Was Global Personals a dating site before 2007?
No, we’ve always been a white label from the start.
Are there offices other than the Windsor UK one?
We have a small presence in Miami and New York. Whilst we are preparing to go into the USA we are still mainly focused on UK, Ireland and Australia.
How many employees’ does Global Personals have?
We have just under 100 at the moment. We will probably hit the 100 mark next month.
What is the business model? How does it work?
Whereas Zoosk/Speedate and other dating sites have one brand, we have 6,000 brands around the world. Our partners are responsible for the brand/marketing. Their job is to have customers there and a brand that the customer trusts. Once a customer joins then we do everything else; software, customer support, payment processing, hosting, investing continually.
Is a shared database an advantage?
Yes, partner’s immediately get a database that works with 6 million members.
Is there a fee to sign up or start the service?
No, it’s completely free. We work on revenue share.
What payment systems does White Label Dating accept?
In addition to the usual credit/debit cards we also accept Paypal and mobile payments.
Does the product allow sign ups with Facebook connect?
Yes, in a single click.
How does a WLD client check their conversion rate when using click through ads?
Up to a point of conversion they use google analytics. Once they have conversed we have partner portal which tracks everything.
How does WLD’s partner demographics breakdown?
Half of the sites are general, like Match.com. Our niches include geographic, ethnicity, religious, physical attributes.
What is WLD’s plans for mobile dating?
A business needs to balance quality and quantity; we believe that quality comes first.
Can a WLD licensee sell his business? Have any?
Yes they can sell their business but only a handful of people have done so. Most of our partners are living a wonderful lifestyle, earning 5/6 figure monthly revenues so why sell? When buying a WLD site you want to buy the platform too and there’s ways you can do that.
How does WLD’s database demographic breakdown?
It’s pretty widespread. People in their 30/40’s are the main users but because our partners and their various niche sites we have a varied demographic.
Is GP seeking to acquire other business?
We are inquisitive. We are looking at a couple of deals at the moment.
Where do you see GP in 1 year from now? In 5 years from now?
A year from now the international, mobile and social areas will be very interesting. In 5 years I don’t know. This industry is growing massively and it’s really exciting and everything we have done has worked out well and our partners are hungry for success.
What’s your opinion on Match.com’s purchase of OkCupid for $50 million?
If Match paid $50 million cash for OkCupid then I think that’s a very expensive purchase. OkCupid is a good brand and the guys there are really talented but the free space is not as easy as companies would have you believe.
How do you perceive the free dating business model?
If people are serious about dating they will want to pay some money so that they don’t have to sift through all the waffel.
