Making the First Move

Welcome to the third of our PrimeDate guidance articles to help you make the most of your online dating membership! By now you should have a nice profile page in place and plenty of experience in running advanced searches to find mature singles in your local area.

Next up, it's time to break the ice and make contact with someone that has caught your eye. This is where being in the prime of your life really helps, because you have the maturity to know that the better your first message is, the higher the chance you'll get a reply. The youngsters in the online dating world use the same introduction messages for everyone and just 'copy and paste' the words to each person – this does not work! It's lazy and your message recipients can see right through this tactic. The person you're hoping to get to know better doesn't want to be just another face that you've sent the same identikit message to; they want you to notice them – and that means reading their dating profile, looking at their pictures and coming up with an opener that's interesting.

If they say in their profile that they like bowling and that's something you like or have been thinking about trying, mention it! It first of all shows that you care enough to read their profile but even better, it gives you a topic to discuss that you already know the person is interested in.

If their dating profile isn't full of too much info, look at their photos for clues of what they're into. Maybe they have a photo with their grandchildren or a pet. If so, reference it in your message!

It's always better to be polite and if possible use some humour in your message. If you can make the person smile, all the better! Again, the best place to go for inspiration is their dating profile.

Finally, don't go asking for a date straight away! Take things slow and easy, strike up a conversation and if you both click, go from there. Be respectful and show the best version of yourself. Remember, it's supposed to be fun, so keep it light and enjoy the online dating process at its very best!

The next PrimeDate article is about preparing to get back in the game, as we appreciate it may have been a while since you last took someone out on a date!