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Inside The Online Dating Industry
by Joe Tracy,
publisher of Online Dating Magazine
So... You Wanna
Start an Online Dating Service
One of the awesome aspects
of my job is that I get to regularly interact with
online daters, people within the online dating industry,
and
people
thinking of starting an online dating service. Of course,
when someone approaches me about wanting to start an
online dating service, I first direct them to my debut Inside
the Online Dating Industry column - Back
to Reality. Then we chat.
I had the opportunity yesterday to interact with
someone via email who is looking to start a new online
dating service. But there was something different about
this gentleman. He had all of his t's crossed and i's
dotted. He has a background in marketing and it showed
in his email because he was listing specific marketing
concepts he had to make his service work. Then
he asked me for my brutal honest opinion. I gave it.
And it was a positive response, despite our estimation
that 99% of new online dating services fail.
The gentleman's concept is only in the "research
the idea" phase and already he's been outlining
marketing techniques and seeking advice from experts.
Instead
of jumping off the high-dive belly first, he is taking
time to perfect his routine in order to win the gold.
Here's how several people I've run into have started
their online dating service:
1) They go to eBay and buy an online dating template
for $1.99 (or even up to $6)!
2) They receive the template and wonder what to do
with it since it isn't programmed to handle profiles.
3) They buy software (much more expensive than the
$1.99 template) and after time get it to interact with
their template.
4) They sign up for a $4.99 a month
Web hosting plan (with two months free for paying
a year in advance).
5) They open up their service and get all 7 of their
single friends to sign up for a profile.
6) They wait for people to come and sign up. No one
comes.
7) They see a new template on eBay
for selling gift baskets so they abandon the online
dating idea and
start over, ready to master the gift basket marketplace.
There are about 99 ingredients missing from the above
situation in order to make the venture succeed. Here's
a more ideal scenario:
1) They do in-depth research on
online dating services, statistics, the marketplace,
and what users are dissatisfied
with so that they can make it a strength.
2) After analyzing the marketplace and deciding to
move forward, they create a business plan, marketing
plan, strategic Web
marketing
plan,
public
relations
plan,
and branding
plan.
3) They attend Website success seminars and online
dating expos. There they interact with others and start
to form vital connections.
4) They read everything they can on the online dating
industry. They visit daily updated online dating industry
blogs like the Online Dating Industry Journal. They
regularly read informational insight material, like
that found in Online Dating Magazine's Online
Dating Industry section. They read interviews with others
who have done it, visit future competitors and find
ways to correct mistakes that other online dating services
make.
5) They secure financing for their idea, realizing
they will lose money for quite awhile before
they begin to turn a profit.
6) They form a winning team and, if they can afford
it, hire expert consultants. They look to fulfill vital
executive positions like CEO, IT, marketing, public
relations, finance, and customer service.
7) They form a "Success Alliance" which is a group
of key people in the online dating industry who meet
together to brainstorm and are given a stock position
in the company.
8) They make sure that they have a redundant server
so that if their main site goes down, the service
doesn't go offline.
9) They start out offering a free service (with lifetime
memberships) and when the time is right, they convert
it to a paid service and immediately establish a rewarding
affiliate program through one of the top two affiliate
companies: Commission
Junction or Linkshare. They realize
that affiliates are vital sales people for their business.
10) They work long hours and are passionate about
success.
And that's just a few of the things they do!
I was once offered a CEO position for an online dating
service upstart that was already successfully raising
millions in venture capital money. I must admit, it
was very tempting. However, I love Oregon (didn't want
to move) and the ability to provide independent insight
to online daters
through
Online Dating Magazine. The key here is that the
upstart was doing things right. They were raising the
funds, trying to form a winning team, and addressing
all the right areas before opening the service to the
public. If you are an upstart, you must do the same.
If you are thinking of starting an online dating service,
you may feel deflated when reading about how many services
fail and how hard it is to successfully break into
the industry. Yet if you have three key ingredients
- passion, drive, and wisdom - you may just make it
even without venture capital funding.
My hero, growing up, was Walt Disney. I studied his
life in great detail. The man was simply amazing. He
had great ideas for new concepts and never let anything
stop him. When he was producing the first ever full-length
animated feature film, Snow White, everyone thought
he was crazy. Who would go see a feature length movie
that was completely animated? They said it would fail.
It
succeeded.
When
Walt was building Disneyland everyone thought he was
crazy again. Who would want to go to a huge
theme park aimed at families instead of thrill seekers?
They said it would fail. It succeeded.
The key here is to see your project through and prove
the naysayers wrong. Find a unique way to enter the
market, present your service, and see it through
to success. And in the words of the captain in the
movie Galaxy Quest: "Never Give Up, Never Surrender."
Tip of the Week
This week I'm providing another tip to increase traffic
to your online dating service. Last week we discussed
writing content for another Website. This week it is
all about the press release.
Tip #6: Regularly Publish Press Releases
Before advancing further, it's important to debunk
a myth about press releases. Many people believe that
putting out a press release will bring them instant
media attention and widespread media coverage. That's
simply not true. The fact is that there are tens of
thousands of press releases put out every single day!
Most reporters don't even bother visiting press release
distribution sites (or reading releases sent to them)
because there simply isn't time and most are... well...
boring and self serving.
So if this is the case, why do I recommend it as a
traffic-driving technique? The reason is because producing
a good and news-worthy press release could get you
mentioned on several Websites. And those Websites will
link to your site. And search engines will see those
links. The more people that link to you, the more important
a search engine thinks you are and your rankings rise.
Links are one of the vital aspects of marketing
your Website (shameless plug - this link leads
to my Joe
Tracy Visioneering site where I provide Web marketing
services). Getting
your content
on other
Websites (which helps your recognition, branding,
link establishment and sometimes your traffic)
is also of vital importance.
The first thing you have to do is find something interesting
enough to warrant a press release. A release on "My
Dating Service Subscriptions Just Reached 10!" won't
cut it. You need to find something with a twist like,
"______ Releases Report on 10 Steps to Dating Safely
Online."
Once you've finished a clever press release, you want
to get it out on a service that Google News and Yahoo!
News indexes, if possible. If you have money to throw
away, that would be PRNewswire or Businesswire.
If you're tight on money, try a cheaper service like PR
Web. Do your research. Don't be afraid to do additional
submissions to other free press release distribution
services. And remember, one press release won't cut
it. You need to regularly publish interesting press
releases. This maximizes your exposure.
More importantly, personally
send
your release to key places like Online Dating Magazine
and the Online Dating Industry Journal. Target online
dating sites that provide news to readers. Write
a personalized introduction to the editor and attach
your release. Remember, this is not only your opportunity
to gain
publicity, but to also form a connection.
Until next week, I continue to wish you much success,
Joe Tracy
Related Links:
» Online Dating Software
Joe Tracy is
publisher of Online Dating Magazine and is often quoted
by the media in relation to online dating topics. His Inside
the Online Dating Industry column is published every
Friday.
> Perfectmatch.com - The best approach to find the one.
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