Apr 11 — Online Personals Watch is, #1, for online dating executives. I recognised the need for OPW whilst at Friendfinder, then started it while at Cupid. Colleagues would forward articles around which were often laden with good ‘intel’ on the market, product developments and trends. There was never enough time to route through all the articles. OPW is ‘CNN’ for online personals industry execs, marketers and product managers. I personally review all articles to cut through to the core intelligence that online personals [internet dating, social networks, business networks] industry decision makers need. #2, OPW is for the press to get a quick read on the industry and contact execs. #3, it acts as a watchdog, of sorts. – Mark
Online Personals Watch is for me, too! I had been thinking of integrating a dating section for Italian singles into my website for about a year, but I wanted to do it right if I was gonna do it at all; the biggest problem I had was having zero budget because I’m on disability, and, let’s face it, no-one is lining up to lend you money to start up a business when you are on disability! I researched for a year before deciding that I could offer something unique, and I visit this site every day to keep up with industry news.
I only opened my site a couple of months ago, and with no advertising except Adwords at 20 cents a click, and having to click through to the singles section from the main page (I’ll be changing that), I only have 32 members so far. But using what I have learned and being personally involved makes all the difference: 26% of my members have left the biggest Italian dating site for my little start-up, and members have gotten friends to join. I seem to have started to do, by instinct, what I later saw mentioned repeatedly on your site and a couple of others that I trust: offer endless support (I once spent 8 hours helping someone register), provide means to bond (carefully chosen interactive games, a book club), guidance (I’ve written a couple of articles so far and will be offering and encouraging background checks, but won’t make them mandatory because my members are from all over the world and it gets too expensive and complicated for them).
I get emails from my members praising the “class and dignity” my site shows to the Italian culture (half the members are not Italian but just love the culture), and mentioning the fun they have on the forums with the games & all. I was nervous at first because my ideas for my site were different from other dating sites, but checking the news on this site of yours has convinced me that I may just be ahead of the pack!! Check us out a year from now, E-Harmony might not be threatened, but I’ll wager that I have the most satisfied members anywhere, and that is what I’ll measure my success by!!
Many many thanks for the help!!
P.S.; in the comment I just posted, I didn’t mention the name of my site, but if you would like to check it out:
http://www.allegroconbrio.com
(As I said, I will be making the dating section the main page of the site ASAP – I didn’t at first because I worried that maybe no-one would join!)
Keep up the good work, Mark! Thumbs up.