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Review of SilverSingles.com

SilverSingles.com markets itself as a dating site for single mature adults. Yes, they have one of the largest community of singles aged 55 and over, however we were pleasantly surprised to find this site has expanded it’s community to 40 to 85 years of age.

After a few minutes online, SilverSingles.com feels like your favorite warm blanket on a cold winter day. It is comfortable, cozy and feels right at home.

SilverSingles.com is free to join. You can post your personal ad, including a photo for free. You only need to become a subscriber when you decide you want to exchange email or chat with someone online. So you basically don’t have to shell out a dime until you find someone you would like to get to know better.

The site questionnaire is longer than most, five (5) screens of questions, each including an essay question covering all the normal questions, “About Me”, “What You’re Looking For” , “What I’ve Learned from Past Experiences”, etc.. The questions also do a nice job of identifying your interests, likes and dislikes. Questions range from religious beliefs, smoking and drinking, to favorite cuisines, music and activities both doing and watching. I found their questionnaire complete without going overboard like eHarmony.com. My only complaint is, the essay questions should allow people to write more than 200 characters. I think the “About Me” section should allow 800 or 1000 characters. Woman love to write and I like to read what they have to say about themselves. Still, SilverSingles.com does get the basics across and you can ask for more info when you contact with them via email.

So, free membership allows you to post a free personal ad, including a picture and then sit back and see what happens. You only need to pay to become a subscriber if you meet someone. Subscription fees cost $24.95 per month, which is about average when it comes to dating sites.

Now, the cool thing about SilverSingles.com is the fact you can send up to 30 “Teases” a day to other people for no charge. In fact, you don’t need to be a subscriber to send a “Tease”. A “Tease” is a canned one line message. SilverSingles.com does a very nice job of organizing these “Teases” into categories such as: Sincere, Romantic, Poems, Movie Lines, etc… It is a neat way to get someone’s attention. We suggest you join SilverSingles.com, browse people in your area, then send out “Teases”, up-to 30 a day!. Then sit back and see what happens. If you’ve created a good profile and have a decent photo, you should get some contact, and then you can decide if it is worth the $25.00 to join.

In the end, dating sites are about the community of singles who make up the site. SilverSingles.com is a winner when it comes to creating a site for singles 40 and over.

Review of Great-Expectations.com

This is not a review so much as a story. I was having coffee at Starbucks with my girl friend Nikki a couple of weeks ago when she told me she was tired of being alone every Friday and Saturday night. I told her she should give internet dating a try. Nikki is a gorgeous 38 year old brunette who is a successful real estate broker in Southern California. She has focused the last 15 years of her life building her business and none of the men she’s met have been able to keep her attention. Nikki has outgrown the bar scene, and most of the social circles she runs have a very low bachelor count. As we visited over coffee, she told me she still was hopeful her one true love was out there, but she knew the clock was ticking.

Nikki works with the southern California elite (attorneys, doctors, CEO, top athletes, and several Hollywood stars). Nikki is their go-to girl when they want to buy and sell property because she’s as smart as she is beautiful. She is driven, focused and knows how to work a room better than anyone I’ve ever met. But she is single, never married and lonely. She wanted my advice.

Somehow MyCountryMatch.com, one of my favorite sites just didn’t seem like an option. Nikki doesn’t want her picture available for the whole world to see. She’s worried about the negative gossip that can travel in her circles. It isn’t that she can’t attract a guy, she just can’t find the right guy who shares her same views on family, children and marriage.

So, I suggested she try Great Expectations. This is a different type of dating site where each and every member is screened. You make an appointment via their website, then go into one of their local offices around the country. Service is very personalized and it’s totally confidential.

Nikki took me up on my advice. She made an appointment at the Irvine, California office of Great Expectations. She was met by one of their counselors where they had her fill out a complete questionnaire about herself and what she was looking for. They also create a 3-4 minute video profile and took updated photos.

All of this information is posted on their private, members only website. The nice thing about Great Expectations is not only do they screen every member, they also run complete background checks on each member. So Nikki didn’t have to worry about guys who lie about being married, or about where they live or the type of jobs they have. This is clearly a solution designed for people like Nikki. Personalized service, extremely safe and confidential. In talking with her today, she told me Great Expectations has helped her get her foot back into the dating scene, meeting other single, career professionals who share interests similar to hers.

It doesn’t cost anything to visit the site, fill out the form and wait for them to contact you. They have different pricing plans and I promised Nikki I wouldn’t say how much she spent. I gave them a middle of the road rating because of the cost and limited membership. I think for Nikki it is the best choice, but it isn’t for everyone.

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admin on February 20th 2007 in Dating, Other Dating Resources, Swingers, Travel