It’s a well known fact in the online dating industry that Christmas is the busiest time of year on online dating sites. Why is it that the Christmas spike beats even Valentine’s day when it comes to people rushing to the sites to find love?
Christmas is one of those times of year when being alone can, frankly, really suck. All those images of happy families everywhere are bad enough, so couple that with the pressures of spending time with your family and the miserable weather and it might account for some of the reasons behind the traditional rush. Also, with people being off work, there’s plenty of free time to be spent alone wishing someone else was there with them.
Posted in: Misc
on November 28th, 2008
When you’ve met someone online who seems normal, it stands to reason that you’ll want to speak to them on the phone sooner or later. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want just any person to have my mobile number and I sure wouldn’t want them to have my landline number unless I had good reason to believe that person isn’t a freak.
Posted in: Online Dating Tips
on November 27th, 2008
Looks like the online dating company I used to work for has been sold for a second time, having sacked 70% of its employees only recently. I understand it’s been sold to Easydate. It’s a real shame that a company that used to be so successful went downhill so quickly to the point where it was apparently bleeding money on a daily basis. It used to be one of the most lucrative companies of its kind. This sad ending a long way away from the happy-go-lucky start up Allegran was when I started working there, staffed by brilliant people, many of whom I still call my friends today.
Posted in: Industry stuff
on November 18th, 2008
As seen on the TV ad, Match.com have now extended the 7 day free trial offer. Sign up before November 30 to make use of this:
Match.com 7 day free trial
Posted in: Dating site coupons and offers
on November 3rd, 2008
This one is new to me, but has apparently been around for a while. A friend of a friend was communicating with someone on a big free dating site who claimed to be a soldier based in Iraq.His profile picture had him wearing a uniform and holding a gun, but he described himself as “shy”. He asked her for a relatively small sum of money (for a scammer) as a deposit for a service that would allow them to speak on the phone. Once paid, he disappeared. Turns out he was doing the rounds on the site, conning lots of women out of cash.
This serves as a good reminder to be careful while dating online. Especially on free dating sites. Never send money to anyone you meet on a dating site!
Here are some more handy online dating safety tips.
Posted in: Online Dating Tips
on November 3rd, 2008
I just realised that Match are actually offering a 7 day free trial at the moment, but you have to sign up by 20 October to make use of it. This is for the UK site and for full membership.
Here’s a link:
Match.com 7 day free trial
If you miss that one, there’s always the 72 hour offer I posted about before 
Posted in: Dating site coupons and offers
on October 14th, 2008
Here’s a useful link that’ll get you a 72 hour free trial on Match.com (UK site). This is for full membership, rather than the usual “look, don’t touch” free trial membership. Apart from being one of the most likely contenders for biggest dating site in the UK and having a lot of (rather obnoxious) TV ads, Match are also known for being the first in the UK to offer a money back guarantee for people who don’t find love on the site within 6 months of joining. I’d love to know what the stats are for that!
Follow the link below to sign up.
Free 72 hour trial with Match.com!
More dating site special offers to come (hopefully!).
Posted in: Dating site coupons and offers, Online Dating Tips
on October 12th, 2008
I’ve managed to get my hands on a promotional discount code for Lavalife. I’m going to be collecting discount codes/special offers for various online dating sites on this blog from now on.
Lavalife is huge in the US/Canada and is now big in Australia too. They claim to have over 15 million members worldwide.
They’ve handily separated out their members according to what they’re looking for. This means you’re less likely to come across someone looking for casual sex when you’re looking for love and marriage. They also now have a specific community set up for mature daters. I
As with most sites, you can sign up, look around and flirt for free, but if you’re looking for the good stuff (actually communicating with people) you’ll have to pay.
So if you want to try out Lavalife for less, here’s a discount coupon code to save 15% off any subscription. Follow the link, sign up for a free account and then, if you like what you see, go through and pay using the code and you will get your 15% discount. Click the link below to make use of this offer:
Save 15% off any Lavalife subscription! Use Coupon Code 780121.
Posted in: Dating site coupons and offers, Online Dating Tips
on October 10th, 2008
Apparently a Polish company wants to buy the translation rights for my book. I never thought I’d get translated into another language, so this is quite exciting.
Posted in: Book stuff, Latest news
on October 8th, 2008
A very close friend of mine has been wrongfully arrested and detained in Dubai since the 26th of January. So far, without being officially charged.
31-year-old Cat Le-Huy, Head of Technology at Endemol UK, was detained and arrested during a tourist visit to Dubai for carrying melatonin, an over-the-counter jet lag aid. Though once in custody Le-Huy tested negative for drugs and his melatonin was cleared by officials, he is still in Dubai jail with no charges and no release date.
Full story can be found on the Free Diz page where you can also donate to his mounting legal defense fund. Talk about Dubai being a tourist trap…
All of his family and friends (myself included) are shocked and worried.
Please pass this on to friends and family. Also, please spread the word around that Dubai is NOT a safe place for Western tourists, regardless of what their advertising campaigns say.
More information about this and other similarly horrible cases can be found on the BBC news site.
Posted in: Latest news, Misc
on February 10th, 2008
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