So for all those looking for love and a soulmate on a chatline then please follow these simple steps.

1. If they sound like Freddy Kreuger then more often than not they are probably going to probably resemble him in appearance. Although, I did used to chat once with a girl who sounded like a Bagpuss on valium but when I did eventually get to meet up with her she turned out to be more of a Pussy Galore!! I guess you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but a voice can tell you a lot so just be careful.
2. If you do get to the point where you are about to meet up with them then please be sensible about it – don’t arrange to meet them in your local park at 3am in the morning. You know what I mean! Tell a friend where you are going and make sure you meet them in a public place at a sensible time of day. I find meeting somewhere where there is a back exit is always handy for those stealth exits if things aren’t going so well.
3. Don’t give out your personal information on the chatline…ever. So when someone asks that ‘they would like to get to know you a lot better and could they have your mobile number, account number and sort code’ please don’t give it to them. I guess at some point when you do meet up with them there will be a point when you have to give them some personal information so until then please keep radio silence.
4. Set up a personal mailbox so people can leave you messages when you are not online. It’s easy to do and you get your own pin and account number so you can access it any time. See, easy this isn’t it?
5. Record a good introduction message about yourself and try to sound normal. If you don’t normally sound normal than at least try to be sincere in your message. Oh and try not sound too desperate – always a turnoff.
6. Too shy to speak to people direct? Then send a message first or even try a text chat service. So many people these days text more than they talk on the phone so why not try a text dating service?
7. A picture is worth a thousand words. So why not upload a picture of yourself so interested parties can download it and check you out? Again try to look normal and please keep them clean otherwise they won’t get past the moderation team.
8. If someone is being down right nasty, obscene or rude on the service then report them to the moderators and bar them from contacting you. Most of the people on the service are there for the same reasons as you – to chat and have some fun but I am afraid you do get the occasional ‘pond life’ that wanders on to the line.
9. If you call the service a lot then you might want to try setting up a credit card account which will allow you to call the service at a cheaper rate so you’ll get more time to chat and play.
10. Remember to have fun and enjoy it. A phone chatline can be fun and trying to date shouldn’t turn into a chore. Chat and be yourself and this could help you find that extra special person.

So dating in the 2010’s, what does one do? Well it looks like the main thing to do these days is to find your date on the web. It’s a good starting place I guess and you’ve got to start somewhere (whatever happened to going down the pub, getting drunk and trying out your best one liners…awe well this will be my back up plan).

Do a search online for dating and you will be hit by a barrage of dating sites catering for all manner of being! From people, who like uniforms, to dating in your 50′s, to people who want affairs and people who like horses?!?…you name it there is a  site out there somewhere for everyone… well almost everyone.

The site that caught my eye and that I wanted to trial was a site which looked the part and seemed easy to use. The people featured on the site seemed pretty genuine so I signed up and created my profile. The plus point was that it was free to sign up and search the members profiles so I was away. The thing I personally liked about this site was that it was targeted to the more spiritual person and used horoscopes to help you find your compatible partner. Being a keen horoscope follower and also counting myself as a fairly spiritual person I thought this might work. Once you are a member they have some helpful little tools you can use to help you find someone – I had a birth chart created for my profile and also tried some astrological matching to help match me up to suitable daters.

I’ve been on the site now for three weeks and things seem to be looking up. It can’t be too long before this 37 year old Gemini handsome man finds his perfect match…hopefully a young good looking Gemini lady.

For more information checkout www.MysticDates.com

The UK's Best Phone Psychics

Times sure are a changing, there used to be a time when if you wanted a psychic reading you would have to wander down to your local mystic. You know the type, they have a little shop normally located by the seaside and you have to enter through a beaded curtain. Well these days if you wanted a reading all you got to do is pick up the phone, send a text or even get one online. So are these services any good? Surely you can’t have the same connection as someone who is sitting right there in front of you.

Do a search online for a tarot reader, clairvoyant, spiritual healing, medium and I guarantee you that you will be met by a large selection of countless websites offering numerous psychic services. So which one do you choose and how do you know they are genuine? It’s hit or miss, you need to look at the site and see who the service is provided by, look for any testimonials and also how much they will cost you. A lot of sites may have a famous celeb psychic fronting the site. Most credible sites will list their reader profiles so that you can see the skills offered by the reader. Once you have picked your reader then call in on the premium rate number advertised. Again, you will find the rates will differ from site to site – normally ranging from 75p up to £1.50 per minute. Remember, that the more expensive lines do not necessarily mean that the service is going to be better. One good thing about calling in on a premium rate line is that the reading will last for as long as you want it to. If you are not happy then just hang up. Phonepay Plus (the premium rate regulator) guidelines states that calls made through premium rate numbers cannot cost more than £30 for the duration of the call. So this will give you a reading of 30 minutes if you call in on a £1 per minute number. Most psychic sites will give you an option to call in and use your credit card to pay for the reading. This is a cheaper option if you have used the service before and want to pay a set amount for your reading. At www.chat2psychic.co.uk you can call in to the freefone credit card number and listen to the reader intros before you make any decisions.

