PRESS RELEASE — July 5 — Niche dating expert Deep Singh is joining World Singles as their VP of Business Operations. Previously Singh played a key role in developing five niche sites, which led Allegran Online Dating to rise to market leader in the UK. World Singles specializes in niche dating sites such as ArabLounge.com, EligibleGreeks.com, IranianPersonals.com and SoulSingles.com. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Month: July 2007
Free Online Dating . . . Just For Millionaires!
PRESS RELEASE — July 4 — MillionaireCupid.com announces free membership for referral business. Normally, $29.95 a month, the service is now free for users who invite several people to join and they register. MillionaireCupid.com bills itself as "one of the first and most popular dating sites for wealthy and pretty singles." If offering free memberships to millionaires works, who knows how effective it could be for other sites?
The full article was originally published at Business Portal 24, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Girls, would you want to go on a date with a millionaire who chose the free-to-join millionaire dating site? Ah, I get it, they're saving their money for more dates. Also see WealthyMen.com and SugarDaddyforMe.com. For the truly unavailable, there's always AshleyMadison.com.
Internet Dating Conference Barcelona, Venue Upgrade
OPW — July 4 — The venue and hotel for iDate Europe has changed to the Meliá Barcelona Hotel, Avenida de Sarriá, 50, +34 93 410 6060. "The size of the event will be larger than the old hotel (Rafael) could handle…. so we’ve moved it to a better facility that can handle a much larger event." The dates are still the same: Oct 1-2. 150 to 200 people will be in attendance. See internetdatingconference.com. – Mark Brooks
PlanetOut Sells Majority Stake For $26.2 Million
PAID CONTENT.ORG — July 2 — PlanetOut which operates websites, magazines and travel services for the gay and lesbian community just sold 56% of it's company for $26.2 million. Buyers include Cascade Investment (of which Bill Gates is an investor) as well as SF Capital Partners, PAR Investment Partners and Allen & Co. PlanetOut has had difficulty since making numerous acquisitions following its IPO in October 2004.
The full article was originally published at Paid Content, but is no longer available.
YouCanGetMe.com Free Dating For Women
PRESS RELEASE — July 2 — EasyDate announced totally free dating for women on YouCanGetMe.com, a UK dating site and one of the sites in its portfolio. Men are still charged £19.95 per month. Among other features, YouCanGetMe offers live video chat amongst members.
The full article was originally published at Media Syndicate, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: EasyDate is a white label service. Dating Central and WhiteLabelDating are similar services. Email me if you'd like a copy of my spreadsheet round-up of the white label services.
‘Date: Unknown’ Reality Show On YouTube
NEW TEE VEE — June 25 — YouTube has made "Date: Unknown"; an online reality show part of it’s revenue sharing program that includes a few dozen partners. "Date: Unknown" is directed and produced by New Yorker, Brandon Fletcher. The latest episode, number six, features Evan and Jocelyn, MySpace friends meeting in Sacramento. FULL ARTICLE @ NEW TEE VEE
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
Photos Get Up Close And Personal
YODEL ANECDOTAL — June 27 — Yahoo! Personals announces major new development to site. Users can now upload up to 10 photos and add captions of unlimited length. The captions are completely searchable and can be used in conjunction with keyword search, giving users the ability to describe what they are doing in the photo and who exactly is the person with them. Yahoo! says research shows a profile with a photo has 8x more success than one without.
The full article was originally published at Yodel Anedoctal, but is no longer available.
Bharat Matrimony Launches MatrimonyDiary.com
GULF NEWS — June 30 — Moving beyond matchmaking, market leader Bharat Matrimony has launched Matrimony Diary, a first-of-its-kind service for couples to share their wedding experience with family and friends. Couples get their own domain name (such as raghavwedsrekha.com or johnwedssue.com) and can post photographs and videos, send out invitations, and keep online diaries of the events before, after and during their nuptials.
The full article was originally published at Gulf News, but is no longer available.
As Gay Media Brings In Business, PlanetOut Struggles
DOW JONES NEWSWIRE — June 28 — Though corporate interest in the gay dollar may be on the rise, Planet Out struggles. Their stock price is down from the IPO price of $9 (Oct. 2004) to $1.30 today. The company faces stiff competition from other media outlets, and its online business and recent acquisitions, such as RSVP Vacations, aren't performing as expected. The company is now considering strategic options, says CEO Karen Magee. She won't say whether the company is for sale, but said it may sell its adult entertainment business. PlanetOut faces stiff competition in the gay media market. Although the company doesn't own a TV network, Viacom Logo network, NBC's Bravo and Here! Networks all have Web operations. Various blogs and lifestyle sites have also popped up, like AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com, newcomer GLEE and Queerty, social-networking sites Manhunt.net, Adam4Adam.com and OurChart.com.
Matchmakers Conference, September 28-29
PRESS RELEASE — July 2 — The first worldwide conference for professional matchmakers will take place on Sept 28-29, 2007 in Weehawken, NJ. With over 1500 independent matchmakers in the US and sales of $250m last year, the matching making industry is growing steadily. Topics at the conference will include Dating & Relationship Coaching; Dealing with Challenging Clients; Business Models; Marketing & Lead Generation; etc. Speakers include Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating, Dr Helen Fisher, research professor and anthropologist, and Patrick Perrine, specialized in Human Mating Preferences and founder of myPartnerPerfect.com. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Mark Brooks: This is a must see event for those interested in learning more about, and partnering with, the 'real-world' matchmaking industry.