Online Personals Watch

Violet Lim, Co-founder Of Lunch Actually Interview

OPW INTERVIEW -- Nov 15 -- I met Violet at the Matchmakers Conference in September. She’s runs Lunch Actually in Singapore. - Mark Brooks

Tell me about Lunch Actually.
My husband and I started Lunch Actually in 2004. It’s a company that arranges one to one lunch dates for business professionals. Ever since we launched 2 other branches. One is in Malaysia and one in Hong Kong in additional to our office in Singapore.

How does it work?
Client comes to our office for a face to face consultation and this is when we screen them. Once they decide to join, we start looking for suitable matches for them. Once a match is found we will arrange everything from booking a restaurant to reminding them about the date. After each date we require feedback which is very important because this is how we fine-tune what they’re looking for and then we set them up with their next match.

What do you charge?
Our fee ranges from about 850 sing dollars 1650 sing dollars.

And you have another site, Interact right?
Yes that’s right. Interact is a company that does something totally different. Eteract.com is an online portal where singles can go online and interact with each other. We have online speed dating, 3D chat rooms, so singles can dress up their avatar and send gifts to each other and that has worked very well for us.

I think the government has had some involvement with that?
The government doesn’t have a stake in it but in the past years the government has been very interested in the dating industry. They have set up a funding for the dating industry. It’s called Partner Connection Fund. So new dating agencies or active dating agencies can tap onto this funding, outline what their plans are get 50,000 sing dollars max. Eteract has tapped onto this funding and received about 49,000 from the government to develop the site.

So what’s next?
We are looking to start another branch once the one stabilizes in Hong Kong. Our next destination will be in Shanghai. Eteract is currently available in Singapore and once we’re done developing it (we’re still in the Beta) we are going to grow it out regionally in Asia and eventually worldwide.

SNAP Makes $500k In Q2

TRADING MARKETS -- Nov 12 -- SNAP Interactive's focus is building applications on social networks. Their biggest application, "Are You Interested", is the leading pure dating application on the web and a Top 10 app on Facebook with over 11m users. SNAP reported $533,257 revenue for Q2. SNAP has 17m installations and ~1.4m visits a day. ~14-15m of the 17m users are currently on Facebook. FULL ARTICLE @ TRADING MARKETS

Mark Brooks: SNAP anticipates revenues of $870k for Q3.

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

New OPW Sponsor - asesoft net

OPW -- Nov 13 -- Arthur knows how to build dating and social networking sites.  He's created numerous specialty sites including Adam4Adam.com, ShopMania.com, Mary.com, myPartner.com and PeopleFishing.com. He's the latest new client of Courtland Brooks and sponsor of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com (OPW). Please email me if you need the services of a super competent, super reliable, very reasonably priced development house.  I've been using him for client work. Now I'm letting the cat out of the bag about asesoft net. I'm proud to be working with Arthur Radulescu and its great to have him as a client and sponsor. I hired him, now he's hiring us. Funny old world. - Mark Brooks

be2 Raises €15 Million

PRESS RELEASE -- Nov 12 -- be2, a  global matchmaking site with more than 12m members in 34 countries, received an investment of €15m from the Index Ventures growth fund. be2 will use the capital to further international expansion and increase its user base in existing markets.

Mark Brooks: Keep your eyes on this company.  One to watch.  ;-)

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Spike In Online Dating As Economy Takes A Nose-Dive

PR NEWSWIRE -- Nov 12 -- In uncertain economic times, people are actually turning to online dating services more than ever. "One of the hardest emotional feelings is being in the midst of bad news by yourself," said Dr. Pepper Schwartz, chief relationship expert for Perfectmatch.com. Recently released statistics from Perfectmatch.com show a spike in new members of 47% over the last quarter, matches are up 125%. FULL ARTICLE @ MARKET WATCH

Mark Brooks: Searching online via internet dating is a better deal than spending $50 a night going out hunting.

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Australian Yahoo!7 Partners With eHarmony

PRESS RELEASE -- Nov 10 -- Under the agreement, Yahoo!7 users will be able to utilise both the existing Yahoo!7 Dating service and eHarmony's singles matching service through a unified front page. This partnership allows Australians more choice, whether they are seeking a casual relationship or a highly compatible partner for a committed relationship. "If you are seeking a long term relationship, eHarmony's can psychologically and scientifically match you with your ideal partner. If you are just after some fun, then Yahoo!7 Dating is the best place." said Karen Lawson, GM Commercial Channels Yahoo!7. FULL ARTICLE @ EHARMONY

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Interview With Linda Maynard

FOX NEWS -- Nov 7 -- Linda Maynard, who dated online on and off for years, wrote a book about online dating called "The Savvy Woman's Guide to Online Dating".

Q: Linda, did you find anybody?
A: Well I have a few times. This book is not about how to find Mr. Right, it's about how to navigate through the dating process from posting your profile, to the email, the first phone call and to the first meeting.

Q: Let's talk about the danger. Some people are afraid to do this.
A: When I first dipped my toe into the unchartered waters, I was scared and skeptical and I was looking for something to guide me and give me some rules and guidelines to be safe. And that book is full of ways to be safe.