Skilled psychic readers are able to tap into your aura or frequency to give you an accurate and genuine reading over the phone. With one of the major advantages  being that you never have to leave the house. What you will find is that if you have an accurate phone reading then you will feel more confident in calling back and speaking to the same reader or perhaps a reader from the same network that may specialise in a different skill. If you are a little shy or apprehensive about speaking directly to a psychic then you may want to start off with a reading over email, online messenger or even mobile text message. These types of services are a good place to start if you are looking for a cheap ‘taster’ to see what the service is like.

One important thing to remember is that you should always feel comfortable and relaxed with your reader as if you are not then this will be apparent to the psychic and may make it harder for them to tune into your frequencies to provide an accurate forecast. Also, remember that these service are (or should be) advertised and taken as an entertainment only service.

For genuine psychic readings that won’t break the bank you can visit

www.Chat2Psychic.co.uk

or fancy a bit of psychic and spiritual dating then try www.MysticDates.com for horoscope and astro dating.

Do a search on any of the search engines for phone chat lines and you’ll see quite a few places offering these services. It’s big business here in the UK and the States. So how exactly do they work? Are they full of seedy people? Are they a con? How can I set up my own chat service?

How do they work?

The boring technical stuff in a nutshell is that a phone network operator or service provider would set up an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) kit to become a chat platform which will allow callers to call in to and interact with others.  Callers will usually phone in on a premium rate number – usually 08 or 09 prefix which would cost a certain amount, for example, 0871 may cost 10 pence per minute. Now, the money earned from these calls filters down the chain to – the network that own the pr number, the service provider and in some cases the person advertising the service. One important note to consider on the phone charges is that in most cases if you phone these numbers from your mobile phone then the mobile network will charge you extra to make the call, for example, calling a 0871 (10p per minute) number through Vodafone may cost as much as 35 pence per minute. In this case the mobile networks cream off the profits and this extra charge DOES NOT filter down to the number owner or the service provider….nice little earner for the mobile networks.

When you phone into the service you will normally be asked to record a voice intro message about yourself. Once you have done this you can start to interact with other callers on the line. This can be by sending a caller a voice message, engaging in a one to one voice chat (scary stuff!!) or by setting up a private voice mail box whereby you can pick up messages when you are offline. Some systems may have facilities to send text messages or upload/download photos (even scarier!!).

Chat Line can be a cheap(ish) way to meet and chat with new people without even having to leave your house or even the arm chair. Obviously, the longer you chat for on the line the more you will get charged on your phone bill. All in all though, chat lines have reduced in price over the years when they use to charge £1.50 per minute. Now you’ll find a number of providers offering these services on 10p per minute or even cheaper.

Are they full of seedy people?

Like walking into a busy bar, you’ll always find a diverse mix or people and personalities. Calling in to a chat line is pretty much the same thing although you don’t have their looks to go on for starters. Some people use it for chat and to meet new friends, others go down the dating road and call for romance and yes there are those who call for the more risqué stuff.

You’ll find that the callers on a Gay Chat Line seem to be more upfront and interested in meeting up.You will also be surprised at how many married and straight guys you will hear on the line. The term bi curious springs to mind.

One important thing to remember, if you are going to meet up with someone you have been chatting to then make sure you always tell a friend or family member where you are going and also meet your date in a public place just in case they turn out to be an axe murderer. Oh and never give out your personal information on the service either – basic common sense.

Are they a con?

 Generally they are not, if they are run on a premium rate number then there are strict guide lines as to how they work and how they should be advertised i.e. pricing information and age restrictions.

 They can be expensive if you call a lot but you should be aware of the charges before calling and if you enjoy it and can afford it then this shouldn’t really be a problem. If you are a power user and enjoy these chat lines then most services will have a cheaper credit card option – buy your minutes in advance and access the service through a 0800 freefone number. This will no doubt be a lot cheaper than phoning the more expensive premium rate numbers.

One thing to look out for when calling in to these lines is some services may use operators to pretend to be genuine callers on the line. They do this so that there’s people on the line for you to talk to – normally women operators and so you stay on the line longer. You can normally tell this by the fact that they are overly keen to chat and have slick sexy introduction messages.

Two services where I can 100% guarantee that all the callers are genuine are;

Chat2Date – www.Chat2Date.co.uk

And

Gay Adult Chat – www.GayAdultChat.co.uk

Both of these services have hundreds of callers on the line 24/7.

How can I set up  my own chat line?

One word – DON’T, unless you have a spare ten’s of thousands of pounds lying around the house. You need to invest in expensive kit, numbers, advertising and most importantly make sure you have a critical mass of callers on the service. It’s not worth having your own chat line service if when you call it there are no callers on to chat to.