Month: January 2005

Business ‘Social’ Networks; Expand Your Enterprise

Posted on January 31, 2005

WALL STREET JOURNAL — Jan 31 — Sites like Friendster.com let users meet new people through their friends on the network — in effect, a mutual friend provides an introduction. As the popularity of these sites has boomed, more people have realized that online networking can also be useful for business purposes. Making new business contacts is the third-most-popular feature of online networks — after contacting friends and looking for jobs — says Nate Elliott, an analyst at Jupiter Research, a unit of Jupitermedia Corp. of Darien, Conn. A total of 15% of all online users are interested in using networks to make business contacts.

Mark Brooks: I highly recommend the business network leaders LinkedIn.com and Ryze.com. OnlineBusinessNetworks.com is good guide.

Online Dating Offers Way to Meet Variety of People

Posted on January 31, 2005

THE EXPONENT — Jan 31 — Online dating puts one in contact with people one wouldn't normally meet in the routine of everyday life. If one is dreaming of an Australian mate or a beautiful Brazilian, online dating may help find the exact match. The drawback, of course, is that the Australian bloke may actually be a Hoosier from Muncie that is married with kids. So before buying the plane ticket to Sydney, make sure online image matches offline reality. 

The full article was originally published at The Exponent, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Hook up the webcams to see people in real time. A photograph isn't quite enough if one is considering treking half way around the world.

Match.com Launches National Print Campaign

Posted on January 31, 2005

Match_adADRANTS — Jan 31 — A new national print campaign, created by Hanft Raboy, introduces the theme line "Love is complicated. Match.com is simple" to "capture love's mystery and complexity." The ads will appear in People, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker and other publications. Soon to follow is a multi-million dollar national television campaign that is slated to break in March. Larger images of the campaign can be seen here and here.  ADRANTS BLOG

MeetUp; Virtual and Real Worlds Unite

Posted on January 31, 2005

BOSTON GLOBE — Jan 30 — Enabled by the New York technology company Meetup.com, they are this year’s Friendster for the networking set. More than 2 million people have registered for meetups somewhere in the world. It makes its money primarily by charging $5 a month for ”premium accounts" that let meetup members e-mail each other, view enhanced profiles, and upload photos of meetup events.  The only categories banned from organizing with the meetup technology are hate groups and so-called ”adult" groups.

Mark Brooks: Pierre Omidyar of eBay also invested in this company.  MeetUp is a great community service.  They have no real direct competition as yet, besides the likes of Yahoo Groups.

Is Marriage Healthier for Men Than for Women?

Posted on January 30, 2005

THIRD AGE — Jan 27 — Dr John Gray — Studies have shown that, overall, married men are mentally and physically healthier than single men. The reverse, however, is true for married women in unhappy marriages.  Women attempt to stay engaged in a discussion while their husbands begin to withdraw or "stonewall" — leading wives to feel frustrated and even more stressed. In difficult marriages, that continual heightened stress produces physiological responses in women than can lead to poorer health.  Venusians need to recognize that their mates need time and space to cope with and resolve conflict. 

The full article was originally published at Third Age, but is no longer available.

More Men Are Becoming Gold-Diggers

Posted on January 30, 2005

NEW KERALA — Jan 28 — "Now that women are sharing a majority of both college degrees and professional jobs, they are getting a taste of something else that used to be a male-only province: gold-digging dates," a report in the Wall Street Journal said.  "Many women are surprised to find their earning power has become a magnet for the opposite sex."  Research by Megan Sweeney, an assistant professor of sociology at the UCLA, shows a trend towards higher-earning women marrying at higher rates.  Match.com, a dating web site with 15 million users, is seeing a rise in men who specify that they want to date only women above a certain income level.

Mark Brooks: Rising costs of housing in high cost of living cities such as New York and San Francisco are most surely driving this trend.  Also, until online dating came along, guys had less visibility into the incomes of their potential wives.  Now guys have some visibility. 

Survey Pairs Wine With Personalities

Posted on January 30, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Jan 28 —  The Australian Wine Bureau and Match.com polled more than 2,300 single men and women nationwide and found that 62% believe that their date’s choice of beverage provides insight into their lifestyle, and 52% felt that it is indicative of their personality. 

Survey Pairs Wine With Personalities

Posted on January 30, 2005

PRNEWSWIRE — Jan 28 —  The Australian Wine Bureau and Match.com polled more than 2,300 single men and women nationwide and found that 62% believe that their date’s choice of beverage provides insight into their lifestyle, and 52% felt that it is indicative of their personality. 

Internet Dating Advice

Posted on January 30, 2005

THIRD AGE — Jan 27 — In 1727, Helen Morrison, a lonely spinster in Manchester, England, placed the first lonely hearts personal, advertising for a husband in the local weekly newspaper. In response, the town mayor committed her to a lunatic asylum for a month.  Internet dating is here to stay, and it's only going to grow.  Just like bars or clubs, different sites tend to attract different types of people, but that isn't often obvious until you've read a number of profiles. Make sure your profile serves you well.  Be honest when creating your own profile, and keep your radar up when reading others'. 

The full article was originally published at Third Age, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Dr Andrew Conru created one of the earliest online personals ads in 1994 when he added his post to webpersonals.com, which he later sold to a company that was eventually rolled in to what is now Lavalife.  He then went on to create the FriendFinder sites in 1996.   

Battle for Supremacy Among Leading Online Relationship Sites Heats Up

Posted on January 30, 2005

BUSINESS WIRE — Jan 27 — Online relationship sites devoted to serious relationships are  attracting millions of new members. This burgeoning market segment will continue to attract interest, investments, and members in 2005, and the two companies poised to capitalize on this trend are PerfectMatch.com and eHarmony.com. "eHarmony has done a very good job at educating the market about the differences between a dating site and a relationship site," said Duane Dahl, founder and CEO, PerfectMatch.com. "They've spent a tremendous amount of money, but money doesn't necessarily mean success for eHarmony's members. We are gaining ground quickly." 

Mark Brooks: The holy grail of online dating = finding a truly compatible match (whatever your preferences might be).  The three big psychological profiling based online dating players are eHarmony, True and PerfectMatch.  I'll be profiling the PhD's behind these sites shortly.  Yahoo, Match and FriendFinder offer optional profiling as well, but a minority of their users have taken the profiling tests.