I had a chat with DateMy.co.uk online matchmakers for real people looking for real love via the people that know them best; their friends and family. Here is a guest blog I put together about what I truely believe is the scariest part of dating...
Finding love is tough. There, I said it. It was never meant to be, or so we thought. We were always told that he or she is “just around the corner". So we waited and waited and for lots of us - still waiting. It turns out that our ideal match must have taken a wrong turn somewhere or gone AWOL. This I’m afraid, the wait; is not even the hard part. When you start on the path to being proactive that’s when things start to become complicated and let’s face it- a dating minefield. Believe me, I speak from experience in my four years as a matchmaker for one of London’s leading dating agencies- I have heard many a story about the battlefield to finding love, that’s more often than not, the very reason they would come to meeting a professional matchmaker. It’s just so difficult out there.
So let’s cut to the chase. He or she was never just around the corner like our parents said they would be, or else millions of us wouldn’t have been swiping right/left/up/down, filling out endless online personality tests that take 3 days or in fact, watching Millionaire Matchmaker hoping to find our very own Patti to take our love life to the next level. Let me make it really simple for the many of you that have taken the plunge into the online world of being proactive in your soul mate search; writing about yourself really sucks. Your dating profile - that’s really the hard part.
Striking the balance between confidence and arrogance, achievements and tooting one’s horn, sounding fit but not like a health nut and most of all making yourself sound warm, friendly and kind, without coming across as ‘too nice’ and getting put in the friend zone. All of this even before message, numero uno. I’m exhausted just thinking about it; this is the REAL hard part.
Now, whilst your Mr or Miss Right is busy downloading Google maps to find out exactly which corner it is he or she should be turning around; let me tell you how to make it easy on yourself. Get 2-3 of your closest friends or relatives and ask them about you. Ask them what it is that makes you special and get them to write it down in their most honest way. Now this is the real you, your actual personal brand and what gives you that genuine kudos. The things they say and the way they feel about you, now that’s the real you!
I was aimlessly checking out the twittersphere and what’s new in the world and came across Date My. Straight away, I checked them out, their advice and words of wisdom to the world of singles out there and thought they have really hit the nail on the head. Having those very loved ones I just mentioned become your personal matchmaker- genius. Who in the world knows you better? As a first step into the world of dating and getting back out there, having those very people take the first step for you could be a huge weight off your shoulders. Meddling Matchmakers who really will have your best interests at heart. I do believe that what you have here at datemy.co.uk is an organic community doing the hard part so the rest is down to the singles, the fun part; dating. Singles can have genuine profiles written by third parties who are emotionally involved in the process as much as the profiled person in question. I think Date My may have cracked it!
In my opinion, dating and the search for ‘the one’ is hard enough without the admin- chances are you won’t be bothered to finish any online application yourself 3 days later. Bravo Date My you have found a niche in a saturated market that I have every confidence will build traction and work wonders for the world of singles.
You can follow Sarah on twitter: @FabSarahRyan