By is this one step too far?

Modern technology is always improving to help bring people closer together.  First there was the internet, then online dating, mobile phones and now an increasing number of phone apps.

The latest is an app that allows you to see who is single within a certain radius of where you are.  So, it potentially makes finding other singles much easier.

Following in the footsteps of the very popular Gay Dating App, Grindr, several companies are now releasing their own straight versions.

While I would say that anything that can help bring people together is a good thing, I have my own reservations about this.

Most importantly, do people really want to announce to the world that they are a) single b) available and c) nearby?  This opens a whole can of worms when it comes to security, safety and privacy. You could potentially be located by anyone who has the app – regardless on whether or not you think they might be a good match for you.

Also, the service is reliant on a good GPS signal.  Many bars and clubs and underground and won’t have a great connection, making this useless.

I’d advise you not to bother with gimmicks like this. Instead, why don’t you just go up and say hello to someone you like the look of?   You have to cross this barrier, with or without a mobile phone app!

Of course, this will work for some people but I expect it to be very male heavy.  The few women who use it will get inundated though.

I’d love to hear your own thoughts on this. Is it something you’d find useful and a tool you’d be happy to use?

Happy dating!

James Preece – The Dating Guru

August was a great month for us.

Here are some of the success stories and feedbacks we had across the Single Solution sites.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to express how much I’ve enjoyed using the site and associated events, and the ongoing success it brings me in my dating life.” KT

“I have finally met the perfect one. Thanks for the help” DG

“Good site and the chat facility is a nice option to have.” AC

“Service is good and I enjoyed the speed dating event I went to.” KP

“Thanks for everything” TV

“Good website and genuine profiles” CG

“I think it is a good service and may use this service in the future.”  RP

“Worked for me! Been with my partner that I met on the website for almost a year now. Thanks.” PS

“The one event I attended was interesting and well organised” BS

“Thanks for a good service” RH

“I met someone on your dating site, and am no longer single. Feed back : A very good site.” RB

“I thought the site was good, and spoke with a couple of interesting people,I’d recommend it.” AA

“I’m no longer single. I thought the events were great though, especially the ice breaker so keep up the good work.” PS

“I met someone on your dating site, and am no longer single. Feed back : very very good.” DK

“Easy to use, good website” PK

“Good: Speed dating was enjoyable – great skill building! Venue: Pleasant, classy. Staff: Friendly. Website: Excellent and easy. Met a few interesting women and made good friends with at least 3; still dating two of them.” KT

“You provide a good service and have enjoyed the events I have been to” TT

“I think the website is really good” SJ

“Icebreakers are good to get even the nervous going. Keep it going you’re doing a good job.” AP

“Good mix of people, nice venue” RC

“Excellent servive…great customer service.. many thanks..ajay” AM

“Good site, easy to use.” SP

“Your site is very good, i did meet some interesting potential partners” GS

The Single Solution is 9 years old!

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate at our big party on Saturday

We pushed out all the stops for this one, spending all the profits on making it special.

We had a large crowd who enjoyed the complimentary wine and the canapes/buffet.  We’ve already had lots of great comments and feedback about the event and by all accounts it was one of our most popular events ever.

The highlight of the night was of course Lady G – our amazing Lady Gaga tribute act.  She kept the guests well and truly entertained with her uncanny vocal abilities, along with her sexy dancers.  We had decided to get them in as a special treat for our guests and to try something a bit different.  By all accounts this worked wonderfully.

We’d like to thank everyone for their support over the last 9 years.

We’ll be making sure our 10th birthday is even bigger and better, so make sure you don’t miss that one.

Best Wishes,
James and Paul

www.singlesolution.com

We’ve got some nice cold bottles waiting for some of you.

Read this to find out more

We love getting success stories and we get them each and every day.  We always post the best ones to our blog, along with our latest feedback.

Recently we’ve heard about lots of marriages through our site, so we are pretty sure there are even more that we’ve not been told about yet.

If you have your own success story, then please do tell us about it so we can share this with our other members. By telling your story you can give other dating members a welcome boost in their search and confirming to everyone that our service really does works!

If you give us a quote and email us over a photograph of the pair of you we’ll send you a bottle of champagne ( or a High Street gift voucher if you prefer)

To qualify, you will need to have been dating at least 2 months.

So get in touch now and share the love.

Happy dating,

James and Paul

www.singlesolution.com

Our big birthday party is next month

So to celebrate we’ve lined up our best ever party!

Singlesolution.com was first launched in 2002 and we’ve been going from strength to strength ever since.

We like to use this annual event as a way of thanking our loyal members so we spend all profits on making sure it’s out most amazing party ever.

The trouble was, how do we top last year?

We sat and though about what would make our ideal partner, then acted on it.  So this year we are pulling out all the stops and going further than we’ve ever gone before.

The highlight of the event will be the UK’s best Lady Gaga tribute – “Lady G”      She’ll be appearing live on stage with her two backup dancers, singing all your favourite Lady Gaga songs.  This promises to be an amazing all singing, all dancing show that will rock your socks off.

As well as this, we’ll have a drink for you on arrival,  some delicious canapes and other special surprises.

We’re asking everyone to dress up for the party to mark the sense of occasion.

We STRONGLY suggest that you don’t hesitate it booking this party as we know it will sell out quickly.  So please, round up your single friends and book now. We’d love to celebrate this special birthday with you.

Best Wishes,

James and Paul

www.singlesolution.com