Have you ever felt nervous when you're meeting someone for the first time? Rod from the Dating Show was summoned to Spain to go and meet the man behind Older Dating Online. He'd only ever chatted via emails, texts and phone calls before and had the vision of Dave as a Bond villain, like Scaramanga.
It was a bit like going on your first date after meeting someone through online dating although it clearly wasn't a date! Anyway, it turned out that Dave isn't scary at all, and he's a nice guy. If you're interested in what he has to say about being the man who helps thousands of people find love online, you can listen to his chat with Rod here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r20F2CSyLs
Or if you fancy having a read of the conversation instead, carry on reading below.
R: You're obviously in charge of all these dating sites. Just look back and just tell me how you first got into Internet dating and where you are today really.?
D: It was nine years ago. I was single in my 50s. I joined some online dating sites and I decided it wasn't really for me. I was looking at 18 year olds to 99 year olds. I thought it was time there was a dating site just for people of my own age group. I wanted to meet people of my own age from maybe 50 upwards. ?
R: And now you've got sites all across the world?
D: We started in the UK, but we've now got sites all across the world. All my sites are looking for English speaking people, so we're looking at expats in various countries. We're focused on the UK, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. ?
R: Are they as popular in each of those countries? Or is one country more Internet dating friendly than another? ??
D: No, it's very popular now everywhere. To start with it was more the UK, and people were very unsure about looking for love using Internet dating to start off with, but it's just become the norm for meeting people in all countries. ??
R: 5, 10 years ago, it was sort of frowned upon in a way, wasn't it? But now, it's the norm. ??
D: I think some people frowned upon it, or they were very nervous about admitting they were using Internet dating sites, but now it's the norm. Most people nowadays meet online. They realise that they can meet the person of their dreams online. There's far more chance of meeting your perfect partner online than the chance of meeting them at a party, at a pub or through work, which is where people used to meet before. ??
R: I've had a look at some of your statistics and you've had a lot of success stories. ??
D: There are many success stories. Everyday we get people e-mailing us saying they want to cancel their membership because they've met the partner of their dreams on one of my sites. ??
R: You've got other things going on to sort of keep people involved and keep them interested. You've got a radio station and you've got a podcast. Tell us why you're doing those things. ??
D: We want to be different, we don't want to offer the same as they can find. So we started a radio stations Lovesongs247.com for people to use when they're using the sites and also which they can listen to at all times. Also we have a podcast offering help and advice to those who are using online dating sites. ??
R: And the podcast itself, that sort of gives a bit of advice and tips. I mean I'm going to endorse that one because I present it! Are you happy with what I'm doing???
D: Very happy! Very happy indeed.??
R: I looked a bit more nervous then! So, what other things do you think you might do in the future? Have you got any ideas???
D: We've got lots of plans for 2014, but you'll have to wait and see...
If you want to listen to the full podcast, click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSpDDFj7xjA