Q: And some of the more familiar sites, e-Harmony.com, Match.com they charge a fee, especially some of the more secure sites and safer ones.
A: I've tried Match.com. But since I've published this book, I've discovered another site called PlentyOfFish.com and they do not charge at all. And I highly recommend that because more people are on that site because it is free and I found that there is quite a good caliber of people there too.
FULL INTERVIEW @ FOX NEWS

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Janis Spindel Now Accepting Donations

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER -- Nov 10 -- The high-end matchmaker Janis Spindel, who charges up to $250,000 for her services, told the Daily Transom she's been receiving more barter offers than ever. "Instead of writing me a check, they want to give me townhomes, cars, diamond jewelry", Ms. Spindel said. Last weekend, the owner of a high-end car dealership enticed Ms. Spindel with a brand-new Rolls Royce. She and her prospective client are still negotiating the terms of their contract, but Ms. Spindel is more than willing to make it work. "It's really not a bad deal," she said. "He wants a wife and I want a red Corniche." FULL ARTICLE @ THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

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iDating For STI Sufferers

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK -- Nov 9 -- New dating websites are springing up designed to give a choice to single people with STIs. Along with their favourite films and hair colour, users now also list their condition. 'We set up our site in September 2006, says Sheelagh Caygill, a co-founder of datepositive.net. 'But we had no idea how much demand there was. Within hours of a small story appearing in a newspaper, the website went crazy. Now we have 3,000 members and it's growing all the time.' FULL ARTICLE @ TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Online Personals: Changing Norms, Changing Business Models

CLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE REPORT -- Oct '08 -- JupiterResearch predicts the online dating industry will hit $1.9 billion by 2012, not including matchmaking services at $250m+ in the U.S. Mark Brooks, who monitors the personals industry, pegs 2004 as the year when dating sites matured. "There are less people on dating sites, but they're spending more money." The CEO of The Right One/Together Dating, Paul Falzone has been in the business 20 years. "When times are good, people want someone to share the fun with. When times are bad, they want companionship."

The Free factor - Free has become a very real factor in the industry, with the emergence of PlentyOfFish.com. POF has more than 10m profiles, and 2m active monthly users. "He's the renegade of the market," said Brooks. "He's making the other players think about advertising money." Frind acknowledges that his $10m in yearly ad revenue has gotten people's attention, but he thinks the traditional dating sites are too invested in the paid-membership model to shift gears.

The Facebook factor - Many in the online dating industry believe social networks will not be a negative factor because SN are for friends and people are posting all sorts of material there they might not want a prospective date to see. But Robert Lee, who has been reviewing dating sites at ALoveLinksPlus.com, believes Facebook is going to figure out how to establish different layers of access, so a user can create a dating-oriented profiles that not everyone can see. As of Oct. 18, Facebook had 497 dating applications.

Different marketing and revenue models - "Personals ads" in newspapers was disrupted by the Internet in the mid-1990s but is being revived with a new focus on Web-first publishing, promoted in print. Another model uses the Web as its operating venue, but drives new customers through heavy advertising in traditional media. Cupid.com makes deals with radio stations to run ads for free in exchange for a share of revenue and claims a conversion rate of 13%. eHarmony and Match spend millions on TV advertising. The typical revenue model is "browse for free, connect for a fee." Matchmaking sites such as Kelleher and Associates, Together Dating and It's Just Lunch have a dual role in the online ecosphere. First, they buy leads from online dating sites, creating yet another line of revenue. Paul Falzone bought LoveAccess.com as a way to generate his own leads. In the 1980s, Falzone's cost per lead was $200-$250 using direct mail. Now his goal is to get that number to zero.

Growth of explicit sites - At the Internet Dating Conference held in London in September, the hallway buzz was all about the explosion in numbers of women signing up for adult sites like Fling.com and AdultFriendFinder. "I'd call it a sexual awakening," said Brooks. "Guys have always been interested in the adult sites, but this is new." The average length of membership on a regular dating site is three months, compared with five months on an adult site.

The future - Mobile and video remain theoretical game-changers, enabling potential match-ups by proximity or direct communication. Brooks sees another potential business model emerging from academic research: a dramatic improvement in the quality of matching.
Full report available for AIM clients

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Latest Dating Tool: Your Cell Phone

LA TIMES -- Nov 10 -- Tech-savvy singles are now relying on cell phone-based services to find new dates and friends. Americans send about 75 billion SMS a month. In the U.S., about 143m wireless subscribers have GPS on their phones, according to Nielsen Mobile, and there were 43.3m active mobile Internet users in August. Juniper Research projects that the mobile dating industry will see $1.4 billion in global revenue by 2013, from $330m in 2007 (much of that business currently comes from Japan, where mobile dating is already very popular). MeetMoi is a mobile dating service that shows singles which potential mates are nearby so they can text each other to meet up. Mobile companies such as Loopt and Earthcomber help members use their phones to search for others nearby with similar interests, such as cycling or hiking. FULL ARTICLE @ STATESMAN.COM

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BluePont Location Aware Dating

NEWS TIP -- Nov 10 -- With BluePont two people can be a few hundred yards away from each other, and whereas normally they would never see each other, now they are introduced and invited to interact. Users download software to their phones it continuously searches for matches in the vicinity. When a match is discovered, the user's phone will vibrate or play music to alert them and they are introduced by first names, photos and some basic information including age and gender.

Mark Brooks: Behold, the future.

I'm Done With Internet Dating

OPW -- Nov 9 -- I asked a friend in Silicon Valley about his experience using internet dating and here's what he said. "I don't have much faith in them, and I have not searched for new alternatives as it is difficult to know what is good and what is not. Especially ones just displaying old profiles, there's no response to my emails, and the sheer ratio of men to women is just so lopsided. I have seen it at 30 to 1, or even best case it has been 12 to 1. It is so sweet for women to go out and date. Good women, they just don't date online because the online dating scene is so polluted. It's just so frustrating and gives a low hit rate. You get what you pay for. I for one would pay more for a better return. I think I am more into social events nowadays." Please advise my jaded friend. Your comments please. - Mark Brooks